A monstrous transformation threatens to literally tear a family apart in Clown. With Dimension Films and Anchor Bay Entertainment releasing the movie on Blu-ray and DVD on August 23rd, Daily Dead spoke with Clown co-star Laura Allen about what attracted her to the role of Meg, working with Peter Stormare, one of her favorite scenes that was cut from the movie, and more.
What made you say “yes” to taking on this movie with this crazy concept?
Laura Allen: I was in New York City in the fall of 2012, I had a brand new baby in my hotel in SoHo, and I was given the script. I started reading Meg’s story in Clown, and was getting the fact that everything’s so primal. She’s pregnant and she’s terrified and she’s just interested in the survival of her family. There were steps that she made and...
What made you say “yes” to taking on this movie with this crazy concept?
Laura Allen: I was in New York City in the fall of 2012, I had a brand new baby in my hotel in SoHo, and I was given the script. I started reading Meg’s story in Clown, and was getting the fact that everything’s so primal. She’s pregnant and she’s terrified and she’s just interested in the survival of her family. There were steps that she made and...
- 8/19/2016
- by Jonathan James
- DailyDead
O bitterness! O shame! I devoted a lot of bandwidth last recently to blathering about Howdy Doody, a marionette who had his own, pioneering, television show, a kiddie show back when I was, in fact, a kiddie. Nothing wrong with that. No bitterness, no shame.
But… This bandwidth-waster is part of an enterprise devoted to comic books and I neglected to mention that our little bestringed buddy had his own comic book. It was published by Dell, which seemed to like puppets since it also had Beany and Cecil Comics, Rootie Kazootie Comics, and Charlie McCarthy Comics. (Okay, Charlie was a ventriloquist dummy, but isn’t that a kind of puppet?)
Before I knew much about the business that put food on my table for about a half-century, I was even less aware of Dell than I am now. Actually, I’m not sure I knew what a publisher was,...
But… This bandwidth-waster is part of an enterprise devoted to comic books and I neglected to mention that our little bestringed buddy had his own comic book. It was published by Dell, which seemed to like puppets since it also had Beany and Cecil Comics, Rootie Kazootie Comics, and Charlie McCarthy Comics. (Okay, Charlie was a ventriloquist dummy, but isn’t that a kind of puppet?)
Before I knew much about the business that put food on my table for about a half-century, I was even less aware of Dell than I am now. Actually, I’m not sure I knew what a publisher was,...
- 7/21/2016
- by Dennis O'Neil
- Comicmix.com
A review of tonight's "Masters of Sex" coming up just as soon as I look like I should be sitting on Edgar Bergen's knee... "And then he said, 'I'll tell you what you're not, Rose. You're not your worst part.'" -Rose Because Bill's new employer is reluctant to reunite the Masters and Johnson team, "Kyrie Eleison" largely deals with the two of them trying to make their way without each other, at least until they can have their regular Dr. and Mrs. Holden assignation. There's a lot of set-up at the new hospital, including the introduction of Bill's new secretary Barbara — played by Betsy Brandt, a treat whenever she's in a more comic mode like this — and the amount of pressure he's under from Doug, and from the wealthy donors. Virginia, meanwhile, tries to care for Dr. DePaul as her cancer worsens, and explores what seems like a...
- 7/21/2014
- by Alan Sepinwall
- Hitfix
Kermit the Frog takes on his biggest challenge yet: dual roles. And truly puts the villain in vaudevillian. I’m “biast” (pro): love love love the Muppets like my own family
I’m “biast” (con): bite your tongue
(what is this about? see my critic’s minifesto)
In the annals of Hollywood, no puppet has seen more success on the big screen than Kermit the Frog, though many have tried. Punch was unable to make the transition from street theater to the silver screen in the 1920s, and the arrival of sound was said to have taken the heart out of his squeal, for it could not be adequately reproduced with the early technology of the time. Senator Charlie McCarthy, after he moved from show biz to politics, unjustly cut short many promising careers in the 1950s with his anti-puppet Felt List. Lamb Chop was already hitting the...
