Essays, Interviews, Observations, Pop Culture, Stories, and other Dodginess

Holy “Mama” – An Interview with Javier Botet

Posted on November 22, 2013

Filmmaker Guillermo del Toro is keeping Javier Botet pretty busy these days.

Interview with Javier Botet picture

Earlier this year the Spanish actor played “Mama” alongside arguably the No. 1 actress in Hollywood today, Jessica Chastain, in Mama, which was produced by del Toro.  Botet is currently part of two new del Toro projects. The film Crimson Peak reunites him with Chastain and also stars Sons of Anarchy‘s Charlie Hunham. The other is del Toro’s upcoming television series The Strain.

How did you come to be in Mama?

I was in Fantastic Fest in Austin introducing REC2 (a movie Botet is in) and I met (Mama director) Andy Muschietti. He proposed me to be Mama.
How was it working with Guillermo del Toro? 

Last week I was again in Toronto (the place we shoot Mama) and we were working on his new series. For a long time ago I wanted to work with him, and in Mama I met a very passionate Guillermo, with a lot of projects in his mind. He was gentle and happy with the work he saw we were doing in Mama. Now I’m happy to work again with him. It’s a dream come true.

And Jessica Chastain? She is arguably the No. 1 actress in Hollywood. I saw the behind-the-scenes video where she kisses you on the cheek. I’m jealous. 

Jessica is as beautiful as she is adorable. I love her. We had a lot of good moments to remember in Mama. I think the reason she is in the top of projects is not only that she is an excellent actress, she is an incredible sweet and good person. A pleasure to work with.

How different, if it was, was working on Mama compared to anything else you’ve done? 

A big project, with these people, the American Industry. It was intense, hard, and great. Everything was different and special compared with anything else I’ve done. Now I hope nonstop to be working in that way.

Interview: Javier Botet "Mama"

Javier Botet as “Mama”

Have you lived in Spain your entire life? 

Yes. In a lot of different places of Spain.

Are you single and do you like to go out and enjoy a beer or anything? 

Yes, I’m single and my entire youth was spent enjoying time with friends, but these times I’m trying to be more responsible and take more care and use my energy in cinema. It makes me happier

Botet has a genetic disorder, Marfan Syndrome, in which people who have it tend to be very tall with a slender body and long limbs and fingers. Botet can move his joints as he wishes, which is why “Mama” in Mama was more Botet than CGI

Was it difficult being a child with your condition – were you bothered by any other children? How did you get started in performing arts? 

Yes. You know in childhood it is difficult to be different. I spent long times in hospitals and it was complicated, but it made me know how strong I can be, and it helped me to get my wills. A long time ago I started to shoot my little short with my own cam with friends, but in 2005 came my first professional work. I visited an FX make up workshop and took a look at what else the teacher was doing outside of classes. He was working for movies and then I offered myself for work and have them take benefit of my peculiar body. That was my first work, a humanoid in a movie by Brian Yuzna (Beneath Still Waters).  A bad movie but one of my most memorable experiences.

What kind of music do you enjoy?

 I have a very eclectic criteria: Michael Jackson, Queen, Keaton Henson, The Presidents of the USA, The Tallest Man on Earth, Journey, and a lot of Spanish classics like Camilo Sexto and José Luis Perales.  Backstreet Boys, a lot of romantic classics, Peter Cetera’s greatest hits, Metallica, Guns N’ Roses, The Beatles, Beach Boys, Eminem, Morricone.

What are you working on now? 

I’m working on two projects with Guillermo del Toro as you can see in IMDB and waiting on the green light for another big project in London. Meanwhile, I’m drawing and designing a video game – I’m  an  illustrator too ( www.botetart.blogspot.com), and I’m preparing personal projects. I’ve just directed a low-cost movie with some friends called Al Final Todos Mueren – At The End Everybody Dies (www.alfinaltodosmueren.com).

Javier Botet interview

Javier Botet and Jessica Chastain from a “behind-the-scenes” clip on the Mama DVD.

Aidan Reviews “Bill Cunningham New York”

Posted on November 14, 2013

Aidan Reviews Bill Cunningham New York picture

Aidan reviewed Depeche Mode’s Chicago concert a few months ago, so I thought I’d have him review something else. He chose the fashion documentary film Bill Cunningham New York. 

First off, the film is a few years old. Why now? 

I’ve been in a documentary kind of mood. Especially after watching HBO docs like Seduced and Abandoned and the one about that New York film director who was pregnant or something. I came across it while I was looking for something to watch on Hulu the other night. It was free to, unlike a lot of good films on there. By the way, the one thing that sucks about Hulu – they go to a commercial break when someone is in the middle of a sentence. Bastards.

