Beyond the Valley of the Blow-up Dolls
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“This is my new favorite PR still for my own purposes. What is it like to be on a shoot for one of my movies? That’s what it’s like. It’s just a little off, but it’s totally serious. Everybody’s very busy and very professional. It’s really funny, also—this is the sad thing—we all got desensitized to anything explicit at all. I want to start doing this thing called Wamego Movie Camp, because it really feels like summer camp when we’re working. It’s mischievous and tongue in cheek. I guess in this photo it’s ‘cheeks,’ except there were no tongues in them—actually, that’s not true.” View photo »
“In this particular scene, Jon Niccum is the father. The parents have finally decided to hire a hooker so that she can break him in. The parents sit there and watch, cheering him on while he’s doing it. It’s both funny and sickening at the same time. You’re watching someone who’s being sexually abused, basically, and it’s a joke. Jon played that effortlessly. Jillian Lauren plays the prostitute and she’s a burlesque dancer from Los Angeles. She’s phenomenal. Nancy Pujol plays the mother, and she was in ‘Pep Squad.’ Her comic timing is genius. She was also my drama teacher when I was in 6th grade. She dated Harrison Ford and shit when she was in high school—she told everybody on the set. It was ridiculous.” View photo »
“Lawrence’s very own Kitty Mitchell. I love this scene. This is how the movie pretty much opens. The parents of Jonathan have decided when he turns 18 it’s time for him to lose his virginity, so they take him down the street to the ‘slow’ girl’s house. She’s not retarded, she’s just a little off. The parents barter with her dad, who lends her out so the son can lose his virginity. They go on a date at the cemetery where they see some violent imagery, and it doesn’t work out because she’s been abused all her life and can’t handle any form of abuse. I just want to say that Kitty is a genius—her part’s pretty small, but she was so much fun to work with. Aaron Gnirk, a Kansas City comedian who hosts ‘The Big Dumb Fun Show,’ plays her father. I’ve cast a mad collection of people, almost like a weird ‘Alice in Wonderland’ with completely crazy characters popping up in these sequences. When he beat her with the umbrella, it was wonderful. His character was proud to say that he had given his daughter a gynecological exam to make sure her hymen was still intact.” View photo »
“Jonathan Barrows is the character’s name, and he’s sexually attracted to his own body and carries on an erotic relationship with a blow-up doll that resembles him. He puts his face on the blow-up doll so that when he’s having sex with it, it will be as if he’s having sex with himself. The actor’s name is Matt Riddlehoover, who’s also a filmmaker. He’s got a huge following in the gay community—mostly among the men who want to have sex with him.” View photo »
“This particular sequence, we were just filming and I saw this grave that said ‘Ebert’ on it, and I was like, ‘Oh my God, we have to use this grave!’ We love Roger Ebert, and Roger Ebert loves us. I hope he has a sense of humor about it, but I think he will be one of the only people that remembers the actual film that the sequence was inspired by. I don’t even remember the name of it, I just know it’s a really obscure French film. That’s me propped on top. Richard Villar is in the eye patch, and he’s just an awesome guy. He’s in the surreal moment with the horse head that won’t make any sense to you now, but will when you see the film. Every person on Earth, and other people have agreed with me, will find at least one thing totally offensive about this movie—and that kind of excites me.” View photo »
“That is Betty O. She’s a great jazz singer/actress who got a standing ovation at the Apollo when she performed there in the early ’90s. Every year, when the Apollo releases their 10 Most Memorable Moments, she’s always in that group. She plays a character called Miss Grimlager. She eats donuts.” View photo »
Bandit Teeth / ColourMusic :: After a seven-year hiatus, this trio of Lawrencians has reestablished itself as a top-shelf draw for their brand of high-energy, punk-influenced indie rock ... More info
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