Max Max trilogy screening in L.A. w/ Mel Gibson Q & A

[biolumen]

All three Mad Max films will be screened on January 21 at the Egyptian Theater in Los Angeles. There will also be a Q & A session with Mel. One of the few times I wished I lived in the area.

http://herocomplex.latimes.com/2011/12/ ... nstage-qa/

[Sucks_Nitro]

Here's the local coverage:



A tiny article in Melbourne's Saturday Herald Sun, 24 Dec 11, page 18.

[madmach]

I wonder if any of our West Coast members will be able to attend and let us all know how it went?

[Max Replica]

Many of us will be there.

[Daz]

Ask him if he'll sign my dashboard of the Big Bopper next time he is in Sydney.

[biolumen]

Mel Gibson on the Legacy of "Mad Max," Meeting Tom Hardy for "Fury Road" and His Viking Epic "Berserker"

Contrary to what some may suspect, Mel Gibson’s phone has not stopped ringing. In the midst of a nearly 45-minute conversation with the actor/director following a screening of “Mad Max” on Saturday at the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood, Gibson lost track of a question about how he felt about the venerable franchise when he slid his hand inside his coat pocket to check his phone.

“It’s TMZ,” teased moderator and Los Angeles Times writer Geoff Boucher, to which Gibson looked over the sold-out, 600-strong audience before responding, “I’m sure they’re here somewhere.”

It was one of just two allusions to Gibson’s personal travails in recent years, the other arriving later when Boucher, who was one of the last to do an in-depth profile of the actor circa 2010 when “Edge of Darkness” was released, asked whether he’s had trouble staying optimistic. Though the Q & A was never opened up for questions from the audience, Gibson needn’t have worried about an unfriendly crowd since there was rousing applause when he said, “Everybody gets ups and downs. It’s either sink or swim or you just don’t wake up one morning. But I kept waking up, so I figured what the fuck?”

While Gibson appeared to be slightly guarded, he also was clearly appreciative of the opportunity to just talk about his films, which wasn’t limited to the “Mad Max” series despite the fact the evening’s triple bill also included “Road Warrior” and “Beyond Thunderdome.” Still, he fondly recalled how the franchise was “an education,” reminiscing about the fluky way he was first cast as the merciless Mad Max Rockatansky after taking his drama school flatmate Steve Bisley (who plays Max’s partner Jim Goose) to the audition after “I’d been out on the turfs about a week before and really had gotten into some serious trouble.” Roughed up, Gibson intrigued the casting department, who took polaroids of him and said, “Come back when you heal up. We’re looking for freaks.” When he came back three weeks later, they didn’t recognize him until he pointed to his Polaroid on their board and then won over producers by telling a joke and confirming he could drive.

Of course, Gibson would steer “Mad Max” towards being one of the highest grossing independent films of all time, scraped together on a budget of $300,000 from friends and relatives by first-time director George Miller and producing partner Byron Kennedy after the two were inspired by Miller’s experience of scraping bodies off the road as a medical student in New South Wales. The combined inexperience of all involved led to things in the first two productions that Gibson could only describe as “odd,” such as when, for instance, Miller argued with his cameraman about an illogical camera position on “Mad Max” or on “Road Warrior” where in the middle of the truck chase, an actor can be seen in the middle of the frame, “looking at the camera going, “I wonder if they can see me” that made the locked final cut. (On the other hand, Gibson confirmed the skill of the filmmakers on that same scene in "Road Warrior" when he collectively blew the minds of most of the audience when he said no one was actually moving during most of the filming of that chase.)

Yet Gibson had nothing but fond memories for those days, warmly recalling how locals in the mining village of Broken Hill where “Road Warrior” was shot thought he was strange for driving a Mini and wearing bedroom slippers around town and that Tina Turner was kind to him on the set of “Beyond Thunderdome” and she looked “really hot in that chainmail negligee” despite the crew ironically calling her “grandma.” He cited “Road Warrior as his favorite of the films, since he liked how it was almost a silent film and “with the benefit of the first one, I think they made the film they wanted to make in the first place” and though “Beyond Thunderdome” is the least appreciated of the three, he didn’t dismiss it, but he did acknowledge it went in a different direction after original producer Kennedy died in a helicopter crash before production and “George was really affected by it. It was an attempt to do something else, but I don’t know that it knew what it wanted to do.”

