Vincent D'Onofrio to conduct 'Masterclass' at Lee Strasberg March 15TH

LEE STRASBERG ON FACEBOOK

The Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute - OFFICIAL

Vincent D'Onofrio will be here next Friday at noon to give a special StrasbergTalk Master Class, in which volunteers will be taken from the audience to participate in exercises! Open to Strasberg students and alumni!

Red-carpet start to Stranger With My Face Horror Film Festival

THE MERCURY

Horror film directors Jennifer Lynch, centre left, of the US, and Penny Vozniak, of Sydney, were special guests at the Stranger With My Face horror movie festival opening last night at the Peacock Theatre. Picture: LUKE BOWDEN

THE Stranger With My Face horror film festival began with a scream last night, with guests walking the red carpet outside the Peacock Theatre in Hobart's Salamanca Place.

The four-day festival's first event featured the screening and judging of entries in this year's 48-Hour Tasploitation Challenge, a series of short horror films with a Tasmanian twist.

This year's special guest is filmmaker Jennifer Lynch, daughter of surrealist filmmaker David Lynch, and director of the psychological thrillers Chained and Surveillance, both of which are screening as part of the festival.

Other guest judges included horror filmmaker Ursula Dabrowsky, Abi Binning from Wide Angle Tasmania, Ben Hellwig from Monster Pictures, Andrew McPhail from Screen Tasmania and MONA's Kirsha Kaechele.

The festival, focusing on female horror filmmakers, continues tonight with Despite the Gods, the story of Jennifer Lynch's struggles to make her movie Hisss in India.

Other events include screenings of Surveillance at MONA, a screening of Chained at the Peacock Theatre followed by a Q&A with Jennifer Lynch tomorrow night, and a monster make-up master class with special-effects artist Steve Boyle tomorrow afternoon.

The festival ends on Sunday.

'A Fall From Grace' teaser trailer...

David Barrett discusses 'Fire With Fire'...

This is part of an interview with David Barrett who directed 'Fire With Fire' and I especially thought the comments about Vincent were interesting reading.  'Fire With Fire' will be released in theatres in the UK today.

FAN CARPET

So, tell us a little about Fire With Fire...

Fire With Fire was tough because I had done a lot of second unit on movies, I'd done a lot of second unit action on TV shows, and directed probably 75 TV shows, produced shows, I produced Orphan, I shot second unit on that movie... So to have my first movie be Fire With Fire, where I had had to shoot something in 20 days, was really tough. It was probably just shy of half of what I have to shoot a television show. To have personalities like Bruce Willis, to have a crew that doesn't know each other, to have no standing sets was a very, very difficult shoot, but thank God I had some terrific actors like Rosario Dawson and Josh Duhamel and Vincent D'Onofrio to help pull it off. The script had been around a little while and the tough part about it was really trying to find the right actor for that role, and Josh really fit the bill because he is a guy who is devoid of ego, he is one of the most kind individuals I have ever met. In order for some of the moments or scenarios that were in the script at the very beginning, in order for the audience to go on that right I had to make him as vulnerable and relatable as I could possibly make him or else it just wouldn't work, and I felt like he was the right choice, and he was.

There is a fantastic cast on-board, in particular Bruce Willis, you must have been thrilled when he signed up for the project?

I was. I had done movies with him before as a stuntman when I did his movie Striking Distance, and I'd met him a few times. My dad was Burt Reynolds and Paul Newman's stunt double, so Paul was my Godfather, so some of these race car races we would end up seeing Bruce, so I had met him before. Of course he didn't remember, but when he signed on, I mean, are you kidding me? I knew I had the movie. I was ecstatic. He's not in the movie a ton, but he does drive the story forward.

For me the stand-out performance was Vincent D'Onofrio – I think I've said that right...

Yes you did, good job! [laughs] I got it wrong a lot of the time.

He plays a really harrowing villain and has a really chilling presence to him. But I read there was a time he seemed unlikely to get involved because of scheduling issues?

