The Cinema Lounge

Coming Attractions Trailer Night Winter 2007

By Charles Kirkland, Jr., DC Film Society Member

As you made your way through the concessions area of Landmark’s E Street Cinema to attend the Winter 2007 version of the DC Film Society’s “Coming Attractions Trailer Night,” you could see the promotional posters for several upcoming movies lined up on the floor, including: Alvin and the Chipmunks, Juno, 10,000 BC, Vantage Point, Hitman, and others. As trailer night began, only one poster, American Gangster, had disappeared. Many others just lay there waiting for a home. The poster for Vantage Point was one of them. An audience of close to 100, including nearly three dozen first time attendees (!), named by applause, Vantage Point, an action movie about an assassination attempt on the President of the United States, the overall favorite trailer of the evening. At the program’s end, all the posters for Vantage Point were gone. Film critics and Film Society favorites, Joe Barber and Bill Henry, co-hosted one of the most vocal, opinionated, and downright outrageously fun sneak peeks into the winter movie season ever held.

The purpose of the trailer night is to give some feedback to the production companies about the quality, entertainment value, and effectiveness of the trailer. Each trailer is rated twice; first by applause and second by a formal ballot with a 0-5 rating scale. Trailers are grouped into seven categories and an informal applause meter vote selects the best of each group. The group winners within each category are then pitted against each other to determine the overall winner. The group winners were: This Christmas, War/Dance, Vantage Point, Juno, Untraceable, The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep, and Enchanted.

Thanks to the DC Film Society Directors and Coordinating Committee, especially Michael Kyrioglou, Jim Shippey, Karrye Braxton, Billy Coulter, Cheryl Dixon, Annette Graham, Charles Kirkland Jr., Larry Hart, Ky Nguyen, Adam Spector, and all other volunteers for organizing this twice annual event. Very special thanks go to Joe Barber, Bill Henry, Allied Advertising, Landmark’s E Street Cinema and staff, Terry Hines and Associates, and all the participating film studios.

For those of you who missed the evening, a summary of the trailers follows. For those who attended and shared in this great night of entertainment, remember, the studios create these trailers to entertain, but they also should inspire movie attendance. If you enjoyed the trailers, support the films they promote.

I USED TO LOVE CHRISTMAS, NOW I HATE CHRISTMAS

• Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium (Fox)
  Dustin Hoffman, Natalie Portman, and Jason Bateman star in a movie that seems to be this year’s Night at the Museum with the museum being Toys R Us. Thank goodness for CGI. There was sincere laughter from the attendees at this entertaining clip. Easily, this clip won the applause vote for best trailer in this small category.
  
• This Christmas (Screen Gems)
  Now what would happen if Tyler Perry could get his hands on an all-star ensemble cast to do a Christmas movie? This trailer was full of the typical one-liners, sight gags and quips that you have seen before. Although the trailer was entertaining, the audience was convinced that this was more of the stereotypical, African-American ensemble cast movies.
  

• Charlie Wilson’s War (Universal)
  Tom Hanks stars as alcoholic, womanizing, U.S. Congressman Charlie Wilson, who, with some prodding by the lovely Julia Roberts, decides to wage a very private war to help the Afghans in their war against the Soviet Union during the 1980s. This good trailer reminds us that the film is based on true events where the Senator assists the training of Afghan freedom fighters to resist the Soviet Army.
  
• The Price of Sugar (New York Films)
  This documentary written and directed by Bill Haney introduces us to Father Christopher Hartley, a man who has dedicated his life to breaking the iron death grip sugar harvesting has on life in Haiti and the Dominican Republic. This trailer left the audience silent.
  
• Redacted (Magnolia)
  This trailer or the lack thereof became the joke of the night. The trailer feature voices over a grey slate. Nothing to see and almost no information about the movie were conveyed. The trailer itself is redacted. Through the discussion of the clip, it was found that Brian De Palma was given a significant amount of money to produce this “You Tube” style documentary.
  
• War Dance, (Rogues Harbor Studios)
  In its initial narration, this trailer sounded like "Blood Diamond 2" but transforms itself to an uplifting tale of a group of war-scarred youth entering a national music competition in Uganda. The trailer showed enough promise to win the applause vote in its category.
  

• Hitman (Fox)
  Visually, the trailer for this movie made it seem like a decent action-packed adventure movie. However, the voiceover exposed the film’s implausible and plain ridiculous storyline. Plus, watch the tattoo!
  
