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Rosewater

Fremde Frau

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Fremde Frau

Fremde Frau

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(edited)

@maculae, you needed to warn us about that "sexual tension with Bill O'Reilly" headline. I'm glad I read on, anyway, because that was a fantastic interview.

 

Jon was on HuffPost Live today. It's a great interview spanning several topics, including his thoughts looking back now on the rally.

 

EDIT: Maziar and Jon had a short interview with HitFix.

 

Jon had another short interview with the anchors of WGNTV (Chicago), and it contains probably my favorite of his reactions to the Meet The Press question. When he's asked if he regrets turning it down, he just emphatically and silently shakes his head while the anchors start laughing.

 

Edited by Fremde Frau
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trow125

trow125

@maculae, you needed to warn us about that "sexual tension with Bill O'Reilly" headline. I'm glad I read on, anyway, because that was a fantastic interview.

I have been feeling a little bit of "Jon Stewart interview" fatigue, so I probably would have skipped the RS interview had it not been for Fremde Frau's comment. That has to be one of the best interviews I've ever read with Jon. His comments about Fox, O'Reilly, politics, etc. were so spot on. A couple faves:

Like, watch them do their "War on Christmas" stuff. It's real, man. There's no bullshit. They are in the middle of Rockefeller Center talking about "They won't let us put up a Christmas tree!" Meanwhile, they're next to a 60-foot Christmas tree in a place with so much Christmas stuff up it looks like Santa's balls just exploded.

 

AM talk radio is, "We are being robbed by communists and progressives that are destroying this country. They are a cancer and treasonous!" Fox News does it like, [sweet, cheery voice] "Are we being run by communists? Is it treason what they're doing? Let's have the discussion."
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Fremde Frau

Fremde Frau

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(edited)

I've been feeling "Jon Stewart interview question" fatigue because 90% of them keep asking the same questions. In some of the videos, Jon's expression is hilarious, like he's dead (or maybe just dead tired) inside after hearing the same question one more time within however many hours. Maziar is more stoic about it. Heh. I think it's one reason that I've enjoyed these longer interviews, including the one with HuffPost Live and the ones he did in Toronto. There is enough time that they cover other things and open up different parts of Jon.
 
This particular topic (below) wasn't new, but I appreciated how Jon answered it. Critics always attribute all manner of negative emotions and motivations to him (from believing his own press, to wanting to direct movies or becoming a political leader, to being apathetic and fixating on the easiest joke, to never caring about research and never putting in effort to read the books by authors, etc.) because they themselves are tired of him or tired of the show or feel that John's new show is doing what TDS has deliberately or unwittingly failed to do. But Jon always seems to be two steps ahead of everyone, being self-aware without also being apologetic about his own intention and contentment.

Do you still want to be doing this during the 2020 elections?

Oh, God. I don't look ahead like that. If I did, I'd lose my mind. But there's obviously a shelf life for me. There's only so many times people can see me doing the same shit without going, "We want something fresh." That's just a natural progression.


@trow125, you need to read this interview with Salon, as well. I loved this part, especially:


Obviously you did not personally go to Iran to make this movie or do research. You had Maziar’s experience. But what kind of input were you able to get from people in Iran, or people who understood Iran?

Well, we had — Jason and Tim had been there. [Meaning “Daily Show” correspondent Jason Jones and producer Tim Greenberg.] So we had a great deal of background. You know, one of the most mind-blowing things about those pieces was when we were over there in 2009, they were talking to the young kids who had the green ribbons on, and they were all fired up. One of the kids says to Jason as he’s interviewing him, “You’re from ‘The Daily Show.’” And he’s like, “Huh?” And then he goes, “Jon Stewart.” And he turns to the camera, and he goes, “Heh-heh-heh-heh-heh,” and does the imitation of George W. Bush that I used to do on the show. And we all watched that and like got a little like, maudlin, got a little teary, like: Oh my God, like, we have this view of this place that’s so removed from the reality of the day. Having Maziar there, though, was the real touchstone of it all. Because he had lived it, he had been through it, he had been raised there, and he was able more than anybody to help demonstrate the complexities and nuances of the culture and society.


He was giving the folks at the Today show a little love this morning.

Edited by Fremde Frau
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solotrek

solotrek

As predicted, Jon will be doing a Reddit AMA.