I wanted him, and he didn't want to do the movie. So, I put pressure on everyone in the biggest way and said “I have to talk to him”, so I got him on the phone and I told him who his character is, from the age of seven years old up until the time the script starts. I went into this big, back story of who his character is and how he was just a kid, and a kid who had hopes of running his father's congregation, and the defining moment that turned him. By the time I was three quarters of the way into my pitch about the character, he said, “I see it. I'm doing your movie. We'll figure out the scheduling, I don't care how, but we're gonna figure it out”. The first take, I mean I had an incredibly tough first two days of the movie as I was having to shoot nine pages those days in six different locations with Bruce Willis. So I got to Vincent and the very first take I looked to the producers and I said, “We have a real movie.” It's important to have a lead, but your villain needs to be credible and relatable and he gave a performance that just... I mean, put it this way, he intimidated everyone in the cast, and I mean everyone. And the crew. He inspired everyone around him.

'A Fall From Grace' approved for St. Louis tax credits...

Just received this in my email... Mari Stewart posted on your timeline

"I JUST got this in my email about "A Fall From Grace"!! Thank you for taking the time to contact Governor Nixon regarding the film project "A Fall From Grace". As you may know, the production submitted an application with the Department of Economic Development for 2013 Film Production Tax Credits. I am pleased to inform you that the Missouri Department of Economic Development has conditionally approved $639,772 in 2013 Film Production Tax Credits for the production of "A Fall From Grace." The tax credit was approved with the contingency the production company meets certain requirements. Again, thank you for your correspondence. Please do not hesitate to contact our office if we may be of any assistance in the future. Sincerely, Danielle Frazier

Family Reunion...

Recently, Vincent's family traveled to NYC to visit and attend 'Clive'...

Back: Fallon [Toni's daughter], Leila, Vincent.  Front: Toni, Vincent's Mom, Phyllis, and Elizabeth.  Photo graciously shared by Fallon on Facebook.

'Chlorine' to hit US theatres March 17TH

This was updated just recently on IMDb including a banner announcing 'Chlorine' release.  Stay tuned for more info as it becomes available.

'Six Degrees of Vincent D'Onofrio'...Bonnie Franklin

Wikipedia

Bonnie Franklin was born on January 6, 1944 in Santa Monica, California.  When she was 13 years old, her family moved to Beverly Hills where she attended high school.  After graduating high school, she attended Smith College and moved back to California to attend UCLA.  Her first appearance was on 'The Colgate Comedy Hour' at 9 years old and had a non-credited role in Alfred Hitchcock's film, 'The Wrong Man'.  Bonnie made her Broadway debut in 1970 in the musical, 'Applause', which earned her a Tony Award nomination.  Further performances followed including my home town of Pittsburgh in 'Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?'. She is most known for her TV series, 'One Day At A Time' in which she portrayed a divorced mother raising two daughters, played by Valerie Bertinelli and Mackenzie Phillips.  The series ran from 1975 to 1984.  She reunited with Bertinelli in 'Hot In Cleveland' last year.  On September 24, 2012, it was announced that Bonnie had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and undergoing treatment.  Today, Bonnie Franklin succumbed to her disease and passed away at 69 years old.  Find the connection!

''Sinister 2' in the works'

FLICKERING MYTH

After the original movie earned $87M worldwide, Blumhouse Productions has decided to move forward with a sequel to the low-budget horrorSinister. Director Scott Derrickson and co-writer C. Robert Cargill will pen the screenplay for the follow-up, with Derrickson also serving as producer alongside Jason Blum. There's no word yet on who will be directing, or a possible release date.

Sinister starred Ethan Hawke as a true-crime writer who finds a cache of 8mm home movies that suggest the murder he is currently researching is the work of a serial killer whose career dates back to the 1960s. Juliet Rylance, James Ransone, Fred Dalton Thompson and Vincent D’Onofrio all co-starred.

This news isn’t surprising but it is also very exciting. I really enjoyed the first Sinister and thought it was one of the best horror movies in years. A sequel isn’t something I was hoping for but with Derrickson and Cargill back as writers I’m all for Sinister 2.

Sydney Lynch cast in her mother's next film, 'A Fall From Grace'

Sydney had a bit part in 'Chained' as one of the victims wrapped in a garbage bag and can be seen in the documentary on the filming of 'Boxing Helena' in 'Despite The Gods'.

'David Lynch to Appear in His Daughter Jennifer's Feature 'A Fall From Grace''

THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

The indie will star Tim Roth as a homicide detective pursuing a serial killer.

David Lynch has agreed to take a role in his daughter Jennifer Lynch’s new feature A Fall From Grace.The stars Tim Roth as a St. Louis homicide detective on the trail of a serial killer. The elder Lynch will play the father of Roth’s character.