• Vantage Point (Columbia)
  Let’s see…combine Crash, Rashomon and Dave and throw in a little ‘24’, don’t forget the adrenaline and you have Vantage Point. Dennis Quaid, Forrest Whitaker, and Matthew Fox star in a movie that asks how many perspectives are necessary to solve an assassination attempt on the President? Remember, this clip was narrowly voted the best trailer of the evening.
  

• Juno (Fox Searchlight)
  This dark comedy from the director of Thank You for Smoking (Jason Reitman) stars Ellen Page as the titular character who faces the options presented to her to deal with her unplanned pregnancy. A great ensemble cast featuring Jason Bateman, Jennifer Garner, and J.K. Simmons shows that great films can still be independently made. This trailer was voted the best of this category and almost the overall favorite trailer of the night.
  
• Margot at the Wedding (Paramount Vantage)
  This trailer featured Nicole Kidman as Margot, the sister of Jennifer Jason Leigh, who is marrying Jack Black. Margot wants to know why. Directed by Noah Baumbach who also helmed The Squid and The Whale.
  
• The Savages (Fox Searchlight)
  In this dark comedy, a brother and sister are suddenly and, unfortunately for the trailer, inexplicably burdened with taking care of their elderly father. The movie stars Oscar winner Philip Seymour Hoffman and Laura Linney from The Squid and The Whale!
  

• Alvin and the Chipmunks (Fox)
  The buildup in this clip was excellent leading the viewer to believe that we are going to see a movie about some great ground breaking band like The Beatles. Instead, Jason Scott Lee yells “Allllviiin” to a chipmunk who just ate his brother’s poo!
  
• National Treasure: Book of Secrets (Disney)
  Oh that Gates clan! They’re back again and attempting to clear the name of the Gates family and find a centuries-held secret concerning…wait, wasn’t that the plot of the first movie? Oh well. Nicholas Cage, Diane Kruger, Jon Voight, and Justin Bartha all return for another rollicking romp. Looks as exciting as the original.
  
• Southland Tales (Samuel Goldwyn)
  How can Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Seann William Scott, and Sarah Michelle Gellar predict the future, save the world from it, and televise it for the world to see? Not sure about that or whether that is truly what the movie is about, thanks to this confusing trailer.
  
• Untraceable (Screen Gems)
  Diane Lane plays an FBI agent who is hunting a killer who uses the internet to kill his victims. Somehow the killer becomes aware of his hunter and the cat and mouse game begins. This very exciting trailer was easily voted the best of the category. The fear expressed in discussion became how quickly the film’s originality would devolve and would become formulaic.
  
• Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins (Universal)
  Martin Lawrence is Roscoe Jenkins, a super successful talk show host who is a combination of Oprah and Dr. Phil. Well, Roscoe has decided to get married and must bring his fiancée home to meet the family. An all-star cast of comedians and James Earl Jones show us that even when the money is good, sometimes you just gotta say no.
  

• Atonement (Focus)
  Based on the book. A young girl falsely accuses her older sister’s boyfriend of a crime. The boy gets sent to jail and then from jail to World War. Really? Meanwhile the older sister’s love continues and the younger sister writes a book about it all. Really? Can a book make everything right?
  
• The Kite Runner (Paramount Vantage)
  Again based on the book. Separated in their youth, a young man returns to his homeland in Afghanistan from California to save his childhood friend. He finds things radically different and must find his friend’s son to save him instead.
  
• The Diving Bell & the Butterfly (Miramax)
  This trailer was more than a little bit confusing and somewhat scary. It seems the story is about a man who was paralyzed from a stroke and how he copes.
  
• There Will Be Blood (Paramount Vantage)
  Paul T. Anderson directs and Daniel Day Lewis stars in this movie about a Texas oil magnate as he develops his empire. This period piece reminded many in the audience of a certain HBO show, Deadwood.
  
• The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep (Sony)
  Brian Cox and Emily Watson star in this fairy tale about a boy who finds an egg and hatches the Loch Ness Monster. This cute clip easily won category favorite.
  
• Youth Without Youth (Sony Classics)
  If there were a vote, this clip would have won the overall “What?” of the night. Several images are shown through the clip and an audio track plays saying “We are running out of time.” One screen says the film is directed by Francis Ford Coppola. Hope the film is better than the trailer.
  

