WEIRDLAND: Taking Woodstock's actors reply to fans

Monday, August 03, 2009

Taking Woodstock's actors reply to fans

Yesterday it was a live Interview via Twitter by Focus Features with "Taking Woodstock" actors Emile Hirsch and Liev Schreiber Sunday morning at 10:30am EST

I submitted a question through Taking Woodstock facebook at the last minute:
What kind of connection is there between 60's and 90's music for you, Emile? Do you think this type of big festivals was destined to die? Did you, both Emile and Demetri, feel really connected to this movement while you made your scenes? thanks!

Some of the last questions answered via Focus Features's feedback:

FocusFeatures #TWEmile It was just an exciting time for me.
about 7 hours ago from web

FocusFeatures #TWEmile It was just a different kind of experience b/c I didn’t really know what I was doing, but I really liked how the movie turned out.
about 7 hours ago from web

#TWEmile #TWLiev Jennifer Castilleja Why did you decide to audition for this movie? And do you believe in what Woodstock stood for?
about 7 hours ago from web

FocusFeatures #TWEmile Woodstock for me more than anything stood for good vibes.
about 7 hours ago from web

FocusFeatures #TWEmile Ang Lee was the 1st & foremost reason why I did this film. I’ve always wanted to work w/ him & he’s an absolute master craftsman
about 7 hours ago from web

FocusFeatures #TWEmile Because they had mixed it in with vegetable oil to create our perfect movie mud. It’s not as bad as it sounds.
about 7 hours ago from web

FocusFeatures #TWEmile I had to talk to several veterans about this very specific thing that happens after forms of post-traumatic stress.
about 7 hours ago from web

FocusFeatures #TWEmile Billy had a series of Vietnam veteran flashbacks that were challenging to portray.
Source: twitter.com

Questions via Focus Features Twitter to Liev Schreiber:

#TWLiev Whether or not I believed in Woodstock, it’s permanently changed the cultural landscape of this country.
about 7 hours ago from web

#TWLiev There wasn’t a question of deciding. Ang had asked to have a meeting w/ me and I’d do anything for him. It’s great to watch him work
about 7 hours ago from web

#TWLiev One of the 1st movies I made right out of school was called The Daytrippers & I was a really self-involved young novelist named Carl
Source: www.twitter.com

"Taking Woodstock" has an unobtrusive eye for period detail. True Grit is playing at the local cinema, the Apollo moon landings are on the television and the war in Vietnam has become part of the fabric of daily life. 1969 is the dawning of the age of Richard Nixon and the film raises a cheer for a moment in which hope had yet to surrender to bitter disillusion. If half a million hippies can live in harmony with the law-abiding folks of the American heartland then maybe for at least these three days anything was possible". Source: www.screendaily.com

"The film is based on the memoirs of Elliot Tiber (Demetri Martin), who organized the legendary Woodstock concert almost single-handedly as the chairman of the local Chamber of Commerce in the laid-back upper New York village of Bethel - until help came along from Manhattan rock music professionals. Taking Woodstock can be described as a laid-back comedy - a sparkling effort to capture (in Lee's words) "the last moment of innocence".

To Lee's credit, rather than recreating the concert itself, Taking Woodstock follows members of the community as they stumble along in their preparations to host one of the greatest rock festivals in American music annals: Tiber, his immigrant Jewish parents (played to the Holocaust hilt by British actors Imelda Staunton and Henry Goodman) and local friends from the town of Bethel. Martin is solid as the quiet, unassuming impresario who is, however, not above smoking hashish and tippling acid if need be to support the event on a personal level. A would-be theatrical group willing to strip nude at any opportunity to rile up the community resides on the farm. Emile Hirsch, as the Vietnam War veteran who returns home with war memories roaring through his head, adds needed political relevance to the story as it unfolds.For my taste, however, it's Liev Schreiber as Thelma, the gay cross-dressing ex-marine, who steals the show". Source: movingpicturesmagazine.com

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