STORY: David Lynch: 'Feature Films Have Become Cheap' (Q&A)

Paz Vega and Willow Shields also have joined the cast of the project, which includes Vincent D'Onofrio. The production is expected to begin filming in the summer.

Jennifer Lynch co-wrote the script with Eric Wilkinson, who will produce the indie project along with David Michaels, his partner in Apothecary Films. Jory Weitz, who is also a partner in Apothecary, will executive produce.

"I didn’t write the role with him in mind," she says, "but I was thinking of him because he calls up so many powerful and yet fragile elements in my life and because this character is strong but broken down by dementia. So for me, it’s perfect."

Facing the prospect of being directed by his daughter for the first time, David Lynch promised, "I will be putty in Jen’s hands."

'CHLORINE' scheduled to screen on March 15th at Sun Valley Film Festival

Just received the schedule for the Sun Valley Film Festival and 'Chained' will screen on Friday, March 15TH   at 8 p.m.

TICKETS

Stranger With My Face Horror Film Festival special guest Jennifer Lynch will screen 'Chained', 'Surveillance' and 'Despite The Gods'

Posted by Stranger With My Face Horror Film Festival on February 27, 2013

Tickets are now on sale for the niche genre festival, 7-10 March in Hobart 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Hobart – 27 February— Highly regarded filmmaker Jennifer Lynch (daughter of iconic filmmaker David Lynch) will be a special guest at the Stranger With My Face Horror Film Festival in Hobart next week. 

Lynch will be present for the opening night film Despite the Gods, a documentary which details her difficult experiences while directing the feature film Hissss in India. 

The film’s director, Australian Penny Vozniak, will also be in attendance for a post-screening Q&A. 

“This is the ideal film to open the festival,” says Stranger With My Face’s Briony Kidd, “It’s not only a hugely entertaining doco, but it concerns the struggle of a female director making genre cinema, so will be of particular interest to our audience and the other visiting filmmakers.” 

“We’re excited to have Jennifer at the festival, because she’s had a fascinating career to date and her work is so strong and original.” 

The Stranger With My Face Horror Film Festival focuses on female perspectives in the horror genre and highlights the work of women specifically, in an area of the film industry where they are greatly underrepresented behind the camera. 

It’s affiliated with an international movement, Women in Horror Month, and coincides with International Women’s Day on 8 March. The festival’s aims are about increasing the quality and entertainment value of mainstream cinema by encouraging diversity. 

Stranger With My Face will screen Lynch’s most recent film as director, Chained, on 9 March, with a post-screening Q&A. Well received on the international festival circuit in recent times, it stars Vincent D’Onofrio as a serial killer. 

In addition, Jennifer Lynch will introduce a screening of her 2008 thriller, Surveillance, at MONA Cinema on 9 March. MONA will also host a short program of selected films from the festival on 10 March, with details to be announced soon.

Out of the woodwork, 3 years later, 'Chlorine' to screen at Sun Valley Film Festival

SUN VALLEY FILM FESTIVAL OFFICIAL PAGE

         MARCH 14 - 17, SUN VALLEY, IDAHO

                                                                 

Chlorine

A New England family (Lents) grows apart in the materialistic, country club neighborhood of Copper Canyon. When Georgie (Sedgwick) pressures her husband (D’Onofrio) into a real estate deal that goes bad, the social deck in Copper Canyon is reshuffled and the Lent family will never be the same.

Director/Writer: James Alaimo

Producers: James Alaimo, Matt Parker, Chris Beatty

Director of Photography: Paul Daley

Cast: Vincent D’Onofrio, Kyra Sedgwick, Flora Cross, Michele Hicks, Dreama Walker, Rhys Coiro

USA

* World Premiere

Type of Film: Dramatic Features

 

Oscar picks and New York theater...'Clive'

IRV BAUER ON SCREEN WRITING

Posted on February 22, 2013 by Irv Bauer

The ,”OSCARS,”…AND DRAMATIC REVELATIONS…let’s say it wasn’t about marketing and was about artistic merit … we should be so lucky!

My Choices :

Best Supporting Actress: Sally Field – “Lincoln”

Best Supporting Actor: I have no horse in this race.