• Enchanted (Disney)
  Amy Adams, James Marsden, and “McDreamy” Patrick Dempsey star in this creative fairy tale. Adams plays Princess Giselle the standard Disney princess who is thrown from the cartoon world into modern day New York by the evil Queen Narissa played by Susan Sarandon. Humorous moments in the clip include Giselle cleaning house using animals and Prince Edward trying to sing a Disney style song in the middle of the city. Of course, this trailer got the best of category vote.
  
• I’m Not There (Weinstein)
  The film is a biopic of Bob Dylan sort of. Dylan is shown through different stages of his life by different actors including a dead-on portrayal by Cate Blanchett. The clip failed to impress. But in the discussion afterward , someone indicated that although Dylan’s music is featured in the movie, none of the characters in the movie are named Bob Dylan. There are possibilities here.
  
• Walk Hard (Sony)
  From the people who brought you Talledega Nights and Superbad, John C. Reilly is Dewey Cox, a Johnny Cash meets Ricky Bobby-like musician. Upon seeing this clip, I wondered how different a career Reilly might have had if he had won the Oscar for Chicago back in 2003.

The 4th Annual Reykjavik International Film Festival

By Anita Glick, DC Film Society Member

The 4th Annual Reykjavik International Film Festival (RIFF) was held September 27-October 7, 2007. It was an immense local success, offering 80 films from more than 30 countries on 5 continents. The festival was attended by over 20,000 people, approximately 7% of Iceland’s population. 84% of available seats were filled during the festival’s eleven days. Almost every film was accompanied by a guest.

The program was divided into several sections including: New Visions; Open Sea, Documentaries; Human Rights: Iraq; Horizon: Spain; Icelandic Panorama; Spotlights on David Ondricek, Aki Kaurismaki, Rainer Werner Fassbinder and Hanna Schygulla; Midnight Movies; and Children’s Films.

Films awards were presented in several categories. RIFF’s Discovery of the Year was awarded The Golden Puffin (the festival's logo); New Visions are first or second features by directors emerging on the international scene and include the International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI), Church of Iceland and the Amnesty International Honorary award. Additionally there were panel discussions, workshops and master classes.

The world premiere of Sigur Ros - Heima, a concert documentary on the popular Icelandic group by Dean DeBlois, opened the Festival. It chronicles two weeks in 2006 when Sigur Ros played its ethereal, atmospheric music during free, unannounced concerts in far-flung corners of Iceland. The audience reaction to the concert footage, interviews with band members and shots of Icelandic landscape was mixed.

Iska's Journey by Hungarian Director Csaba Bollok received the Discovery of the Year< Award. It tells the tale of young Iska who is living in poverty, begging for food and trading scrap metal for money that goes straight into buying booze for her violent parents. She is taken off the streets and put into care at a children’s shelter, where she makes a good friend. The two of them fantasize about running away to the ocean. The audience is pulled into the world of this mesmerizing young girl. She is tricked and placed on a boat, the destination is unknown. Likely she will be sold into forced prostitution.

The Audience Award went to Joy Division’s Ian Curtis biopic Control directed by Anton Corbijn, a former fashion and celebrity photographer. The black-and-white film was a tribute to the memory of Joy Division (Manchester scene of the 1970’s) and Ian Curtis, the unhappy, pill-popper wracked by depression and intensifying epilepsy who committed suicide at the age of 23. Curtis stated “I never meant for it to grow like this, I have no control.” Control also won Special Mention for Best First Feature.

The Danish debut feature The Art of Crying by Peter Schønau Fog was awarded both The International Federation of Film Critics, (FIPRESCI) and the Church of Iceland award. The film deals delicately with issues that often are kept quiet and presents them with respect, understanding and sympathy. The film takes place in Denmark, circa 1970 and tells the story of an 11 year old boy and his dysfunctional family and the boy's way of dealing with his father molesting his older sister. The Art of Crying raises awareness of the fragility of life and moves the audience.

The Amnesty International honorary award went to El Ejido, the Law of Profit, a documentary on immigrant workers in Southern Spain by Jawad Rhalib (Belgium). The film shows how modern slavery still exists with workers who have no rights living on next to nothing so we can get our food cheaply.