 

ROSEWATER ‏@RosewaterMovie 3m3 minutes ago

Want to ask Jon Stewart anything? On Friday, tune in to his @reddit_AMA at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT! #RosewaterMovie

 

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The Luvly Junkie

The Luvly Junkie

(edited)

I am at the theater now, watching test material (a Tom Jones concert) until Rosewater previews start at 7pm. C'mon, boys! I'm already tired of Jones shaking his booty to "Delilah."

        I'll believe you if you have video footage of Jones' dancing, por favor. :)

 

       *Hope you can post a full report about the interview and everything else in between! (Screaming excitedly on the outside, my heart screaming in complete agony on the inside since I'm unable to go see Rosewater) T_T

Edited by The Luvly Junkie
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Fremde Frau

Fremde Frau

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(edited)

I give it a solid 8/10, as well.
 
Probably not spoilery but just in case: 

The sympathetic anxiety for a first-time director faded much more quickly than I anticipated. By the time movie-Maziar was in Iran, I had forgotten about that and was just enjoying the movie. The pacing had a few bumps towards the end where I was reminded that it was a beginner's film, but the overall ride was quite good, and the different elements held up well as a cohesive whole. The acting was excellent, particularly Gael and Kim, and the soundtrack was fantastic. I'm definitely going to buy it ASAP. I get why Jon said that the story will seem simplistic from an Iranian POV and why Maziar and Jon were both saying that it's not necessarily about Iran specifically but meant to address a more universal theme. The writing was close to what I expect from the more serious side of Jon's TDS voice, in that it was informed, compassionate, and funny (at times) but delivering the narrative in a kind of shorthand. It doesn't try to feed the audience every bit of detail about the situation but to portray the broader interrelationship between individuals, groups, history, and ideas. They (Jon and Maziar) seem to assume that you're either already informed or will take the initiative to get informed through your own efforts. It felt--in a good way--like a collaborative, passion project.


 
Definitely spoilery:

Some of Jon's choices that reviewers had mentioned (like the brief, much-maligned hashtag montage or Maziar having conversations with the hallucinations of his father and sister) blended in well with the specific moments of the film in which they were utilized. The opening sequence in his mother's house, where the memories were intertwined with present-day scenes, was smoothly done; the editing was really top notch throughout most of the film. Probably the only part that I think was poorly filmed and planned was the scene in London, where we're unsure of who Maziar is talking to, and the scene is sort of dark with the camera focused on one unnamed person that we never see again (that I recall) instead of Maziar. Other than that, I think the only time that I felt jolted out of the movie a bit was after Maziar danced that beautiful dance; I was anticipating a different momentum in the following scenes, but we came back to an older, tense tone between Kim and Gael. The transition was awkward, but that was settled fairly quickly when it became clear that his time there had ended. Back to the good stuff: the humor is part of Maziar's book and outlook, not just Jon's, so it was nice to hear the audience laughing at the humorous moments, which were well done--sort of sliding in surreptitiously at times ("did you wash your hands?") and catching people off guard with small human moments, and other times building up to an understated punchline (the "massage" story). As Jon has said, the final shot is basically an understated punchline to the worldwide efforts by authoritarian regimes to control information. It was a really effective visual that stirred me more than I anticipated, given that I had some sense of what was coming.


 
I may be back with more thoughts later, but that's all I can process at this time. It was a late night getting home! I really enjoyed watching it with a small, engaged audience. Everyone stayed for the Q&A, which was as hilarious and sweet as you might expect. Stephen and Jon were kidding each other in between having a meaningful dialogue. Then Maziar came out, and it felt like the audience latched onto what he was saying and how his story articulated the broader themes that were raised. It was a great experience.
 
EDIT

I'll believe you if you have video footage of Jones' dancing, por favor. :)

You may not be thinking of the same "Jones" that I saw, @The Luvly Junkie. ;) This was not Jason Jones, but Tom Jones. But he's a famous singer, so I will link you to one of his performances of "Delilah," just 'cause.

Edited by Fremde Frau
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solotrek

solotrek

Our Q&A started maybe 10 minutes into it and then we didn't have video for awhile so we were pretty distracted trying to get the theater people to get it right. I recall more of the 3 way interview than the Jon Stephen part

 

It started with just Colbert and Jon and TBH, he asked pretty similar questions to all the interviews we've seen already. Stephen was in his suit from the show and Jon was in his uniform (khakis, grey tshirt that was probably black at one point, jacket, and boots). Stephen seemed to really enjoy the movie (but I'd guess he'd have at least say he did).

