Hey folks... Harry here, isn't Capone just loathsome... I mean listen to him... bragging about BUTT-NUMB-A-THON... Name dropping... Hanging out with Man-Gods... I tell you, bootlegging booze peddlers have the life. I just hope the barrels of Canadian Whiskey actually make it to BNAT, unlike at every other BNAT. MEANWHILE - in his talk with Bruce Campbell, Bruce says that Ash is apparently being campaigned for by some Junior Exec at New Line, and if it will have life... he'll need a Higher Sperm Count. L.A. Fertility Geeks! We Need Your Help To Knock Up This Studio To Give Birth To ASH Again!!!
Hey, Harry. Capone in Chicago here, pulling together photos and worthiness statements for BNAT5, and still managing to put in a little face time with one Mr. Bruce Campbell this past Friday, in town for opening day of BUBBA HO-TEP. The dude spent about six hours total hanging around the Landmark Century Centre Theatres, and I was fortunate enough to get to spend far more time than I deserved just being in his company and getting to ask every burning question I've ever had. I'll admit my note-taking skills were a bit lax, mainly because Bruce is such a doggone entertaining guy to talk to, but I've got all the news that's fit to line your birdcage with, so here we go.
In addition to all of the obvious questions that needed to be asked of Bruce, I wanted to begin our formal sit-down conversation with a topic I felt fairly certain none of the other visiting journalists would be asking about: his participation as producer in the film HATRED OF A MINUTE, a film I effectively shot in the ass with a high-powered sling shot in my review a couple months ago. In particular I attacked the lead performance of writer-director-star Mike Kallio. Imagine my shock when Bruce arrived at the theatre accompanied by one Mr. Kallio. Oh fuck, they were going to shut me out for being the first critic to review the film and the first one to slam it. So I nervously made my way to the office where the two were standing, preparing to take my lumps. Turns out Mike is a terrific guy who also happened to remember the wording of my review better than I did. He admitted that my review stung him initially, but ultimately even he hates the film at times. We ended up talking while Bruce was being interviewed by another writer, and we parted friends (I'm pretty sure).
Next up was my formal interview with Bruce. I'd already decided at this point to hold off on the HATRED OF A MINUTE discussion in favor of a few preliminary BUBBA HO-TEP questions.
Capone: It's got to be extremely gratifying to have BUBBA HO-TEP be seen in theatres in front of sold out crowds. [It turns out the Friday two-screen, sold-out box office results for Chicago were the highest opening day results BUBBA HO-TEP has had to date.]
Bruce Campbell: I'm just glad that it's seeing the light of day. Every so often, a true cult film comes out, one where you can have the true cult experience, which has to include a big, noisy audience. There were a lot of negative review for this film, and I can guarantee you that those critics saw the film practically alone in a theatre with maybe a few other critics around and not with an 11:30 at night packed crowd. This is a movie for paying customers, many of whom are seeing it more than once. We dodged a bullet with the critics here in Chicago with Roger Ebert giving it three stars, but basically saying that the movie shouldn't have worked and that he couldn't believe he liked it as much as he did even though so much about it wasn't that great. Yeah, the mainstream media is not digging this film. But, like, the guy from L.A. who didn't like it is the same guy who loved the first EVIL DEAD. Go figure.
Hell, I'm even making my friends pay to see it. When it was announced that BUBBA HO-TEP was opening in Los Angeles, I started getting phone calls from people I know wanting me to get them tickets, and I said, "Hell, no! The movie needs your money. Pay, you cheap bastard!" This is a rare, truly independent movie. We had no budget, no marketing, no distribution, and a publicity campaign that, for a long time, was made up entirely of a few choice screenings. The early word on the film was good and it built up a head of steam over the months. Thank god for the Landmark Theatre chain for basically picking up this film and putting it so many of the theatres.
Capone: Part of the reason BUBBA HO-TEP works so well is that it hits the right tone and respects the material. You're not up there doing an Elvis Presley impersonation and telling jokes; you're playing an old Elvis, playing it straight, and it makes the movie all the more funny. Was that deliberate?
BC: We went to [director] Don Don Coscarelli's house early on and I tried out a few versions of Elvis. Once we figured out the tone, the rest was easy. We wanted to respect not only the material, but the Elvis Presley and John F Kennedy fans as well. We were never really afraid of getting sued by the Presley estate, because the film's a parody, but we wanted to respect his legacy.
Capone: A year and a half after seeing the film at Flashback Weekend here in Chicago, it was strange seeing the trailer for BUBBA HO-TEP for the first time.
BC: The trailer is great. Don cut it himself. He's persnickety in a Catholic kind of way. He rides me to help make the movie a success. Most filmmakers are so hands off after the film is done filming, but for him that's only half the work. He cut the trailer, editing the film. I liked that he didn't want to make a piece of shit.
Capone: Speaking of directors that oversee every aspect of the film, I see that you've showed up in yet another Coen Brothers movie [INTOLERABLE CRUELTY], once again [as in Fargo] as a soap opera character.
BC: I know, it's funny. I took the part mainly because my cameo is featured in a place in the story, in a scene that I knew couldn't be cut out. It's a pivotal scene.
Capone: Like your role in SPIDER-MAN, small but pivotal. You could make a career out of nothing but cameos.
BC: Hey, without my character in SPIDER-MAN, he would have been forever known as The Human Spider.
Capone: When I saw INTOLERABLE CRUELTY, which was about three weeks before it was released, the audience lit up when you showed up on screen. And this wasn't a critics screening, these were just people. Does it seem bizarre to you that in certain circles you are such an icon?