I’m “biast” (con): bite your tongue
(what is this about? see my critic’s minifesto)
In the annals of Hollywood, no puppet has seen more success on the big screen than Kermit the Frog, though many have tried. Punch was unable to make the transition from street theater to the silver screen in the 1920s, and the arrival of sound was said to have taken the heart out of his squeal, for it could not be adequately reproduced with the early technology of the time. Senator Charlie McCarthy, after he moved from show biz to politics, unjustly cut short many promising careers in the 1950s with his anti-puppet Felt List. Lamb Chop was already hitting the...
- 3/19/2014
- by MaryAnn Johanson
- www.flickfilosopher.com
Another director has been added to the growing list of those who will be working on an anthology based upon the work of one of the most acclaimed writers on the horror scene right now, Thomas Tessier. Read on for the latest on World of Hurt!
From the Press Release
Devi Snively, a participant in AFI's Directing Workshop for Women, is set to adapt Thomas Tessier’s short story “The Ventriloquist” from his Remorseless (Sinister Grin Press) collection. Snively is the fourth of five directors signed to the Thomas Tessier World Of Hurt project.
“I’m a puppet enthusiast so I was expecting one thing from ‘The Ventriloquist’ based on the title,” Snively said, “and then discovered it was about an entirely different kind of puppet that proves far scarier than your average Charlie McCarthy or Chucky variety—I just adore surprises.”
“The Ventriloquist” is the story of Robbie, 21, who...
From the Press Release
Devi Snively, a participant in AFI's Directing Workshop for Women, is set to adapt Thomas Tessier’s short story “The Ventriloquist” from his Remorseless (Sinister Grin Press) collection. Snively is the fourth of five directors signed to the Thomas Tessier World Of Hurt project.
“I’m a puppet enthusiast so I was expecting one thing from ‘The Ventriloquist’ based on the title,” Snively said, “and then discovered it was about an entirely different kind of puppet that proves far scarier than your average Charlie McCarthy or Chucky variety—I just adore surprises.”
“The Ventriloquist” is the story of Robbie, 21, who...
- 3/19/2014
- by Uncle Creepy
- DreadCentral.com
Oct. 30, 1938, started as a fairly typical Halloween Eve ... but it ended with many people convinced Martians were attacking.
The reason was one of the most famous hours in the history of broadcasting: "The War of the Worlds," Orson Welles' "Mercury Theatre on the Air" CBS radio adaptation of the H.G. Wells science-fiction novel. The 75th anniversary of the program, and its effect on untold numbers of terrified listeners, is marked by a new episode of PBS' "American Experience" Tuesday, Oct. 29 (check local listings).
Oliver Platt ("The Big C") narrates the account, which merges audio clips and comments from "witnesses" (actually actors voicing people's reactions from the time) with relevant interviews. Welles' daughter Chris Welles Feder and filmmaker Peter Bogdanovich - who became a close friend of Welles - are among those recalling how latecomers thought the radio play was an actual newscast, prompting widespread fear before a disclaimer (purposely...
The reason was one of the most famous hours in the history of broadcasting: "The War of the Worlds," Orson Welles' "Mercury Theatre on the Air" CBS radio adaptation of the H.G. Wells science-fiction novel. The 75th anniversary of the program, and its effect on untold numbers of terrified listeners, is marked by a new episode of PBS' "American Experience" Tuesday, Oct. 29 (check local listings).
Oliver Platt ("The Big C") narrates the account, which merges audio clips and comments from "witnesses" (actually actors voicing people's reactions from the time) with relevant interviews. Welles' daughter Chris Welles Feder and filmmaker Peter Bogdanovich - who became a close friend of Welles - are among those recalling how latecomers thought the radio play was an actual newscast, prompting widespread fear before a disclaimer (purposely...
