I have a soft spot for Clifton Collins Jr., and there's something about Little League baseball that makes it hard to keep up your cynicism. His new film, The Perfect Game, come out on April 16th, and it looks like a lot of fun. Being that the film isn't popping up every few minutes, especially with the wave of big-budget items elbowing their way into your vision right now, I wanted to make sure you got a chance at some clips.

The first glance impression may be that this is a simple, though fun, family-friendly movie much like so many others, but don't let this one slip by you without a closer look. Though certainly a fun, family flick, I hope a lot of people see the real potential, and the abilities of Collins Jr., and give this one a chance.

Living amidst the gritty poverty of 1957 Monterrey, Mexico, a rag–tag group of boys from the wrong side of the tracks discovers the joy of sandlot baseball under the guidance of Cesar, an aspiring Major League Coach thwarted by discrimination.

Armed with the dream of playing a real Little League game, the young players defy a total lack of resources, disapproving parents, and widespread prejudice to score their first Little League victory and find themselves at the beginning of a once-in-a-lifetime journey.

Relying on their faith, a warm-hearted priest and their love of the game, the nine players and their coach embark on an incredible, record-breaking winning streak that leads them across the border to America, and all the way to the 1957 Little League World Series where a miracle will cement their place in history and change their lives forever.

The Perfect Game stars: Clifton Collins Jr., Cheech Marin, Jake T. Austin, Ryan Ochoa, Emilie de Ravin, Patricia Manterola, Moises Arias, Louis Gossett Jr. and Jansen Panettiere

http://www.theperfectgamemovie.com/

http://www.facebook.com/theperfectgamemovie

Check out some images and a slew of clips, including B-Rolls, Interviews, and more.

Just access the playlist controls in the player to select videos.

RU?

© 2010, Are You Screening?. All rights reserved. Reprinting without express permission of the author is prohibited.

Moving on from Office Space, Mike Judge moves away from the cubicles and toward something generally in the area of the George Lopez show's situational styling.  We're following a small-business owner, the curious menagerie he employs in his factory, and the strange twists that develop as a result of his less than perfect marriage.

I've got a lot of new images and some interesting character description releases that let you in on the general idea of what's coming in this film.  While I'm not the biggest fan of Office Space, it has its moments, and this one looks like maybe it builds on the abilities behind that film.  It hits September 4th, so check out what's in store for you, and mark your calendars.

“When Office Space tanked at the box office, I thought, ‘Okay, I was born to do something that nobody wants to see,’ and then as it became popular, it was more and more gratifying. So I think I’m finally back doing what I think I was born to do.” -Mike Judge

Joel (Jason Bateman)
Jason Bateman plays Joel, the big boss at Reynolds Extract. If Joel hasn’t reached his front door by 8 o’clock, he’ll find his wife, Suzie (Kristen Wiig) cinching up her sweatpants – and about as interested in him as he is in her mastery of supermarket coupon design. Sexually frustrated, Joel confides in his best pal, Dean (Ben Affleck), a barkeep – and soon finds himself wrapped up in a convoluted scheme to make Suzie cheat on him first with a dim-witted gigolo (Dustin Milligan) – thereby allowing him to pursue beautiful new employee Cindy (Mila Kunis) with a clear conscience.

Cindy (Mila Kunis)
Cindy, played by Mila Kunis, is a life-long con artist and sociopath who’s just one step away from having her parole revoked. Cindy relies on her whiles and good looks to ensnare unsuspecting men. Before the end of the film Cindy has managed to scam, con and play most of the characters.

Suzie (Kirsten Wiig)
Kirsten Wiig plays Suzie Reynolds, Joel’s unfulfilled and downright bored wife. “She designs coupons, which I’m sure was her lifelong dream, and she’s been married to Joel for a handful of years and things are getting a little stale,” the actress explains. “I don’t think I know what’s going on for him at work, because I’m having an affair, and that takes up a lot of time. You don’t really ask your husband about his work when you’re sleeping around. You’ve got other things on your mind – like sleeping around.”

Dean (Ben Affleck)
Joel’s best friend Dean, played by Ben Affleck, doles out advice (and illicit substances) to Joel from behind the bar. Thanks to Dean, Joel finds himself getting into all sorts of trouble.

Step (Clifton Collins Jr.)
Clifton Collins Jr. plays Step, who aspires for nothing more than to one day be floor manager at the factory. A bizarre factory accident leads to Step losing one of his “boys” – shenanigans ensue as Cindy manipulates, Joe Adler (Gene Simmons) represents and Joel tries to make everyone happy.

By the way, check out my recent interview with Clifton Collins Jr. here.

Brian (J.K. Simmons)
Rounding out the workplace ensemble is Factory Supervisor Brian, brought to vivid life by omnipresent character actor J.K. Simmons. Because this type of character – he loves the business, the company but he doesn’t know anybody’s name. Everybody’s “Dinkus” or “What’s-His-Name.

Nathan (David Koechner)
Perhaps no character in Extract feels more like a signature Judge creation than the Reynolds’ neighbor, Nathan, a man who could challenge Milton from Office Space in the category of “singular focus”.

Mary (Beth Grant)
Mary (Beth Grant), a fanny-packed, bitter slouch at the end of the assembly line who’d rather fold her arms and shake her head than keep life at Reynolds moving along – which is exactly what she’s doing when a bottleneck occurs on the line, resulting in a chain of accidents that cost poor Step a portion of his manhood.

