With Divergent now playing in theaters, I recently landed an exclusive video interview with Christian Madsen and Ben Lloyd-Hughes.  During the interview they talked about working with director Neil Burger, the shenanigans at the apartment building where the cast was staying, future projects, how they both read Collider, and more.

For those unfamiliar, the film is based on the Veronica Roth novel of the same name and takes place in a society where people are divided into factions based on their personalities.  Tris (Shailene Woodley) is a young girl who doesn’t fit into any of the pre-assigned groups and faces grave consequences due to her status as a “Divergent.”  Hit the jump to watch the interview.  Divergent also stars Theo James, Ansel Elgort, Ray Stevenson, Zoe Kravitz, Tony Goldwyn, Ashley Judd, Maggie Q, Mekhi Phifer and Kate Winslet.

There’s nothing better than a film that grabs you by the throat and knocks you square on your ass.  Cheap Thrills, out now on VOD and in select theaters, is one of those all too rare films.  Director E.L. Katz takes a simple premise – a pair of old friends who’ve fallen on hard times participate in a series of escalating dares for fast cash – and turns it into a brutal, funny, surprisingly emotional, and occasionally deranged exploration of just how low we’ll go when fueled by desperation.  Cheap Thrills stars David Koechner, Pat Healy, Ethan Embry and Sara Paxton.

At a recent LA press day I had the opportunity to sit down for an exclusive interview with actors Pat Healy and Ethan Embry.  They talked about how the film defies genre labels, what attracted them to their roles, how the watching experience holds up across different media, making a film their proud of, and more.  Check out what they had to say after the jump.

Billy Crudup is one of those actors who refuses to be pigeonholed.  He’s comfortable on stage and on screen, in big-budget Hollywood productions and modest indie films.  He’s played bad guys, good guys, tough guys, sensitive guys.  But it’s fair to say that he’s most attracted to roles where he gets to play some kind of flawed anti-hero.  In his latest film, Blood Ties, which is part gritty crime thriller, part family drama, Crudup does exactly that, as a New York cop in 1974 who struggles against his ex-con brother (Clive Owen) after he’s released from prison.  It’s a remake of the 2008 French film, Les Liens du Sang, which was itself based on a book.  Directed by Guillaume Canet, a French star in his own right who actually originated the role Crudup plays in the American version, the film also stars James Caan, as the family’s imperfect patriarch, and an impressive assemblage of talented actresses, including Marion Cotillard, Mila Kunis and Zoe Saldana.

Billy Crudup recently spoke to Collider for this exclusive interview about Blood Ties and the influence of classic 1970s crime thrillers on Canet’s vision for the film.  He also talked about his current Broadway run alongside Ian McKellen, Patrick Stewart and Shuler Hensley in Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot and No Man’s Land.  Hit the jump to see what he had to say.

With Muppets Most Wanted now in theaters, I recently landed an exclusive video interview with Tina Fey.  In the sequel, the gang is on a successful tour in Europe but gets into trouble when Kermit gets mistaken for his jewel-heisting doppelganger, Constantine.  The film stars Ricky Gervais, Ty Burrell and features a ton of celebrity cameos.  For more on the film, watch 20 minutes of behind-the-scenes footage, or check out all our previous coverage which features TV spots, clips, interviews, and more.

In my interview with Fey, she talked about how she was offered the role, what it was like working with Kermit the Frog, how the Muppets are great improvisers, how quickly she said yes to being in the film, and what fans of 30 Rock should do to get more of Jack and Liz’s relationship.

With Divergent opening this weekend, I recently landed an exclusive video interview with Tony Goldwyn and Ashley Judd.  During the interview they talked about working with director Neil Burger, the level of detail in the costumes and sets, the way they like to work, and more

For those unfamiliar, the film is based on the Veronica Roth novel of the same name and takes place in a society where people are divided into factions based on their personalities.  Tris (Shailene Woodley) is a young girl who doesn’t fit into any of the pre-assigned groups and faces grave consequences due to her status as a “Divergent.”  Hit the jump to watch the interview.  Divergent also stars Theo James, Ansel Elgort, Ray Stevenson, Zoe Kravitz, Maggie Q, Ben Lloyd-Hughes, Christian Madsen, and Kate Winslet.