Best Actress: Emmanuelle Riva – “Amour”

Best Actor: Daniel Day Lewis – “Lincoln”

Best Director: Ang Lee – “Life of Pi”

Best Original Screenplay: Quentin Tarantino – “Django Unchained”

Best Adapted Screenplay: David Magee – “Life of Pi”

Best Documentary: Dov Moreh, Philippa Kowarsky and Estelle Fialon – “The Gatekeepers”

Best Foreign Film: Michael Haneke – “Amour”

This was a hard one. It was also the most interesting categorie as well as the most competitive.

“Amour,” and “A Royal Affair,” a toss up with the edge going to, “Amour.” Not far behind and worth a shout out, “No,” is right up there. All three very good films. Bravo to all, and as long as we are, hailing…, “Life of Pi,” again, loudly, and for all time.

The Dramatic revelation…

Just for a change of pace, I went to the Theater.

STEPHEN SONDHEIM and ETHAN HAWKE

Ethan Hawke in “Clive”

“CLIVE” at The New Group in New York

At The New Group, one of the more adventurous and ambitious of New York’s Theater Companies we have, “Clive.” The New Group do a limited number of plays each season, carefully chosen, well produced, directed and acted. Their standards are very high. Thy are consistently reliable and if they slip occasionally …they do try. The Artistic Director, Scott Elliot, is relentless in trying to bring interesting work to his audiences. Geoff Rich, the Executive Director says that what they try to do is to provide, “a true forum for the present culture.”

“Clive,” is written by Jonathan Marc Sherman and directed by Ethan Hawke. Mr. Hawke also plays the title character of Clive, fills and carries the play.

Watching the play I found myself thinking about actors. I have always thought actors to be the gift of the theater. Acting is not a 9 to 5 job and then you go home and zone out in front of the TV. They are in it come hell or high water and always at war with the beast. The next role, the workshops, classes, readings, rounds, agents, small parts, smaller parts, commercials, the road, waiting on tables, driving cabs, the chatter, the backbiting, who else can you talk to but other actors, the friendships … what I did for love… and always the craft … doing what you love to do with your life’s blood. And don’t try to explain it to anybody. In the words of the film heartthrob of yester-year, Van Johnson, “they’re civilians.” Actors must act and part of their great frustration, is the lack of opportunity. So we see in, “Clive,” Vincent D’Onofrio, a bavura actor. You’ll recognize him from TV’s, “Criminal Intent.” He brings the stage to life. We should see more of him on our stages. The ensemble is terrific. It’s like one big acting class. Young actors trying to shine in their instant choices to realize a moment and then move on. You have to start somewhere.

Ethan Hawke is a film star. “Training Day,” “Before The Devil Knows You’re Dead,” among many others. He has also been, “a contender,” on Broadway. Tom Stoppard’s, “The Coast of Utopia,” “Henry 1V,” “The Sea Gull,” all big time stuff. He has paid his dues… made, makes choices of grandeur. Rather than playing it safe, nestling into the star actor’s prerogatives of audience adulation and approval, he has carved out a different path for himself.  He wants to not only challenge himself, but also lead a meaningful, artistic and for him, healthy and vigorous life in a very difficult and frustrating cultural environment. He seems to be having a good time. It all comes together in, “Clive.” He is the reason for and the fulfillment of, ” Clive.” I guess he thought it would be easier to do it all himself. He gets an A for effort and a B for getting burned.

Not nearly all his fault. Jonathan Marc Sherman, says that, “Clive” is based on, inspired by, and stolen from the German version of Bertolt Brecht’s “Baal.” Mr. Sherman goes on to say that he used a literal translation to do his adaptation. It might have made a difference if the adapter understood German and breathed the nuance and texture of what meaning lay beneath the words in German so that he could adequately find the English understanding for the adaptation. What did the original play say …what was, “Baal,” all about?

We all steal. The key is to steal from the best and then do your version, wonderfully. Brecht pinched from John Gay’s, “Beggar’s Opera,” for his, “Three Penny Opera.” He took what he wanted and then made magic with it.

“Baal,” was Brecht’s first play, written when he was 20, in 1918. It is an angry young man’s play. A German young man, struggling with the society he was living in. Germany had lost the first World War. The country was in chaos. Brecht was furious with the theater and it’s taste for illusion and theatrical magic. He wanted to shake it up, rip it down, move his audiences with his vision of social conditions as they were. He wanted to provoke change by the challenge of his work on the stage. He was audacious, in your face, no holds bared, society, warts most of all. His was a theater of the despised, the depraved, and the despairing. Theater to run from. It was harsh …brutish … gutteral, like the German language itself. That was his, “Baal.” You can have cake if you are prepared to pay for it. Even if you aren’t. So long as you pay, and he would make his audiences pay. You see the seeds in, “Baal,” of, “The Three Penny Opera.” He’s talking about the same down-trodden underclass, but he had a social concern. I don’t see that social concern transposed to our culture, in, “Clive.” So what is, “Clive,” about?