Several live music events were incorporated in the festival. German thespian-cabaret artiste Hanna Schygulla, recipient of the festival's Lifetime Achievement Award, performed songs that have had an impact on her life. American indie-rockers Danielson performed live in conjunction with a screening of J. L. Aronson's (United States) documentary Danielson: A Family Movie. Danielson is made up of family member and friends; their music has an outwardly Christian theme. Jonathan King’s (New Zealand) Black Sheep and David Arquette’s (United States) The Tripper made up The Midnight Movies. The event was kicked off with a concert where music from 16 classic horror films (1971-2005) was performed live while excerpts of each film were screened.

"I am most proud of the variety of films presented in our New Visions category," said festival director Hronn Marinosdottir. "This year, 15 new directors from 13 countries show their films, all premium examples of how many things there are yet to explore in cinema."

New Visions titles competing for Discovery of the Year included:

• Have You Another Apple? director Arpad Bogdan’s (Iran) surreal, social commentary, fantasy fairy tale;
  
• Help Me Eros, Lee Kang-Shen’s (Taiwan) story about loneliness and dissatisfaction, told with an innovative visual style and great emotional depth;
  
• The Band's Visit, like an Egyptian Little Miss Sunshine with sharp visual humor directed by Eran Kolirin (Israel/France);
  
• Faces of a Fig Tree, a fantasy and offbeat family drama directorial debut by Japanese actress Kaori Momoi (Japan);
  
• Control, biopic of Ian Curtis of Joy Division directed by Anton Corbijn (United Kingdom), won Special Mention For Best First Feature;
  
• Happy New Life a film about an orphan, now grown up, who desires to belong but has no connection to people by Arpad Bogdan (Hungary);
  
• Iska's Journey, the very haunting dark film by Csaba Bollock (Hungary) and winner of the Discovery of the Year Award;
  
• The Trap, a modern day film noir set in post Milosevic Serbia; by Srdjan Golubovic (Serbia/Germany/Hungary);
  
• Roming, the European premier of Jiri Vejdelek’s (Czech Republic/Romania/Slovakia) slapstick comedy, madcap road movie with a deeper message;
  
• Our Private Lives, Denis Cote’s (Canada) low budget look into complexities of a virtual flirt (over the internet) becoming real;
  
• The Art of Crying, dark subject matter and winner of the FIPRESCI and the Church of Iceland award by Peter Schonau Fog (Denmark);
  
• Japan Japan, Lior Shamriz’s (Israel) gay-themed film poses questions regarding an urban society during a time of globalization;
  
• Pink, a young man, who has trouble growing up, has only one steadfast part of his life, his dog, from Alexander Voulgaris (Greece);
  
• Shotgun Stories, Jeff Nichol’s (U.S.) modern minimalist tale of revenge, obligation and honor set in Southeast Arkansas;
  
• XXY, Lucia Puenzo’s (Argentina/France/Spain) film based on a case of a child born with a case of “genital ambiguity.”
  

• The Art of Crying (Denmark),
  
• The Edge of Heaven (Germany),
  
• 4 Months, 3 Week, and 2 Days (Romania), and
  
• XXY, (Argentina/France/Spain).
  

Adam's Rib Goes After the Black Bird

The Kite Runner: Q&A with Actor Khalid Abdalla

On November 8 Loew's Georgetown Theater hosted a preview of the much-anticipated The Kite Runner based on the hugely popular novel by Khaled Hosseini. Actor Khalid Abdalla who plays Amir as an adult was present to talk about the film and answer questions. DC Film Society's Director Michael Kyrioglou moderated the discussion.

Michael Kyrioglou: How long ago was the film shot?
Khalid Abdalla: We finished filming December 23 of last year.

MK: Did you read the book before getting the part?
KA: No, but I have read it 6 or 7 times since the audition.

MK: Wasn't the book optioned by the producers before it was published?
KA: Yes.

MK: Where in China was it filmed?
KA: In Kashgar which is in western China's Xinjiang Province. It is a mostly Muslim province about 4 or 5 hours drive from the border of Afghanistan. It has a similar landscape and culture and the language is close to Turkish and Farsi.

MK: Did you start filming there?
KA: Yes. We did the Afghan parts there, then the studio parts, then two weeks in San Francisco.