- 10/29/2013
- by editorial@zap2it.com
- Zap2It - From Inside the Box
Fans that remember the In The Dark anthology shorts "The Keeper" and "Dummy" will be happy to know that even though the group has been quiet for a while, they've just arisen with a trailer for their new segment, "To Be Loved."
Honestly, that Charlie McCarthy ventriloquist mask these guys chose to use in "Dummy" still freaks us out so we're very excited to see just what they have in store. We'll have more on "To Be Loved" as it becomes available.
For now check out the trailer below, and be sure to visit the official In the Dark website and 'like' In the Dark on Facebook.
From the Press Release
While the first two episodes featured an axe-wielding ventriloquist dummy and a supernatural demon from hell, that was just for starters. This time things get really twisted and played for comedy. "To Be Loved" is a dark comedy with...
Honestly, that Charlie McCarthy ventriloquist mask these guys chose to use in "Dummy" still freaks us out so we're very excited to see just what they have in store. We'll have more on "To Be Loved" as it becomes available.
For now check out the trailer below, and be sure to visit the official In the Dark website and 'like' In the Dark on Facebook.
From the Press Release
While the first two episodes featured an axe-wielding ventriloquist dummy and a supernatural demon from hell, that was just for starters. This time things get really twisted and played for comedy. "To Be Loved" is a dark comedy with...
- 10/10/2013
- by Scott Hallam
- DreadCentral.com
The That Puppet Game Show co-producer on how his father got the Muppets on screen, and why London feels like home
Above the entrance to The Jim Henson Company lot in Hollywood stands one cultural icon, Kermit the Frog, dressed as another, Chaplin's Little Tramp. Chaplin built this lot in 1917 and sold it in 1953 after Hollywood blacklisted him. Now it's an active working studio, the headquarters of a puppetry empire that bestrides the world like a green-felt colossus, and also a living memorial to the man who might be called the Other Dad to three generations of children raised on Sesame Street and The Muppet Show (I count myself among them). And it's a measure of the centrality to modern American popular culture of Henson's cast of characters, and their abiding universality, that Kermit's donning of Chaplin's outfit seems not sacrilegious, but entirely natural and right.
When I meet Brian Henson,...
Above the entrance to The Jim Henson Company lot in Hollywood stands one cultural icon, Kermit the Frog, dressed as another, Chaplin's Little Tramp. Chaplin built this lot in 1917 and sold it in 1953 after Hollywood blacklisted him. Now it's an active working studio, the headquarters of a puppetry empire that bestrides the world like a green-felt colossus, and also a living memorial to the man who might be called the Other Dad to three generations of children raised on Sesame Street and The Muppet Show (I count myself among them). And it's a measure of the centrality to modern American popular culture of Henson's cast of characters, and their abiding universality, that Kermit's donning of Chaplin's outfit seems not sacrilegious, but entirely natural and right.
When I meet Brian Henson,...
- 8/11/2013
- by John Patterson
- The Guardian - Film News
Before she was Murphy Brown and the star of such films as Carnal Knowledge, Candice Bergen grew up watching her father Edgar Bergen scratch his way to stardom with his arm up the back of the wooden puppet Charlie McCarthy. She has teamed with James Francis Trezza and Pam Widener to produce a feature film based on her father, based on her bestselling 1984 memoir Knock Wood. Barbara Turner, who was recently WGA Award nominated for scripting the HBO film Hemingway And Gelhorn, will write the script. She reunites with Trezza and Widener after their collaboration on Pollock. Putting an innovative twist on the biopic form, the picture will take the Pov of Charlie McCarthy as Edgar Bergen came of age during the early days of showbiz in America, from vaudeville to the Golden Age of radio, to features and the birth of television. The three-foot tall wooden puppet became a household name,...