Of course Mr. Sherman has updated, language, characterizations, locations … all to make it seem new and shiney today. For all of his changes, unless you find the right equivalents, things don’t remain the same, even if you intend them to equate. They just don’t. Mr. Sherman is talented … there are flashes … moments … some insights, crude but they and an honest attempt at relevance. There integrated musical doors with strings hanging from them; sounds nuts, but they are woven into the production design and occasionally plucked by characters scratching out melodic sound (not overdone) to enhance, contribute, to the dramatic moments. Surprised as I was …they work.  Another attempt at style is when the characters break to the audience and speak their own stage directions … a devise that added …what? It felt like an affectation of playwriting that was passed off for Brechtian style. And…more important … Mr. Sherman doesn’t have to do the dirty. He doesn’t fulfill the potential of the production. He doesn’t show the ugliness in all of its larger than life frontal assault on our sensibilities. Naming rape, seduction, assault, brutality … death …is really not the same as seeing it up front and personal. We get shadows, whispers of grossness, callousness, the harshness of man’s inhumanity to woman, and man. We see actorly versions of our culture’s underbelly, leaning heavily on sex, drugs and rock and roll for it’s own sake …and then I wrote … So What … or paraphrasing the mantra in, “Clive,” “A rat dies in the gutter … so what …?” Indeed … so what. Who cares.  And …we should care … about something or some one. Up there on the stage something must be happening that touches me at some point, for some reason. You can’t just tell me that everything is shit and so what … What does that say about me sitting in the dark nibbling my fear. I go to the theater for nourishment of some kind, not to just take up space and time. Nothing really happens in Clive’s story. He just is … and does l… destructive to himself and everyone, women, men, virgins, babies, anyone near him, anyone who might care for him, and then …, “a rat dies in the gutter … so what,” …and everyone shares the blame … including all of us.

About Irv Bauer

Screenwriter/Educator: IRV BAUER, has taught Screenwriting at the New York University’s Film School, at Sarah Lawrence College, and The Australian National Film School as well as in Master Classes at Cornell and at many other prominent venues. At the University of Bridgeport and The Minneapolis Playwright’s Lab he taught Playwriting as well as at the New Dramatist's in New York. At the University of Washington he taught Adaptation at the graduate level. In addition, Irv has taught workshops and seminars on screenwriting all over the world including special seminars for film and media communities in London, Paris, Sydney and New York and Los Angeles. His enormously popular annual two-week Summer Screenwriting Intensive in New York in July and Spoleto, Italy in August are attended by students from all over the world.

'Interview: Matthew Modine on Kubrick and His 'Full Metal Jacket' App'

FIRSTSHOWING.NET

by Jeremy Kirk
February 19, 2013

Few would truly argue that Full Metal Jacket is the greatest film about the Vietnam War. Some would say Platoon. Others Apocalypse Now. But Stanley Kubrick and his war film from 1987 showed audiences the preparation for war as it was under the draft, hard conditions that broke men down into heartless, sometimes mindless, killers. The star of that film, actor Matthew Modine, has made an iPad App that serves as a behind-the-scenes look on how Full Metal Jacket got made and how Kubrick, one of the great filmmakers of all time (not arguably), pulled it together. You can download the app from theApp Store now.

Modine's Full Metal Jacket Diary is an interactive, digital version of his own autobiography about the making of the film (more info here). The app includes over 400 high-res photos from the set, five chapters from Modine's book, and a four-hour audio experience that takes you through the production, beginning to end. The actor spent nearly two years on the film, and it was Kubrick's idea to have him shoot so many candid shots of the set, something that was extremely rare for Kubrick. It's a fascinating experience for any lovers of the filmmaking process, particularly that of such an outstanding film made by a master filmmaker.

I was fortunate enough to ask Mr. Modine a few questions via email regarding the filmmaking experience, working with Stanley Kubrick, and a number of elements found in the Full Metal JacketDiary app. Enjoy:

Going back to how the photos and journal came to be, you said that Stanley Kubrick encouraged you to take and keep them. Was this to help you get in the mindset of a war journalist, and how did that experience help you get into the character of Private Joker?