 

Our interview part started with Jon talking about how the CIA did play a part in the coup in 1953 so perhaps the Iranians did have a good reason to be paranoid. So fremdefrau I hope you can let us know the Q&A before that!

 

There was a cute exchange where Stephen asked Jon if the process of writing the script was similar at all to writing TDS and Jon just starts talking about how amazing Colbert is at his job (how TDS is a deconstruction vs how TCR is a deconstruction and reconstruction). Stephen lets him finish talking and just goes something like "as much as I like making things about me, let's go back to talking about you", and they both just start cracking up.

 

A lot of praise for Kim Bodnia.

 

Asked about the casting of Gael, Jon said that there was one scene that Gael handled better than any auditiony (?) After watching the movie, yes, he came off great there and a lesser actor would have made it cringe worthy.

 

They added Maziar for the second part of the interview, the 3 of them have great chemistry. Stephen found Maziar to be hilarious (and really, the guy is really funny. Quite a dry wit. My husband who has watched or heard no interviews was really surprised as to how funny Maziar was. He also said that Maziar has a great presence and wasn't overshadowed by Jon and Stephen). Stephen had asked Maziar if he had been there during filming and if it was difficult at all. Maziar started the answer with "As you know, as journalists we must..." and Stephen just goes "no, I don't know..." and Maziar just starts talking about how there's a great journalist on TV who looks just like Colbert and how great he is.

 

Stephen asked what they hoped to accomplish with the movie and Maziar said that he hoped that if at least one person in the regime or part of the torture system saw the movie that they'd realize that what they were doing was wrong and maybe try to change it up or at least lessen what they were doing to their subjects. Jon said he agreed with Maziar, but also hoped that people would see Iran as not just the monolith of what the government stands for but a country with a lot of good hopeful people. Maziar went off that and said that there are a lot of great young intelligent people in Iran. These people are the future of Iran and also our greatest allies. If we were to go to war with Iran, these young Iranians would be the first to suffer.

 

Stephen asked if torturer was a job that people wanted and apparently it is. There's a lot of status with a job like that.

 

Stephen had asked about whether or not people in Iran would be able to see the movie. Maziar insinuated that the DVD black market is pretty strong in Iran. The DVD would be out on the streets next week and the subtitled version out right after that.

 

Stephen then asked about the reaction that they were expecting and if the Iranian government has had a reaction to the movie. Once again, they mention the pieces the Iranian government put out, how the movie was sponsored by the US Navy (don't know why the Navy), CIA, Mussad, and the Zionist lobby. Maziar said that he'd expect people from within the regime to hate it and extremists in Iran and America to hate it. He said that he'd be upset if people in the regime singled out Jon Stewart as the one Jew they were ok with and how it'd just be weird. Jon made the joke about how he's considered both a Zionist and anti-Zionist.

 

Stephen asked if Maziar's wife had seen the movie and if she had fully understood what Maziar had gone through. Maziar's wife was in attendance so she was able to answer. Mic-less. And then given a mic after she basically answered the question. She could still be heard but poor woman was clearly not ready to be questioned. She said she didn't really know the full extent and then spent a bit talking about how honest a movie it was and how Jon's honesty as a film maker came out, but she never really met Jon but he seems like an honest person. Her saying it was about as coherent as what I typed.

 

Stephen asked one question that I sort of face palmed over since it was very American. He basically asked Maziar how similar Jordan and Iran are and Maziar had to say it's about as similar as America and El Salvador. But it'd be more dissimilar since at least English and Spanish come from the same language group. Anyways, there's no hummus in Iran, but Maziar's favorite dish is called Fesenjan and it sounds delicious. Apparently Jon had it at a Persian restaurant in London and agreed that it's amazing.

 

I'm sure Fremde can fill in any blanks.

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attica

attica

Jon's local paper gives Rosewater 4 of 5 stars:

Money quote:

When Jon Stewart interviewed fellow New Jerseyan Bruce Springsteen on “The Daily Show” a few years back, the TV host thanked the rocker for music that, in Stewart's youth, had bolstered his belief that despite hard times in life, you can get to a better place.