MK: Your language skills are impressive. How did you learn Dari for the film?
KA: I studied Dari intensely for 4 or 5 hours a day for a month. I spent a month in Afghanistan; I went anywhere referenced in the book and ate food mentioned in the book. I traveled through the Salang Pass and Bamiyan where the Buddhist statutes used to be. It's absolutely beautiful; light filters through the trees in the arid mountains. Learning Dari was not as difficult as it sounds. The vocabulary is 40-50 percent Arabic in origin. It's like Spanish and English. Dari has a simpler grammar with no gender or verb agreement. I'm British-Egyptian and I already knew the Arabic sounds, so it was easy to imitate Dari, whereas it would have been more difficult for a Dari speaker to do Arabic. Arabic has the Dari sounds but Dari doesn't have all the Arabic sounds.

MK: Was the travel in Afghanistan dangerous?
KA: It was safe enough to be worth the risk. I didn't go to the real troublespots. Kabul is relatively secure and parts of the north are relatively safe. My driver was with me. The last night I was there a bomb went off 1-1/2 miles away. Also there are lots of land mines, you must be careful when walking around. My time there was absolutely crucial; it would have been absurd not to go there. By being there I built my sense of familiarity, love and nostalgia needed to develop my character. I was born in Scotland but aspects of my background fit in for understanding the character: ways of living, certain gestures, understanding the serving class. I grew up in a bicultural house, similar to Amir.

MK: Is most of the cast Afghan?
KA: Almost everyone is Afghan. The major non-Afghan characters are me, Homayoun Ershadi (Iranian)who plays my father and Saïd Taghmaoui (Moroccan) who plays the driver.

MK: The final scene is pivotal.
KA: It is a moving scene. The story is about the betrayal of friendship and fatherhood. Growing up you want your father to be proud of you. That's pivotal in those terms, understanding and feeling what it means. The director Marc Forster was sensitive to the story; we were on the same page.

Q: Are the children in any danger?
KA: They are still there. Part of delay in releasing the film was waiting for them to finish school. Then they were moved out. I learned to fly kites with them in Kabul. Any concerns about their safety have to be taken seriously. After release of the film we will see if they are in danger. The film is being screened by Afghans here. One person said, "Thank you, I feel represented; you shared my culture." An American soldier said same thing. It's so extraordinary about the movie. At root it's a beautiful story. It's a human story, not political violence. Afghanistan lost one million people; there are so many negative associations with Afghanistan. So it's beautiful to be part of something like meeting people through stories and food, not bombs.

Q: How did you film in Kashgar?
KA: We were a group from 26 countries and had 4 to 6 languages to translate on the set. There was some tension between the Chinese and crew. The Uighur are a minority there. They can't teach their language in school. If they pray in the mosque they can lose their membership in the Communist Party. The stadium scenes had to be continually delayed. The authorities didn't like so many people congregating in one place. They were going to ship in people from many places so we ended up shooting it north of Beijing. But things worked out well. It was a beautiful experience. Everyone came together to tell the story.We had a wonderful time in Kashgar. It was a real pleasure.

MK: Did they intend to use so much Dari?
KA: Early on there were discussions about that. Marc said he wanted to do it in Dari. He didn't want the kids flying kites and speaking English. It was a crucial choice. When you make that decision you have to cast certain people. Casting was done anywhere with a big Afghan community.

Q: What about the role of women in Afghanistan?
KA: The situation in Afghanistan is different now. Fifty percent of the women wear the burqua and five percent wear the hijab. It's something that you are very aware of and it is sad. It's interesting to see people dealing with it--flirting in a burqua which is a beautiful blue drape. I was in the market and women flirted with me through the burqua; it was amazing, I'd never experienced that. Afghanistan is a country without infrastructure. You might get 6 hours of electricity a day or you might get it from a generator. Water is from a pump. Infrastructure is needed but you need an infrastructure to build one. You need roads. The legal system doesn't work properly. The central government can't enact their laws. Customs then take precedence. That altered my sense of things I would see. They have a hard time but there are women MPs in parliament. The mayor of Bamiyan (the main Hazara province) is a woman. The only scene when it's prominent is the stadium [public stoning] scene.

Q: What was the father's job?
KA: There is more about that in the book. He's a trader and his class is higher. One thing not said explicitly is that he is Pashtun or ruling class. Afghanistan has 19 different ethnicities with cross border loyalties and ties. Pashtuns are not the majority but they are the kings and ruling class. The Hazaras are traditionally the serving class. Amir has a best friend who is a servant which plays with the dynamics of the story.