Bad Words, the feature directorial debut of Jason Bateman, is the subversively funny story of Guy Trilby (played by Bateman), a 40-year-old man who finds a loophole in the rules of The Golden Quill national spelling bee and decides to hijack the competition.  The overly ambitious 8^th graders are no match for Guy, who is determined to crush their dreams of winning. The film also stars Kathryn Hahn, Allison Janney, Philip Baker Hall and Rohan Chand.

At the film’s press day, actor/director Jason Bateman spoke at a roundtable interview about why he wanted to take on the responsibility of directing a film, finding the tone of the story, bringing the flaws and vulnerabilities out of the character, having so many swear words, the process of directing himself, making the best use of pre-production, working with his young co-stars, and coming from a funny family.  He also talked about going into production on his next directorial effort, The Family Fang, in May, why directing is the greatest job in the world, and that he prefers contributing to an already existing script over writing something himself.  Check out what he had to say after the jump.

Muppets Most Wanted takes the entire Muppets gang on a tour of Europe’s most exciting destinations, but once they’re overseas, they find themselves caught up in a crime caper at the hands of Kermit’s evil doppleganger Constantine.  Featuring numerous Muppets, great musical numbers and surprising cameos, this action-comedy-musical will most certainly make you laugh, and might even bring a tear to your eye.

During a conference at the film’s press day, director/writer James Bobin and songwriter/music supervisor Bret McKenzie talked about connecting with the original vibe of The Muppets, what the Hensons think of the film, how it was to work with The Muppets again, the logistics of shooting a Muppet movie, the inspirations for this story, finding the right tone for the songs, lining up the cameos, paying tribute to classic old Hollywood films, and telling a story that’s funny for both kids and adults.  Check out what they had to say after the jump.

Who would have thought turning the two lead characters into total idiots would have been the game changer that finally got Neighbors’ a green light?  Mac and Kelly Radner (Seth Rogen and Rose Byrne) seem to have their priorities straight.  They love each other and their baby girl dearly, and are deeply dedicated to building a wonderful life for their family, but when a fraternity moves in next door and threatens to destroy that quaint existence, they make one rash decision after the next, sparking an all out war with the boys next door.

While in Austin, Texas for Neighbors’ worldwide debut, producer Evan Goldberg spent some time with Collider at the Funny or Die House decked out in Delta Psi essentials to discuss what it took to convince the studio to let them go big and make this movie.  Find out who could have been the leads in this film, how Byrne was vital to getting this movie made, how her on-set success affected the final cut, and much more straight from Goldberg after the jump. And, in case you missed it, click here to check out what he told us about his upcoming projects, The Interview, Console Wars and Preacher.

With Divergent opening this weekend, I recently landed an exclusive video interview with Ansel Elgort.  During the interview he talked about working with directorNeil Burger, deleted scenes, why the police were called so many times to the apartment building where the cast was staying, his thoughts on Phil Jackson being the president of the Knicks, Jason Reitman‘s next film Men, Women & Children, and more

For those unfamiliar, the film is based on the Veronica Roth novel of the same name and takes place in a society where people are divided into factions based on their personalities.  Tris (Shailene Woodley) is a young girl who doesn’t fit into any of the pre-assigned groups and faces grave consequences due to her status as a “Divergent.”  Hit the jump to watch the interview.  Divergent also stars Theo James, Ashley Judd, Ray Stevenson, Zoe Kravitz, Tony Goldwyn, Maggie Q, Ben Lloyd-Hughes, Christian Madsen, and Kate Winslet.

Directed by Kelsey Mann, the Monsters University short Party Central (showing in theaters with Muppets Most Wanted), sees Mike and Sully back at Monsters University for a fun-filled weekend with their fraternity brothers.  The Oozma Kappa gang is throwing their first party, but when no one shows up, Mike and Sully come up with a plan to make sure their party becomes the most epic party the school has ever seen.

During the Muppets Most Wanted press day, Kelsey Mann demonstrated the process for pitching this short, and then talked about how the idea for Party Central came about, how the people that worked on the short had also worked on the feature, what a smooth transition it was to go from being story supervisor to director, choosing your battles when you’re doing animation, how hands-on John Lasseter was with the short, and that he’d love to do more Monsters shorts.  Check out what he had to say after the jump. 

For more than 30 years, PaleyFest has held panel sessions and screenings that connect the worldwide community of television fans with the casts and creators of their favorite TV shows. One of the evenings was to celebrate the huge success of the first season of the Fox television series Sleepy Hollow.  The modern-day twist on the Washington Irving’s classic tale of Ichabod Crane seems like a completely insane story idea, but has instead proven to be a fun ride that is very entertaining to watch on a weekly basis.  Collider was there to attend the panel, and we’ve compiled some of the highlights.