That in many ways is the essence of “Rosewater,” Stewart’s stellar debut as a writer-director. And while it may seem like another triumph-over-adversity tale, the movie is really about what sustains us in impossible moments.

 

The reviewer's quibble with what he views as an o'er-hasty wrapup keeps it from the fifth star.

 

Tangentially, the paper grades Carell's movie the same, praising his performance in particular.

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solotrek

solotrek

(edited)

Probably the only part that I think was poorly filmed and planned was the scene in London, where we're unsure of who Maziar is talking to, and the scene is sort of dark with the camera focused on one unnamed person that we never see again (that I recall) instead of Maziar.

 

 

I don't quite think it's a spoiler at all. These are the people that Maziar work with at Channel 4. Seemed to be an editor and a fellow journalist or 2 fellow journalists. I mean, it was pretty clear that they worked together as they were talking about the angle of the story Maziar should get while in Tehran.

The guy in front of the computer was pretty important to setting up the idea that as Westerners we make a lot of assumptions. He was so sure the Ahmadinejad supporter was an uneducated kid street kid who was brainwashed and could be swayed be chocolates. Instead the kid was London born, bred and educated, who went to Iran to support what he believed was the right system. So in a lot of ways, we have the exact same mindset as the specialist in Evin prison or the people in charge. The guy in front of the computer had made a false assumption about the kid over some stupid evidence he had, just like Rosewater was sure that Maziar was a porn addicted spy from stupid things that he found. It's all about pre-conceived notions.

 

Some of Jon's choices that reviewers had mentioned (like the brief, much-maligned hashtag montage or Maziar having conversations with the hallucinations of his father and sister) blended in well with the specific moments of the film in which they were utilized. The opening sequence in his mother's house, where the memories were intertwined with present-day scenes, was smoothly done; the editing was really top notch throughout most of the film.

 

I didn't think the hashtag stuff  was bad at all. It kind of worked with the message of the film. You can arrest the people. You can try to stop the protests. You can stop them from gathering. But they will find a way to communicate and let their voice be heard.  I loved LOVED the scenes with the mom. Especially at the end when Maziar gets released and they hug. I got pretty emotional. And the scenes with the sister were so strong. When boy Maziar visited her in prison? Wow. I do think the hallucinations did come kind of early in the film. Day 18 works, but I think it came too early in terms of what we saw. It kind of made Maziar crazier than it should have. However, I do think they worked.  The opening segment that has Maziar's walk through London intertwined with images of his dad and sister and his childhood being projected on building was pretty clever. I think a lesser movie would have really drawn that out more.

Edited by maculae
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Fremde Frau

Fremde Frau

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Stephen was in his suit from the show and Jon was in his uniform (khakis, grey tshirt that was probably black at one point, jacket, and boots).

I'm laughing out loud, maculae. Seriously, though. Why, Jon? Why? Does his closet hold an indefinite number of each piece of clothing that you list, or does he wash the same outfit over and over and over and then finally replace it with an identical outfit once it's too threadbare and indecent for public appearances?

 

Our interview part started with Jon talking about how the CIA did play a part in the coup in 1953 so perhaps the Iranians did have a good reason to be paranoid. So fremdefrau I hope you can let us know the Q&A before that!

Oh, golly, let's see if I can remember... I don't think you missed that much, really. Some people were getting up to leave before coming back when they realized the Q&A was happening, so I was a little distracted at the start. Stephen was definitely praising Jon's film to high heaven but with a slightly sarcastic flavor to it, like he was staying a bit in character. Jon was, as usual, caught between appreciating the sentiment and dealing with the awkwardness by trying to blow it off with a joke, so they played on that for a few minutes. Stephen asked the usual question of why Jon felt compelled to make the film, and Jon gave his now-standard answer.

 

Stephen wanted to know how Jon found the humor in the story, and Jon explained that much of that came from Maziar's own book. Then Jon went on to explain in a really nice way (I thought) how he and Stephen have always thought of humor as a way of coping with darkness, and yet what happens when the facilitator of that release mechanism (the audience) is taken away and you're left with nothing to reflect your humanity back at you? Jon explained how Maziar was able to humanize himself in a vacuum, through retaining his sense of humor and through his history, culture, relationships, etc. I thought that it was a very stand-up/performer way of understanding humor, but it also made me think of how effective my own sense of humor is when it's trapped in my own mind. Does it really relieve pain and stress or does it need a reflection somewhere? Anyway, it was a nicely considered answer.