Q: How involved was Khaled Hosseini in the film?
KA: Huge support. He was extensively involved in adapting the screenplay with David Benioff. He came on the set when we were in Kashgar and San Francisco.

The Kite Runner opens December 14.

The 51st London Film Festival

Juno: Q&A with Writer Diablo Cody and Actress Ellen Page

At a preview screening of Juno on November 13 at Landmark's E Street Cinema, audience members had the opportunity to talk with writer Diablo Cody and actress Ellen Page. Michael Kyrioglou, DC Film Society Director, moderated.

Michael Kyrioglou: The story was really wonderful and incredibly funny. Where did it come from?
Diablo Cody: It came totally from a place of greed! This is my first screenplay. I wrote the screenplay unfettered by expectations; I wrote a movie I wanted to see. I tried to find hilarity in awkward situations, in uptight yuppies.

MK: Have you always been writing?
DC: I wrote a book [Candy Girl] but never a screenplay.

MK: The producer found you in an unusual way.
DC: I had a blog that I wrote on every day. He read it and e-mailed me, "You should write a movie." I said, "bullshit!"

MK: Did he throw you the idea?
DC: No. A few months later I called him and said I have a screenplay about a pregnant teenager. He said, "Oh, it sounds great." I think he was worried that it would be deranged.

MK: How did you [Ellen Page] get involved?
Ellen Page: I first read the script while I was in 12th grade in Nova Scotia, Canada. I was floored. It was best thing I ever read. I adored the character. I became obsessed. I fell so in love with character. This has to happen! Get me the role!

MK: Did you audition for the part?
EP: I was shooting a completely different movie and [director] Jason Reitman met me at my trailer when I was making the other movie.

MK: Did this happen after Hard Candy?
EP: Yes. After Hard Candy was made it gave me access to films like this.

Question: Are you similar to your character Juno?
EP: I always get asked that question. In some ways I am.

Q: Is Michael Cera as awkward in real life?
EP: Michael Cera is the sweetest pea in the pod. He is so talented. I was a fan of his and got to make out with him and have a sex scene with him.

Q: A compliment on the dialogue in the film. You make up your own slang. Where did that come from? DC: I felt no pressure in writing the screenplay; I had nothing to lose. I just did something crazy. It was not studied or conscious. I always had my own vernacular.
EP: I had a different language with my friends when I was 16. It was genuine.
MK: I agree and would also throw in Clueless. It connected with youth at the time; it wasn't forced.

Q: Did Jason Reitman encourage your continued involvement after the film started?
DC: This is my favorite question. Most writers are not encouraged to participate. There is often tension between writer and director. Jason Reitman is generous and collaborative. I was "allowed" on set and encouraged to be there. He is a supercool dude.

MK: How set in stone was the screenplay?
DC: What was shot is extremely true to the screenplay. I was amazed at how many people came together to make the movie.

Q: How do you go from stripping [Candy Girl] to writing?
DC: It was weird. Juno was the catalyst for all the cool stuff that happened to me.
MK: Having written a blog, then a book and a screenplay, are you drifting toward a novel next?
DC: I want to write more movies.

Q: Do you prefer working on large or small productions?
EP: Juno and X-Men are different. X-Men was awesome, with three crews going at once. That was a wonderful experience. As an actor it is nice to be in a film where people care about script.

Q: What was your favorite scene?
DC: Juno and her dad go to the yuppies' house and have a culture clash.
EP: I love the scene where Jennifer says, "I hate to interrupt your jam session" and the scene in the abortion clinic with the receptionist.

Q: The songs are musical references. Where did they come from?
EP: The first time I met with Jason he asked what music my character would listen to. I said the Moldy Peaches. I freaked out when I met the musicians. I love Moldy Peaches.
DC: I had written glam bands into the script. I love the Moldy Peaches stuff better than glam rock. I didn't know about the legality of putting licensed music into the script.

Q: Did you have particular actors in mind?
DC: No, I didn't think it would be produced. Sometimes I would picture someone in a scene.

Q: How did you prepare for being a pregnant person?
EP: I bought "Pregnancy for Dummies." I watched Michael Winterbottom's movie Wonderland. And Jennifer Garner had just had a baby.

Q: How closely did the scenes match your screenplay?
DC: Most of the characters are taken from my own life, scavanged from the midwest which is where I am from. The characters look identical to how I imagined it.

Juno is scheduled to hit our local screens on December 14.

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