- 4/30/2013
- by MIKE FLEMING JR
- Deadline TV
Before she was Murphy Brown and the star of such films as Carnal Knowledge, Candice Bergen grew up watching her father Edgar Bergen scratch his way to stardom with his arm up the back of the wooden puppet Charlie McCarthy. She has teamed with James Francis Trezza and Pam Widener to produce a feature film based on her father, based on her bestselling 1984 memoir Knock Wood. Barbara Turner, who was recently WGA Award nominated for scripting the HBO film Hemingway And Gelhorn, will write the script. She reunites with Trezza and Widener after their collaboration on Pollock. Putting an innovative twist on the biopic form, the picture will take the Pov of Charlie McCarthy as Edgar Bergen came of age during the early days of showbiz in America, from vaudeville to the Golden Age of radio, to features and the birth of television. The three-foot tall wooden puppet became a household name,...
- 4/30/2013
- by MIKE FLEMING JR
- Deadline
Okay kiddies, you know all about Santa and Krampus and the Tooth Fairy and the Easter Bunny, but how many of you are familiar with the legend of The Butcher Fairy? We've got a 15-minute short film for you showing that particular entity in action!
To sum it up, the world's naughtiest five-year old has already acted up enough that his parents have spanked his ass off his body. Literally. They've got no other alternative than to turn to The Butcher Fairy. She's like Nanny McPhee…with a straight razor.
The film was written and directed by Brent Bokovoy and starring Rylan Gregg McPherson, Diana Vanhorn, Joel Boling and Kai Whiteley. The narrator is Donald O'Donovan. The entire film is written in rhyme, which can become a bit tedious, but there are some cool F/X and the creepiest damn Charlie McCarthy doll since the Night Terrors Dummy short. It's...
To sum it up, the world's naughtiest five-year old has already acted up enough that his parents have spanked his ass off his body. Literally. They've got no other alternative than to turn to The Butcher Fairy. She's like Nanny McPhee…with a straight razor.
The film was written and directed by Brent Bokovoy and starring Rylan Gregg McPherson, Diana Vanhorn, Joel Boling and Kai Whiteley. The narrator is Donald O'Donovan. The entire film is written in rhyme, which can become a bit tedious, but there are some cool F/X and the creepiest damn Charlie McCarthy doll since the Night Terrors Dummy short. It's...
- 4/15/2012
- by Doctor Gash
- DreadCentral.com
Bikers, babes, blood and a guy wearing one of the most disturbing Charlie McCarthy masks you'll ever see. All of this and much more will be waiting for you with the new anthology series Night Terrors.
Created by David Buchert and Chris St. Croix, Night Terrors is wrapping its first two 25-minute episodes, The Keeper and Dummy, and trust me when I tell you that both of these episodes look very impressive.
Take a look for yourself. The Not Safe For Work trailer is waiting below. And tell me if that dude in the dummy mask isn't the freakiest thing you've seen in ages. Currently in post-production, The Keeper is scheduled to be completed and released in November with Dummy following in December. We'll keep you posted.
From the Press Release
In the tradition of Tales from the Crypt, writer/directors David Buchert and Chris St. Croix bring you the new anthology series Night Terrors!
Created by David Buchert and Chris St. Croix, Night Terrors is wrapping its first two 25-minute episodes, The Keeper and Dummy, and trust me when I tell you that both of these episodes look very impressive.
Take a look for yourself. The Not Safe For Work trailer is waiting below. And tell me if that dude in the dummy mask isn't the freakiest thing you've seen in ages. Currently in post-production, The Keeper is scheduled to be completed and released in November with Dummy following in December. We'll keep you posted.
From the Press Release
In the tradition of Tales from the Crypt, writer/directors David Buchert and Chris St. Croix bring you the new anthology series Night Terrors!
- 10/14/2011
- by Doctor Gash
- DreadCentral.com
I know a thing or two about the legendary War of the Worlds broadcast of 1938. It served as the initial inspiration for my master's thesis covering what was called "First Person Singular," the then-revolutionary narrative technique Orson Welles employed in his radio dramas, and how his later film writing owed such a debt to those early days of radio. Before Welles, only 23 at the time of War of the Worlds, almost all radio dramas employed a narrator separate from the story, but Orson figured rightly that you could tell those stories more efficiently by giving the exposition to a central character.