Rory (T.J. Miller)
On the line with Step is Rory, a bona fide indie rock geek with a face full of piercings and body covered in ink. “I’m sure it wasn’t a progressive thing,” says his alter ego, actor T.J. Miller, of Rory’s tattoos. “He was, like, ‘I finally have $800 – I’m getting eight tattoos.’”

Brad (Dustin Milligan)
The final complicating factor in Joel’s life is Brad, the dull-headed gigolo Dean hires to seduce his wife. In a scenario right out of a seventies porn flick, he poses as the new pool guy, and finds his advances all too welcome.

Are You Screening?

Related articles by Zemanta

• Comic-Con: Mike Judge Gets The Shaft Again While Promoting Extract (cinemablend.com)

© 2009, Are You Screening?. All rights reserved. Reprinting without express permission of the author is prohibited.

Welcome to ScreenTime.

I got the chance to put Clifton Collins Jr. through the ringer recently, and it was a tricky bit of work.  As you probably know, I do one kind of interview (which is why this section is not called "Interviews").  I don't particularly want to hear people telling me how great their next big thing is, and I don't think anyone else needs another version of that going around anyway.  I want to know people a little better, and I think throwing out (sometimes pretty unusual) questions about what they watch can give a little insight.

When your mark refuses to pin himself down, this becomes a complex angle.

If you aren't immediately familiar with the name (well... shame on you and Hollywood both frankly), the pictures should click for most everyone.  Since the early '90s, he's been putting out solid supporting roles, and as we moved into the new decade he solidified himself as one of the most underrated actors in Hollywood.  Interesting and complicated roles in Tigerland, Traffic, The Rules of Attraction, and several others led to his role in Capote which absolutely screamed that it could not be overlooked.  Though critics certainly haven't overlooked his work (by and large), a fair percentage of the general public retorts by wondering what Capote is.

In the recent and coming soon category - Horsemen was recently released on DVD, and Sunshine Cleaning is coming towards the end of August.  He was in the new Star Trek as Ayel, the second-in-command to Eric Bana's Nero.  He's also in: Crank: High Voltage, The Perfect Game, Extract, Boondock Saints II: All Saint's Day, Brothers (which is around Christmas), and is shooting The Experiment.

Here we go!

1. The fairly obligatory question - Star Trek fan?

Of course, this is a tricky question.  What's he going to say, "No, I hate Star Trek?"  For all that Clifton was extremely down-to-earth throughout the interview, and had plenty to say, you could feel the hesitancy here.  In the end, I took him to be something of a fan, but he seemed to rather pointedly want to avoid accidentally falling into a Trekkie category.

2. You're roles are so varied that it might be hard for fans to get any sort of feel for you.  When you're picking movies or TV shows, what genres do you gravitate toward?

Here Clifton set his flag in the sand and began his campaign of blatant refusal to lose his mystery.  He didn't want to pick a genre he preferred for his own consumption as adamantly as he wanted to make it clear that he didn't want to be in any genre when looking to his roles.  When it's a question of what he wants to do, he said he loves breaking the mold and being diverse.  He wants interesting characters rather than any particular kind of movie.  When picking something to watch, it's only quality that matters.

As is often the case, the interview theory brokedown into a general conversation, but in this instance things became such a general sort of general that it was difficult to go anywhere.  He doesn't watch a lot of television, so there went a lot of questions.  He mentioned tuning in to a lot of the offerings on The Discovery Channel, and brought up Lock Up as something he watched, but apart from that he was hard-pressed to move to the small screen.  After quite a while, he finally broke and gave me Beavis & Butthead as something he could mention positively.

Even in the realm of film, so much of what he watches comes by way of researching roles, and his experience is so broad, that any answers proved difficult apart from an overall love of the game.

I tried to press on.

3. If your next movie was your dream gig, and you got to pick everything, what genre movie is it, who are your two co-stars, and who directs?

It was no good.  The movie is definitely a Western, so I've got that.  Beyond that, Clifton was pretty clearly spoiled for choice.  He mentioned that he'd love to work with Christopher Nolan, and J. J. Abrams (and even let on that he was rather a fan), and thought it would be cool to work with Steven Soderbergh on a Western, but he was still not to be pinned down to any single answer.  For actors he tossed out Samuel L. Jackson, Benicio Del Toro, and Anthony Hopkins, but if I let him he would have named at least half of SAG.  Ultimately, he said that he just loved actors, and there was no way to make such picks.  "It's like having 70 children," he said, "and then being asked to pick two you like."

I stuck my toe in with a couple of other movie angles, but I quickly gave up.  He soon gave me to understand that the quote about having children worked just as well for movies as far as he was concerned.  What had he seen recently?  A fairly random assortment of things that were largely for research purposes.  He'd seen The Hangover, and liked it pretty well, but he'd also recently watched Das Experiment (well, because obviously), The Thing, and Nevada Smith.  Not exactly a telling combination.

He could list some favorite movies for you, but it would go on forever, and would be varied enough that it would lead to little that would give you any sort of feel for his tastes.  Among things that popped into his mind were: The Party, Lost Weekend, Angels with Dirty Faces, The Exorcist, Bullitt, and John Ford in general.

If you're a fan and want to get to know Clifton Collins Jr. better, good luck.  I can tell you that he is one of the most affable guys I've talked to in a while (and that's among some pretty stiff competition), and that his knowledge of film is astounding, but if you want something you can write down try asking him questions unrelated to screens.  Maybe he'll answer you.  But, don't be surprised if he extolls the virtues of all colors equally.

Are You Screening?

© 2009, Are You Screening?. All rights reserved. Reprinting without express permission of the author is prohibited.