During the evening, executive producers Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci, Len Wiseman and Mark Goffman, as well as actors Tom Mison (“Ichabod Crane”) and Nicole Beharie (“Lt. Abbie Mills”), talked about what’s up for the gang in Season 2, what type of new characters will show up, how Ichabod and Katrina will be dealing with their very complicated family drama, when the actors found out about what would happen in the season finale, how surprised they are that viewers want to see Ichabod and Abbie together, how monumental the fan response has been, whether Ichabod will ever change his clothes, and how there will be backstories for more of the characters.  Check out what they had to say after the jump.

Jeff Goldblum, who first worked with Wes Anderson on The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, was thrilled to reunite with the director again on his new comedy-drama caper, The Grand Budapest Hotel.  Goldblum plays Deputy Vilmos Kovacs, the attorney representing the estate of the late Madame D (Tilda Swinton) whose sudden and mysterious death kicks off the main action of the story and sets in motion a scramble to lay claim to her vast fortune.  The charge is led by her son Dmitri (Adrien Brody), the film’s ruthless and darkly comic main villain.  The impressive cast also includes Ralph Fiennes, F. Murray Abraham, Bill Murray, Willem Dafoe, Ed Norton, Jude Law, Jason Schwartzman, Owen Wilson and Tony Revolori.

At the film’s recent press day, Goldblum spoke about being a part of the Wes Anderson universe, why he considered it a fantastic privilege and found the collaborative experience creatively inspiring, what the rehearsal process was like, his preparation for the role, what he brought to the character, and why he liked the challenge.  He also discussed his recent internet fame, his upcoming film Mortdecai with Johnny Depp, Ewan McGregor, Paul Bettany and Gwyneth Paltrow, and plans to perform with his jazz band at Rockwell in Los Feliz.  Hit the jump to check out the interview.

With Enormous now online (watch it here), I recently landed an exclusive interview with producer Adrian Askarieh.  He talked about how he discovered the graphic novel by Tim Daniel and artist Mehdi Cheggour, how Machinima got involved, shooting in Los Angeles, avoiding “web series” casting, his goal for the series, the status of the Deus Ex movie adaptation, and more.

For those unfamiliar with Enormous, the series takes place in a world overrun with gigantic monsters.  Ceren Lee stars as a woman who works for the United Nation’s Search and Rescue division looking for abandoned children.  The short also stars Erica Gimpel, Steve Brand, Garret Coffey, Billy Miller, Dallas Liu,  Joe Swamberg, Nathan Moore, Todd Farmer, Simon Barret, and Charles Melton.  Hit the jump for the interview.

Muppets Most Wanted takes the entire Muppets gang on a tour of Europe’s most exciting destinations, but once they’re overseas, they find themselves caught up in a crime caper at the hands of Kermit’s evil doppleganger Constantine.  Featuring numerous Muppets, great musical numbers and surprising cameos, this action-comedy-musical will most certainly make you laugh, and might even bring a tear to your eye.

During a conference at the film’s press day, co-stars Tiny Fey, Ricky Gervais, Ty Burrell, Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, Constantine and Sam Eagle talked about how they felt about doing a musical, why Nadya (Tina Fey) is a better woman for Kermit than Miss Piggy, what kids will like most about the movie, how the actors’ kids feel about them working with Muppets, how The Muppets inspired the humans, and what Kermit is most proud of.  Check out what they had to say after the jump.

There’s nothing better than a film that grabs you by the throat and knocks you square on your ass.  Cheap Thrills, out now on VOD and arriving in select theaters this weekend, is one of those all too rare films.  Director E.L.  Katz takes a simple premise – a pair of old friends who’ve fallen on hard times participate in a series of escalating dares for fast cash – and turns it into a brutal, funny, surprisingly emotional, and occasionally deranged exploration of just how low we’ll go when fueled by desperation.  Cheap Thrills stars David Koechner, Pat Healy, Ethan Embry and Sara Paxton.

I recently had the opportunity to jump on the phone for an exclusive interview with director E.L.  Katz.  He talked about his transition from screenwriter to director, what surprised him about being a first time director, landing the excellent ensemble cast, how the script evolved through re-writes, setting the film in LA, what’s up next, and more.  Hit the jump to see what he had to say.