Matthew Modine: I have no idea why Stanley Kubrick allowed me to take photos. I know he didn't care much for my Rolleiflex camera. He said if I was going to take pictures that I should use a new model Minolta camera that had just come out. The Minolta was a camera with auto-everything and I didn't care much for it. Stanley was very specific about what lenses I should purchase, what type, and speed film to use. Even the type of camera bag. But I loved the feel and the mechanics of my Rollei. I preferred the square, 2 1/4" x 2 1/4" frame to that of a 35mm camera. I'm dyslexic and I believe that part of the reason I leaned toward and preferred the Rollei was because when you peer into the viewfinder - the images appear backward - or normal for a person who sees the world backward.

As far as my characterization of Joker, I think keeping my on-set diary was much more of a tool for understanding Joker as a combat journalist than taking photos. I'd say keeping a good diary and working in the creative realm of photography had a positive impact on both my characterization of Joker and my personal life-long growth as an artist.

Of the directors you've worked with (Kubrick, Robert Altman, Alan Parker, Oliver Stone, Christopher Nolan; all great filmmakers) was there something you noticed that set Kubrick apart from the rest in the way he worked or handled the material or actors? Or is there a similarity in how great filmmakers work?

MM: Stanley was the first director I worked with that found a way around perhaps the greatest obstacle a filmmaker faces; time. How does an artist create an environment for creativity - in an art form that demands a filmmaker to work like a factory worker on an assembly line? For Stanley, it meant living in and working in a place where he could stop, or at least slow down, the clock. I can't speak for the size of productions he had on his other films, but on FMJ we had a crew smaller than many small budget independents I have worked on. He also owned much of the camera equipment we used on the film. We worked in locations that were very affordable, thus alleviating high production costs and allowing him more time to film in them. Because he was Stanley Kubrick, crew members and actors would work for reduced salaries for the chance to work with a master filmmaker. Each of these things have the effect of giving a filmmaker more time. Time allows the filmmaker to discover his film and the story he is telling. It allows them not to compromise. Arliss Howard, who played Cowboy told me a story a few years ago. On the final day of filming Stanley said to Arliss, "you're going to miss me." "Yeah. Of course I'll miss you" said Arliss. "No. You're going to miss me on every film you make after this one" said Stanley. "You're going to be working on a film and the director is going to say, 'Cut! We got it. Lets move on' and you're going to miss me. You're going to miss me because you're going to know that he didn't get it as good as it could be. And you're going to miss me." Arliss said he hadn't worked on a film since then where he didn't miss Stanley for the reason he stated. Stanley created an environment where he could create a film, not shoot a schedule. Which is a massive achievement.

For those who don't know, talk a little about the time the production of Full Metal Jackettook; how long it took, what that experience of waiting was like, how your personal life changed in that time.

MM: I was in London for nearly two years. I can't say exactly how many days of filming there were. I just know how long I was in England. While the experience was amazing and a great reward, it was, to speak in metaphor, like going to sea and getting lost along the journey. Stanley being the captain of the ship, we all had to have faith in his seamanship. Everyone had to pitch in and keep the ship seaworthy and we all did our share of bailing water out of the boat. The script was like the stars in the night sky. We all knew where we started and where we had to get to. There were so many nights when clouds made it impossible to chart our course. Then there were storms. Thankfully, Stanley brought us to shore and delivered the goods. Thankfully my "Full Metal Jacket Diary" app tells the story without metaphor. In it, you can go on the journey I went on and discover through the eyes of a young actor what it was like to work with the genius, Stanley Kubrick.

Was there a moment during the production of Full Metal Jacket where you remember thinking you couldn't take much more of it, and, if not, how did you keep your mind focused on getting through such a rigorous production?

MM: Kubrick told me in the early days of production, "The person who gets the most rest wins." I assumed when he said this that he wanted to be sure I was in bed at reasonable hours and not out partying and then showing up to work with my ass hanging out and blood shot eyes. The fact of the matter was, after 14 hour shooting days you couldn't wait to get home and get some sleep. I don't know how Stanley managed because during filming he never seemed to get any rest.