BC: Cult status suits me just fine. If I was Bruce Willis kind of guy, I'd couldn't be normal. I'm a beer and a shot kind of guy, and I don't want to stop being a person. I'm much more into be a person than an actor. When you get to be too famous, you start being a businessman and not an actor. I'm still able to play different parts.
Capone: And you're have steady work...
BC: I do. My dad was an actor in a community theater, and I make more money than my dad ever did. I can't complain about that. But for every BUBBA HO-TEP, there's a MCHALE'S NAVY or CONGO or MAJESTIC...
Capone: MAJESTIC wasn't that bad!
BC: No, but I don't like that the film tried so hard to be Capra-esque. There was no subtlety to it.
Capone: I can't argue with that. Well, let's move on to the important stuff. For better or worse, I've been reading far too much lately about some comments Sam Raimi made recently about being interested in doing EVIL DEAD 4...
BC: Because that's a franchise that is crying out for another chapter. Sam just does that to be inflammatory and get people's juices flowing. He's too busy with SPIDER-MAN 2. What's more likelyis the other rumor concerning Ash vs. Freddy vs. Jason. We have been talking about doing an Ash loan out, like actors used to do when they were under contract, loan out an actor to another studio. In this case, we'd loan the character of Ash. But it would have to be contractual that Ash would have to kick both their asses. He would have to win, or I wouldn't do it. The idea has been bandied about on a purely bullshit level by junior executives at New Line who may not have the sperm to kick it up to the decision-making level. If anyone was really serious, the franchises would have to talk.
I had junior execs greenlight a movie I was going to make called SCREAMING BRAIN, and it was killed by the higher ups. By the way, Sam Raimi will deny all of what I've just said but it's true.
Capone: Well if internet geeks had anything to say about it, the Ash vs. Freddy vs. Jason film would be in post-production by now. It's the only idea dumber and more brilliant than FREDDY VS. JASON.
BC: Why shouldn't a web site like Ain't It Cool spark such a project. I think it's a great idea, as long as I kick both their asses.
Capone: What other projects have you got coming along?
BC: I've actually directed a documentary called A COMMUNITY SPEAKS, an environmental debate on the logging issue in Oregon. The film is based on a single water shed in the state, but it's representative of a larger issue in states where logging is a major industry. We've shot about 55 hours of footage, and we've got it down to about nine hours now. We're not taking sides on the issue, we hope.
Capone: That's very political for a B-movie actor. Are you considering a run for office sometime in the near future?
BC: I'd never pass the FBI check to run for office. The situation between environmental groups and extraction groups is that they've agreed to hate each other. But as long as people wipe their ass with toilet paper, logs are coming down. It's a tough debate.
Capone: Speaking of Oregon, the first thing I meant to ask you when we sat down was about how you feel after your recent car accident.
BC: I'm fine. Yeah, I was hit pretty much head on by a drunk driver in my lane, both of us going about 45 mph. His jeep flipped over. It was more than just a clash of vehicles; it was a clash of sensibilities. I had my seat belt on, an airbag, insurance; the other guy had none of those things, no shirt, no windshield. In fact, he flew out of his car and hit my windshield. But the bottom line is, my Explorer beat his jeep.
Capone: I have to admit that I was surprised how much press the accident got in the mainstream press. I first read about it off the AP wire service. It's as if you're famous or something.
BC: I know. I actually tried to make a case for invasion of privacy when some news agencies said where I lived in Oregon. Now people know where I live. But the judge asked me if I'd ever been written about in the newspaper before, which I had, several times and probably would be again, so the case never happened.
Capone: What about upcoming films? And I heard rumor of another book?
BC: Well I'm on a break now from filming THE WOODS, directed by Lucky McKee. I play the father of the lead girl. We're about two-thirds of the way done, and I have to go back to the set to fight the woods. Did you see his film MAY?
Capone: At Butt Numb-a-Thon last year, yes. Terrifically sick little picture. Wait, you're fighting the woods again? Talk about typecasting! And you're old enough to start played dads? Ouch!
BC: [laughing] Butt Numb-a-Thon. How funny. Yeah, I'm back battled the trees again in one arena while trying to save them in another. And the girl is only about 17, so it's not like I'm playing old here.
Oh, and the book: my new book, which should be next summer probably, is called "Make Love the Bruce Campbell Way." It's a work of fiction starring me in various adventures. When I told my wife the title, she said, "It's called what?"
I was actually conducting my interview with Bruce in the office of the theatre's marketing manager. Occasionally the guy's phone would ring, and if you've ever been near Bruce when a phone interrupts him, you know how much he hates it. If the phone got on his nerves, he'd jump up out of his chair, walk around to the other side of the desk, grab the phone and yell "What do you want?" More often than not, it was some youngster trying to find out of tickets were still on sale for BUBBA HO-TEP and whether Bruce was still supposed to be on hand. Imagine their shock when Bruce himself answered the phone.
Anyway, during the course of the evening, Bruce did five Q&A sessions with audiences after BUBBA HO-TEP screenings and a handful of interviews with local press types. After the journalists dispersed and Mike Kallio disappeared, I was fortunate enough to just spend some good-old down time with Bruce where we shot the shit about all things Campbell. People can speculate all they want about Campbell's status as the king of the B-movie actors. Is it the film choices? Maybe. Is it his affiliation with certain big name directors? I'm sure that's a part of it. But the real reason, people panicked when they heard Bruce was in a car accident earlier this year is because the guy is genuinely nice and loves to entertain his fans. Catch him and BUBBA HO-TEP when they finally reach your town.
Capone
If you would like to know where to send my impending Bruce/Al wedding presents, click here!