 

It was funny that, when the CIA stuff came up (both in the film and in the Q&A), the same person in the audience kept calling out "What?!" It looked like she was getting up to leave at one point during the interrogation scenes (gathering her coat and bags, etc.), but then she sat back down, and I forgot about it until the Q&A. Weird.

 

I can't recall anything else from the beginning, but it might come to me later. I'm sorry! It was mostly them loving each other, though. Not exactly quotable but highly enjoyable.

 

Stephen lets him finish talking and just goes something like "as much as I like making things about me, let's go back to talking about you", and they both just start cracking up.

Don't forget Maziar hugging them instead of shaking their hands because of the "mutual masturbation" or however he phrased it. That was hilarious. On a side note, I loved that Jon couldn't stop hugging and clinging to Stephen at the end before the screen went black. He seemed so giddy and relieved to finally be at this stage and letting his BFF steer that ship for a bit.

 

A lot of praise for Kim Bodnia.

Kim was present in the NY audience, I believe. They could never find him, but Jon said he was there, and he got a round of applause.

 

Asked about the casting of Gael, Jon said that there was one scene that Gael handled better than any auditiony (?) After watching the movie, yes, he came off great there and a lesser actor would have made it cringe worthy.

I loved how Stephen and Maziar joked about that. How did Stephen put it? "What part of Iran is Mexico?" Maziar and Jon: "Very south." Hee! Maziar and Jon have both addressed the "why is a Mexican playing an Iranian?" question, so I wished Jon had added the part about how he'd wanted to film it with all Iranian actors and in Farsi, but Maziar had been the one to insist on broadening the language/appeal/etc.

The scene in question

was the part when Maziar gets to phone his wife. Jon has described it in interviews previously, and I had in mind that it was one continuous shot over two minutes, but that must have been just how they filmed it. In the finished movie, it was broken up by a cut back to Maziar's wife. But, yes, Gael was very flexible and physically eloquent in that scene and handled the transitions between emotions beautifully.

 

Stephen had asked Maziar if he had been there during filming and if it was difficult at all. Maziar started the answer with "As you know, as journalists we must..." and Stephen just goes "no, I don't know..." and Maziar just starts talking about how there's a great journalist on TV who looks just like Colbert and how great he is.

I loved that part so much. I felt that Maziar dominated the stage once he appeared, and perhaps Jon sort of intentionally closed in on himself, as well; he was sitting off to Maziar's side (Maziar was centered between them) and his body language was supportive of Maziar.

I was surprised to learn that Maziar and Stephen had only met once before. With Maziar having breakfast with Jon so often over the last few years, and then working together so closely on the screenplay and film, I had assumed that Maziar would have been a regular presence. I wonder how much of that is Jon separating work on the film from work on the show (at least as much as was possible until this week), and how much of it is that Stephen and Jon actually don't socialize as much as people might imagine. I know Stephen has joked about that in the past, but maybe he was serious.

 

Stephen asked if Maziar's wife had seen the movie and if she had fully understood what Maziar had gone through.

That was an awkward moment where the sweetness of it was drowned out by the technical issues. I'm not sure why he asked her a question unless he was planning to relay her answer to everyone. She seemed to like the film, from what I could gather.

 

Stephen asked one question that I sort of face palmed over since it was very American. He basically asked Maziar how similar Jordan and Iran are and Maziar had to say it's about as similar as America and El Salvador.

That had me face-palming, as well. It seemed like Stephen was anticipating what "Stephen" might want to know--he even prefaced it by saying that this is a very American (i.e. dumb) question--but it was just a weird thing to ask.

 

I'll try to remember more details!

Edited by Fremde Frau
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Fremde Frau

Fremde Frau

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That was a really excellent interview with Saman Arbabi. Fresh questions, thoughtful answers, and they had a great vibe between them. Thanks for the link!

 

I don't quite think it's a spoiler at all. These are the people that Maziar work with at Channel 4. Seemed to be an editor and a fellow journalist or 2 fellow journalists. I mean, it was pretty clear that they worked together as they were talking about the angle of the story Maziar should get while in Tehran.