From the excerpts, it sounds like Vincent D'Onofrio (above) went through something of the same transition as his character, Pvt. 'Gomer Pyle' Lawrence, though obviously not as extreme. Was that the method actor in him, or did Kubrick's direction push him that way?

MM: I can't speak for Vince. The funny thing about acting is, your body doesn't know it's "acting." Mentally, consciously, an actor makes choices about what to do, how to do it, how to say it, what not to do, and dozens of other things. He or she makes all these decisions and then shows up on set or on stage and then has to - kind of forget them all - and "be" the character. The actor has arrived full of all the choices they've come up with. At that point, the emotions the actor feels - anger, hatred, love, passion, empathy, fear, desire, loneliness, hopefulness, doubt, and a thousand more nouns become real - to the body. The actor doesn't act perspiration. He sweats. He doesn't act an accelerated heart rate, his heart actually beats faster. His fears and adrenaline are real - to the body. The actors imagination engages the physical functions of the body and the body responds. This is what happens when an actor commits to the demands of the role or character they are "playing." For Vince, portraying the innocent Pyle who is then beaten into becoming a broken and damaged human being, well, lets just say sometimes roles take their toll on the actor playing them.

Between takes, when the camera wasn't running, what was your interaction on set with R. Lee Ermey, Gunnery Sergeant Hartman, like? Did he stay in character?

MM: In my opinion, Lee wasn't acting. He was who he is in life. He was basically the same guy off camera as he was on camera. Only when the cameras weren't running, he was more of a barking man instead of a shouting DI. I have seen Lee in other films where I feel he was acting, and acting well -Mississippi Burning and Dead Man Walking are two examples. But I don't think Lee has any burning ambition to play Hamlet.

How do you and the other actors from Full Metal Jacket remember the production when it comes up in conversation? Not wanting to minimize actual war, but would you think it's akin to remembering the "time in the trenches"?

MM: I'd say we are all happy to have worked on a film that transcends time. It is not a film that no longer has relevance. It is a film that plays as well - or even better - today as it did upon its release date. It is rare when a film accomplishes this. FMJ actually gets better with time. In Gus Hasford's book, The Short-Timers, which is the inspiration for FMJ, Hasford talks about a phenomena soldiers and Marines experience after long tours of combat. They call it the "thousand yard stare." The people that worked onFMJ have something similar. Not a thousand yard stare, perhaps it's only nine hundred. Or Seventy-five. But it's a look. And then it's always followed with a smile. Smiling because we know we survived something really hard and we know we worked on and created something great.

I need to ask about the whole Mickey Mouse element to the film, because it's not just the soldiers singing at the end. There are at least two other references to Mickey Mouse in Full Metal Jacket. Was this Kubrick's blatant commentary on the Vietnam War in general, and was this ever anything he discussed during production?

MM: Stanley and I never directly discussed it. Michael Herr, who wrote the screenplay and the definitive book about war and in particular the Vietnam War, often referred to Vietnam as Disneyland and all the political and military aspects that made no logical sense as "Mickey Mouse." This was often followed by "bullshit," or preceded by, "fucking." "I cannot wait to get outta this fucking Disneyland. It's all such fucking Mickey Mouse bullshit." I think lines like this slipped from the lips of tens of thousands of young men and woman participating in a war that will never be fully understood or completely explainable or ever justifiable.

If you take the words from the song and put them in the context of capitalism or globalization, disguised or camouflaged in a cloak called democracy, the lyrics become eerie and evil. "Who is marching coast to coast and far across the sea? Who's the leader of the gang that's made for you and me?" It's just as eerie as "You are the caretaker. You've always been the caretaker" from The Shining or Slim Pickens riding the atomic bomb to his death with "We'll meet again, don't know where, don't know when" over the end credits. Fatalistic endings of Kubrick films? Or clarion calls from a great humanist, a realist, a man who sees humankind's folly and presents it to an audience - begging us all to see us as we are - and hoping we recognize the urgency to be better, to do better. This is the hope of a real humanist. A man who begged humankind to look in the mirror and see ourselves as we really are and to work, not just aspire, to be and do better. If we don't, we are little more than the early man that beat another early man to death with an animal's bone. That is the dream of the man that I knew and worked with.

If you're interested, you can download"Matthew Modine's Full Metal Jacket Diary for iPad in the App Store. It includes many more reflections and stories from the set of Kubrick's Full Metal Jacket just like those found here. Thank you to Matthew Modine for taking the time and answering our questions in such detail.

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