1
42 / AVIDMAGAZINE.COM / APRIL 2 011 Ticke Ts To The Gunn s how THE CUT J ames Gunn is known for mak- ing compelling, left-of-center films. The writer and director’s latest effort, Super, casts quirky comedian Rainn Wilson (The Office) as a vigilante superhero who “fights evil” with a pipe wrench and the help of his sociopathic sidekick played by Ellen Page (Juno). AVID caught up with the St. Louis native to talk shop before Super hits the- aters this April. AVID: Tell us about getting your start in St. Louis. James Gunn: I was a very oddball kid. I was into comic books and movies, and I started making films when I was 11 or 12; I was shoot- ing films on 8mm. Then I went to St. Louis University High School and met a whole group of guys who were also into filmmaking, and that was when I really started taking my artistic life more seriously. Every- thing started in St. Louis. AVID: Where will Super premiere in St. Louis? Will you be in town? JG: It’s opening in St. Louis on April 15, and I will be there. I de- cided I would come home and cel- ebrate with my friends in St. Louis. It’s going to be showing at the Tivoli Theatre. I have a really great relationship with the Tivoli be- cause I used to go there all the time in high school. I saw Dawn of the Dead there for the first time. It’s great to go home and have a movie playing there. AVID: Rainn Wilson describes Super as “Taxi Driver meets Napo- leon Dynamite.” Do you agree? JG: That’s him stealing a line from me. I give Rainn a lot of things to say; he doesn’t have an original thought [laughs]. We were trying to describe this movie early on, because it’s diffi- cult to describe. It’s very sad, it’s dark, it’s very violent; but it also has a lot of light humor. It makes it a very eclec- tic film, so in trying to describe the movie before we made it, we came up with that description. I think it’s pretty accurate. AVID: Did any superheros or par- ticular films influence Super? JG: The only thing that makes Frank D’Arbo a superhero is the fact that he puts on a costume. Oth- er than that, he’s not really much of a superhero. I was somewhat influ- enced by the work of Alan Moore, who [wrote] Watchmen, because he was the one who started decon- structing the superhero myth, and Super is really another deconstruc- tion of the superhero myth. AVID: The film was made on a small budget and is unrated. Does that al- low you more freedom as a director? JG: This was 100 percent my movie. There’s nothing about this movie that isn’t sanctioned by me, and not even the MPAA changed it. Most movies today are trying to please everybody, and that means you’re not making a movie for a specific audience. It was never intended to be a movie that’s for everybody. AVID: Who was Super made for? JG: When I was a kid, it really meant a lot to me to see a film that felt like it was made specifically for me, as if it were really speaking to me. That’s what I wanted to do with Super: make a movie for the oddballs, the rebels and the geeks. words: liz miller Photos: Courtesy of Forefront Media Quickfire Movies that inspired you growing up? Bonnie and Clyde. [Before that] I didn’t realize that movies could end sadly. Star Wars changed my life as well. Movie you can’t wait to see? I’m really looking forward to The Hangover Part II . I hope it’s good. The first one really made me laugh. Actor you’d most like to work with? Meryl Streep. I think she’s our greatest screen actor or actress that’s living. Favorite person you follow on Twier? A comedian named Rob Delaney, @robdelaney, who I think is the funni- est guy on Twier. Favorite superhero? Batman. I think that’s a very boring answer…but he’s my favorite. w riter and director James Gunn tells AViD all about his latest film, Super, and how seeing movies at s t. Louis’ Tivoli Theatre changed his life. A