The guy in front of the computer was pretty important to setting up the idea that as Westerners we make a lot of assumptions. He was so sure the Ahmadinejad supporter was an uneducated kid street kid who was brainwashed and could be swayed be chocolates. Instead the kid was London born, bred and educated, who went to Iran to support what he believed was the right system. So in a lot of ways, we have the exact same mindset as the specialist in Evin prison or the people in charge. The guy in front of the computer had made a false assumption about the kid over some stupid evidence he had, just like Rosewater was sure that Maziar was a porn addicted spy from stupid things that he found. It's all about pre-conceived notions.

I wasn't being very clear. I didn't mean to imply that there was no context but just that they were poorly introduced and then never mentioned again, so I didn't get the focus on that one guy when Maziar was sitting behind him in the shadows. I definitely agree with you about what he represented.

 

I loved LOVED the scenes with the mom. Especially at the end when Maziar gets released and they hug. I got pretty emotional. And the scenes with the sister were so strong. When boy Maziar visited her in prison? Wow. I do think the hallucinations did come kind of early in the film. Day 18 works, but I think it came too early in terms of what we saw. It kind of made Maziar crazier than it should have. However, I do think they worked.  The opening segment that has Maziar's walk through London intertwined with images of his dad and sister and his childhood being projected on building was pretty clever. I think a lesser movie would have really drawn that out more.

YES. The scenes with his mother were just fantastic, all of them. Especially at the end, I just felt such pain for her (and for him but mostly for her). The way Shohreh Aghdashloo played that scene was so powerful in a way that's hard to describe. She wasn't ecstatic and hugging him energetically, but just so weary and emotionally drained yet there was this strength about her from the times she had endured it before. Just really beautiful. I think a lesser movie would have played that up with some sort of chorus in the background as they both smile and laugh and hug each other through their tears; I really liked the edge they found for it. I agree about that opening sequence in Iran, with the images projected onto buildings. That was a really nice touch: articulating these lives and Maziar's relationship to them and to this country without being obtrusive.

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Fremde Frau

Fremde Frau

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This is one of the more interesting interviews he's had, with Wendy Mesley on CBC News. It's about 13 minutes. I don't know Mesley's background, but she and Jon got into a really fascinating place that was both cordial and tense. She was almost--and I understand the weirdness of what I'm about to say--a blend of Rachel Maddow and Chris Wallace, asking Jon to understand and articulate his own social and/or political importance. In any case, it was nothing like 95% of the interviews he's had over the last month or so.

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trow125

trow125

"Rosewater" box office news:

Jon Stewart’s directorial debut "Rosewater" hit 371 theaters Friday after a wave of media attention heading into the weekend... It had a mixed opening, grossing over $1.2 million for a $3,235 PTA [per theater average]. Considering Stewart’s legion of fans thanks to his long stewardship over "The Daily Show," the numbers could have been better, though a story about an unknown journalist who gets embroiled in Iran’s controversial 2009 election would be a challenging sell under the best of circumstances.
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shok

shok

 

She was almost--and I understand the weirdness of what I'm about to say--a blend of Rachel Maddow and Chris Wallace,

 

Oh god, please don't equate Wendy Mesley with Rachel Maddow or even Chris Wallace. That's such an insult to Rachel.

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Fremde Frau

Fremde Frau

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I didn't equate them. This is the only material I've seen of hers, and her manner and the questions she asked reminded me of the 2010 Maddow interview and the 2011 Wallace interview, where they were asking the same sorts of questions in a similarly insistent manner.
 
This is a nice interview with Maziar Bahari.

*We often hear of people in this nation claiming they’re losing their rights, be it through gun control, voter ID laws, restrictions on speech, etc. This isn’t to say there are no rights worth advocating for in this nation, but in this film, we see a very difficult struggle for rights. For instance, we see Iranians being massacred in the streets for rioting and demanding a recount after a clearly unfair election. What can you say about this difference in what each nation calls rights, for journalists or for regular people?