As for a fourth installment, Gibson said there was no thought of one during the ‘80s, but when Boucher pressed him on his involvement in the long-gestating “Fury Road,” he was careful not to give details while saying “it looked amazing” when he and Miller were planning to make it together eight years ago. Now that “Warrior” star Tom Hardy is onboard, along with Charlize Theron, Gibson appeared happy to pass the torch, saying he met with Hardy, “a firecracker” and “a very interesting actor [who] reminds me of one of my sons,” about six months ago for lunch where Hardy “maybe [asked] was is it okay?” and Gibson replied “Sure. It’s fine. Knock yourself out. I've got better things to do.”

More of the interview at the link below.

http://www.moveablefest.com/moveable_fe ... abees.html

[Peter Barton]

Thanks for posting that. a couple of quick corrections, the following line:

“I’d been out on the turfs about a week before and really had gotten into some serious trouble.”

Replace "turfs" with "turps", that's the correct slang down here. Whoever wrote the article must have transcribed it wrong or taken the suggestions of the spell checker. "Turps" is basically short for "turpentine", and although that's not what you'd really ever actually drink, it's basically slang for a big night of drinking.

Also, as for not moving during the final chase - this is most likely how it was for most of the scenes where you see Mel up close, but more often than not in the wide shots it would be Dennis Williams driving the truck (or crouched down next to Mel where you see him), and as seen in the film there was obviously plenty of stuff done at speed and for real. For anyone who hasn't seen it though, grab a copy of "The Chase Continues", there's a great shot of one of the scenes of Mel "driving" being filmed, with various wind machines and guys rocking the truck cab to give it the effect!

[Morrisminor]

For a 45 minute interview there really wasn't any new ground broken in the actualities of the Mad Max series. Considering it was a screening of all three films and a house full of fans I thought the questions were kinda light when they were on topic, ( as you can see from the linked article above half of conversation was not about Mad Max). At one point Mel credited the bridge/bike stunt from MM1, where the thrown rider gets slammed in the back of his head by the other bike, to someone by the name of Pie( Pye/Pi?) Gibson. Correct me if I'm wrong but I thought that was Dale Bensch? Mel had two sour looking security people flanking the stage which didn't help the ambiance or mood of the moment and his parting remark to the audience wasn't much either, "look for the guy in the truck"! As soon as the interview was over Mel and his crew marched for the exit door.
I know there are complications regarding the protocol that he now needs when making public appearances but my final vibe on the moment felt like a celebrity coming to open a shopping mall! As a Mad Max fan I found it disappointing and underwhelming. It's as if he had to be there rather than wanted to be there. I really wish that someday someone gets to document a well researched and substantial interview on the topic of Mad Max with Mel.

[Max Replica]

Yeah, I would put most of it down to a very bad interviewer. The guy (Geoff Boucher, who does a blog for the LA Times) didn't seem to have any questions ready, which is kind of inexcusable. Mel rarely does any public appearances and I'm not sure if he has ever done a Q&A along with a screening of the Mad Max films before, the least Boucher could have done would be to think up a few thoughtful questions. Maybe even write down a couple. It's not like he didn't know he would be doing the interview, it was announced weeks ago.
Living in Los Angeles I've had the pleasure of watching many such screening interviews with various filmmakers and having a decent interviewer makes a HUGE difference.

Yes, Mel wasn't exactly the easiest person to interview, and he claimed to not remember very much from the films he made 30 years ago (which is probably true) but I have no doubt that someone else in control of that interview would have done a much better job at refreshing his memory and keeping him engaged. I think half the reason Mel seemed like he didn't want to be there was because Boucher was making the interview a real chore for him.

It was one thing for Mel to seem like maybe he didn't want to be there, but it's another thing altogether when the INTERVIEWER doesn't even seem like he wants to be there.

Watch someone like Leonard Maltin lead a Q&A sometime and you'll see a HUGE difference.

A real missed opportunity. I kind of hope someone tells Boucher not to lead any more Q&A sessions, just in case he's not aware of how bad he is at it.

[MFP 2020]

They say you shouldn't meet your heroes...

Agree on most counts. It was a huge disappointment for me. Mel's body language was very closed up, and he mostly ignored the audience. At the very least he could have said thanks, or acknowledged that we'd shown up for him. I, for one, would have appreciated a small display of gratitude, other than a wave on the way in and out. I mean, it wasn't like he was being forced to answer questions in front of a hostile audience.

I did meet Tom Kenny, the voice of Spongebob, so that was a bonus.