Because of that, the approach allowed for the device in War of the Worlds of advancing the story through fake news reports. Problem was, even though there was a disclaimer before the broadcast that it was a work of fiction, roughly two million people thought it was a real alien invasion.
Because of that, the approach allowed for the device in War of the Worlds of advancing the story through fake news reports. Problem was, even though there was a disclaimer before the broadcast that it was a work of fiction, roughly two million people thought it was a real alien invasion.
- 10/30/2009
- by Colin Boyd
- GetTheBigPicture.net
Several Irish productions from various media sectors have been selected to compete at the Prix Europa Festival in Berlin which will take place from 17 – 24 October. The Prix Europa festival seeks to strengthen the personal dialogue between the creative minds of the international media market. In 2008, more than 1,000 delegates from over 40 countries attended the event. Tanya Doyle's documentary 'The House' has been selected from 465 entrants in over 40 countries to compete for the Best TV Documentary, as has Charlie McCarthy's 'Seamus Heaney: Out of the Marvellous'. Director Tanya Doyle and Producer Daniel Hegarty will present a screening of 'The House' at the festival.
- 9/24/2009
- IFTN
I think our original idea behind the Classic Cameos series was to pick one memorable cameo from a movie. However, The Muppet Movie is a long string of cameos, and why should I have to highlight only one? So many people pop up throughout the 1979 film -- my favorites are James Coburn, who owns the El Sleezo nightclub; Carol Kane's very silly "Myth? Yeth?" running gag; Mel Brooks in what's really more of an actual role than a cameo, as the mad scientist; and Orson Welles at the end of the film.
If that sounds like enough cameos, I've barely started. The Muppet Movie also has appearances from Dom DeLuise, Madeline Kahn and Telly Savalas, Paul Williams, Cloris Leachman, Bob Hope, Milton Berle, Edgar Bergen (and Charlie McCarthy), Elliot Gould and Big Bird. Director James Frawley supposedly appears onscreen briefly, but I'm not sure I'd recognize him. I've included...
If that sounds like enough cameos, I've barely started. The Muppet Movie also has appearances from Dom DeLuise, Madeline Kahn and Telly Savalas, Paul Williams, Cloris Leachman, Bob Hope, Milton Berle, Edgar Bergen (and Charlie McCarthy), Elliot Gould and Big Bird. Director James Frawley supposedly appears onscreen briefly, but I'm not sure I'd recognize him. I've included...
- 9/21/2009
- by Jette Kernion
- Cinematical
Series seven of 'The Clinic' has finished principal photography in Dublin. The award winning Irish drama which has been running on Rte has seen a wealth of Irish acting talent appear on our screens throughout the years with some new faces joining the latest series. Directed by Declan Eames, Janet Traynor, Lisa Mulcahy and Charlie McCarthy, the series was produced by Jonathon Curling (Holy Cross, Falling For a Dancer) for Parallel Films. This latest eight episode series sees the regular faces of Amy Huberman (Daisy), Dominic Mafham (Dan), Leigh Arnold (Clodagh) Tanya Moodie (Grace Safete) and Gary Lydon (Patrick) return to our screens. Also joining the cast this year is Victoria Smurfit (Trial & Retribution) who will play Edel.
- 7/23/2009
- IFTN
Principal Photography commenced this week on the new a six part comedy series - 'Anseo', produced by Wildfire Films for TG4. Charlie McCarthy (On Home Ground) will helm the drama which tells the story of civil servant Setanta de Paor who is the guardian of the Irish language but is about to become lost in translation with a savagely tightened public purse - and his only hope a parrot called Mairtin O Cadhain. Risteard Cooper (The State of Us) stars in the lead role and is joined by Conor McNeill (Cherrybomb), Norma Sheahan (New Boy), Kate Nic Chonaonaigh (Rolla Saor) and Michelle Beamish (Eden).
- 4/30/2009
- IFTN
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