Those are two totally different situations. Someone was telling me that David Sanger from the New York Times said the Obama Administration has been the worst administration for journalists. And yes, it might be true that the Obama Administration has been the worst for journalists in the U.S., but in Iran or in China, David Sanger would be an incarcerated journalist. He wouldn’t be invited to Meet the Press, he wouldn’t be paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to write a book and complain about the government. So I think that is the main difference. Here you have a system of checks and balances, you have a freer press, and you have more opportunity to criticize the government. Of course the United States is not a perfect country – although Sean Hannity tries to say otherwise – and I think there are many things that can be improved. What people want in this country is to be regarded as citizens of the country. Even if a lot of people unfortunately don’t exercise their voting rights in this country, they want to be regarded as people with one vote. That is something that Iranians want, that Egyptians want, that Chinese want. I think that’s a universal phenomenon that people want to be regarded as citizens of a country with citizen rights rather than subjects of the country. That’s why you had the revolution here hundreds of years ago. You wanted to be citizens. And I think because of social media, because of the digital revolution and satellite television, people can communicate more this day in age. So people in Egypt, in China, in Russia, in Iran, they see things that people have in the U.S. and in other countries, and they want that. And it’s the same thing in the U.S. People look at Scandinavian countries they see health systems in those countries and they want that here. Well, some people do.

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Janc

Janc

This is one of the more interesting interviews he's had, with Wendy Mesley on CBC News. It's about 13 minutes. I don't know Mesley's background, but she and Jon got into a really fascinating place that was both cordial and tense. She was almost--and I understand the weirdness of what I'm about to say--a blend of Rachel Maddow and Chris Wallace, asking Jon to understand and articulate his own social and/or political importance. In any case, it was nothing like 95% of the interviews he's had over the last month or so.

Yeesh, that's an uncomfortable interview.  It didn't start off well with Wendy trying to joke "Your movie wasn't very funny"... I think he'd take that much better from any other interview but it kind of fell flat, poor Jon was just not in the mood.  It went downhill from there, with Wendy asking three times if he takes any responsibility for Maziar being arrested. He answered the first time, Wendy, pay attention. Then at the end, he couldn't get out of there fast enough, frantically searching for his mike to rip it off his jacket.  

UN-COMFORT-ABLE !

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Victor the Crab

Victor the Crab

After watching that interview yesterday, you would think Wendy Mesley would understand what Jon's purpose is. After all, she's a longtime employee at CBC, which has a couple of high profile satire/fake news shows in The Rick Mercer Report and This Hour Has 22 Minutes, as well as a one time institution in the Royal Canadian Air Farce. All those shows were made to make Canadians laugh at our political and social institutions and give us our own catharsis. No one in this country would ever think those shows were of any importance the way Mesley expected Jon to be with TDS.

 

I wish Peter Mansbridge did the interview.

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shok

shok

 

No one in this country would ever think those shows were of any importance the way Mesley expected Jon to be with TDS.

 

That's very typical of Mesley though, don't you think Victor? Coming at everything with her own agenda and getting all snippy if she can't get the answer she wants. I loved how Jon pointed out and mocked her facial expressions.

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Fremde Frau

Fremde Frau

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I think one thing that I found interesting about that interview is how it became meta. It's always interesting when Jon turns the interview back on the interviewer, but it's not all that common to start dissecting each other's body language. I guess it just hit all of my "conversation analysis" buttons; I felt like pulling out my notepad and writing an analysis of it.
 
Here is Gael talking about the film, including what it's like to be directed by Jon.

There was some backlash to the fact that Jon cast you, a Mexican actor, as an Iranian character. How would you respond to that?

Well, it happened in Tehran, but it was shot in Jordan. It’s in English, not in Farsi. The person that plays Rosewater is a Danish actor. The person who plays my father is a Turkish actor. The person who plays the friend of Maziar is an English-Greek actor. There are Egyptians in the film. There are many artists with a background in Iraq or Palestine or Syria. So, we were from all over the world. And it was a director from New Jersey. And I’m from Mexico. And I understand the subject on a human level. Of course I do. But definitely I’m not from Iran, and I’m from the places or nationality of many characters that I’ve interpreted in my life. I’ve never interpreted a character from Guadalajara, from where I’m from. So, it’s part of the nature of all this, to create a bigger fable.

 
These two interviews are older (from the London Film Festival). It was interesting to hear from some other actors, since so much of the press has been devoted to Jon, Maziar, and Gael. (I hope we get a Kim Bodnia interview sometime soon.)


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