I remember when it first came out. I was intrigued, as I have interest in the New York fashion scene, especially since (don’t laugh) The Devil Wears Prada.

And we both loved HBO’s How To Make  It In America about those two dudes in the fashion scene. I think when I first heard about Bill Cunninghham New York I thought it had something to do with that blogger guy, The Satirist.

I think you mean The Satorialist. 

Whatever.

So what’d you think of the film?

I liked it. That guy is one happy fecker. My favorite quote was when he says, “A lot of people have taste, but they don’t have the daring to be creative.” My favorite quote about the film came from Roger Ebert’s review, where the late critic says, “This movie made me happy every minute I was watching it.” My other favorite quote about the film came from our friend Clive, who says, “This is kinda cool I guess.”

I think we both agree that our favorite scenes were those of Bill and his production guy, John Kurdewan. 

They could just have a camera on those two for 30 minutes each week and I’d watch it. It would be better than most of the drub that’s out there. I will also ask…is it wrong to be sexually attracted to Anna Wintour? I might be.

The guy was constantly on his bike. I’d say the majority of the movie is him cruising the streets of Manhattan on that bike. ‘Cause that’s what he does. I kept waiting for him to get hit – and I think he did hit a cab in one scene that was actually tape of him like 20 years earlier. Going into the film I didn’t know if this guy was still alive. I half thought that the movie ends with him getting killed by a truck. Kind of like that movie you wrote about, The Wall, where you just anticipate that dog dying. That was Bill on the bike.

What was one new thing you learned from the film? 

Couture. Actually, I still don’t know what that word means. There were some weird dudes in the film. One guy had all these outfits he was trying on. He looked like The Riddler in one of them. If The Riddler was gay and lived in the Garment District.

A question came up from the filmmaker, who asked Bill if he was gay. Bill kinda says he’s not gay or straight. That he’s only into his work.

I’ll tell you what. Anyone who says that, or denies he’s one or the other? I’d say that’s bullshit. But not Bill. I actually believe him. I wouldn’t be surprised if he didn’t have a penis or a vagina. I don’t even think he had a bathroom in his apartment. He’d be like that vampire girl/boy in Let The Right One In.

That’s something you won’t see in an Ebert review. 

Well, not anymore.

You know what the hell I mean.

I like that one part where he uses duct tape to fix a tear on his cheap blue jacket. It reminded me of the time I did the same thing for the crotch of my costume pants after that Halloween party last year in Wicker Park.

So what would you rate the film, on a scale of five draft beers?

I’d give it four and a half draft beers. I liked it. I’d give it an extra half beer had Anna Wintour said something naughty in the film.

Bill Cunningham New York The Dodgy

Aidan Reviews Chicago’s Depeche Mode Concert

Saying Goodbye to “How To Make It In America”

“The Wall” – or “Waiting for the Dog to Die”

Posted on November 5, 2013
The Dodgy

The Austrian film The Wall could easily be called The Dog.

First, let me Wikipedia this: The Wall is about a woman who travels with an older couple to a hunting lodge in the Austrian Alps. The couple walk to the village. The woman stays. So does the couple’s dog, Lynx. When the lady notices the couple hasn’t returned the following morning she heads off on the road to the village, only to be stopped in her tracks by an invisible wall. She heads back to the lodge. It’s just her and the dog. The film jumps from the present to the recent past, so we know she’s been stuck in this predicament for a while. It appears at least several years pass.

The mystery, at least for the beginning of the movie, is wondering just what the feck this wall is. But then the concern goes moves away from the wall to the dog. Not long after the wall discovery we learn the dog is no longer with the woman. In the “past” scenes the woman is seen traipsing all over the Alps with the dog, becoming its friend. In the present, she sits forlornly writing her story with no dog in site. Then we learn the dog has died, but we don’t know how.

By now I’ve forgotten the wall, and only wonder with dread how and when that dog is going to die. Because it will. We know this. And we can see the woman is heartbroken over it. When the dog does die, it’s in the worst way you’d imagine. The movie (which is beautifully filmed) ends shortly afterwards – but not before a slow-motion scene of the dog running joyously through the pasture.

Wall, schmall. Nobody cares about the wall, not even the woman. It’s about the loss of the dog. At least Vincent, the dog in Lost, survived to the end. But at least this film left the wall a mystery, and didn’t try to explain it with some Jacob/Man-In-Black shit/protector of the island bullshit.

The Wall - or Waiting for the dog to die

This isn’t going to end well