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American Morning
Summer Camp Comedy "Wet, Hot American Summer" Coming to Theaters This Week
Aired August 07, 2001 - 10:46 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MICHAEL OKWU, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And may the force be with you. Why do I invoke the force, because the next "Star Wars" installment finally has a title, and its timely. The prequel will be called "Star Wars: Episode II -- Attack of the Clones," and will be set 10 years after the events in "Episode One: The Phantom Menace." "Attack of the Clones" is scheduled for release in 2002. "Phantom Menace" stars Natalie Portman and Ewan McGregor. Those stars will return for Episode II.
Ewan McGregor didn't have his Jedi sword with him, but he did have his "Moulin Rouge" costar Nicole Kidman by his side at the Hollywood film festival last night. The musical film was honored at the gala, but for the actors, acting, singing and dancing in "Moulin Rouge," wasn't always rosey.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
EWAN MCGREGOR, ACTOR: We kind have a little (UNINTELLIGIBLE) to allow ourselves to be...
NICOLE KIDMAN, ACTRESS: Complete fools.
MCGREGOR: Complete fools, yes, and without embarrassment. We had to do -- we had to sing to each other, dance with each other, with all of this physical comedy with each other and...
KIDMAN: On the ground.
MCGREGOR: Rolling and rolling around.
(LAUGHTER)
MCGREGOR: So we allowed each other to the do that, you know. It was nice.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MICHAEL OKWU, CNN ANCHOR: "Wet, Hot American Summer" -- it may sound like the weather report where you are this August afternoon, but it's the title of a new comedy coming to theaters this week. It's a romp through teenage summer camp.
CNN's Lori Blackman talked to the comical cast. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED ACTRESS: You are not supposed to be out of your bunks -- you're in trouble.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LORI BLACKMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's the last day of camp, 1981. Love is in the air, as is sex, friendship. And astrophysics?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: A renegade piece of skylab heading right for the camp!
UNIDENTIFIED ACTRESS: Oh my god.
UNIDENTIFIED ACTRESS: It could kill us all!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLACKMAN: It all takes place in a "Wet, Hot American Summer."
JANEANNE GAROFALO, ACTRESS: It's hard to categorize this film, because it's not a mainstream, broad comedy, and it's not an indie arthouse film. It's right in the middle. I think people that got to see like artsy-fartsy movies will like definitely appreciate it, and people that see mainstream movie will appreciate it, because it's -- while there's absurdist and sophomoric humor in it, there's a lot of smart stuff in it, too.
BLACKMAN: Attribute this movie's humor to the eclectic tastes of it's creators, David Wain and Michael Showwalter, of MTV's "The State."
DAVID WAIN, CO-WRITER/DIRECTOR: The first little bit of the movie looks like it's just going to be sort of your generic "Meatballs"-esque camp comedy, and then the idea was to then just take it in every sort of inappropriate or unexpected direction that you can imagine.
BLACKMAN: Like camp director Jeanine Garafolo getting high, camp stud Paul Rudd sucking face with all the babes, cook Chris Meloni getting frisky with a refrigerator, and arts and crafts teacher Molly Shannon falling for a much younger man.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED ACTRESS: I'm a total wreck. It's, like, I don't even know where the crayons are.
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: I know, I know.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLACKMAN (on camera): You rob the cradle in this film. What's up with that?
MOLLY SHANNON, ACTRESS: Just a little. I liked the inappropriateness of it, like a child, a young, young, young boy consoling this adult woman, her getting her needs met by a child. It's so inappropriate.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: Andy, have you seen my swimming buddy?
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: I was busy.
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: It's your job to make sure kids don't drown!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLACKMAN: How much screen time do you think you spent kissing your co-stars in this film?
PAUL RUDD, ACTOR: Probably at least half. Andy's a counselor, who's kind of the cool counselor. He's not really cool. He probably thinks he's cool, but he's really not too cool. He kind of dresses like Chatchie.
BLACKMAN: He sort of is Chatchie.
RUDD: He kind of is, he's kind of Chatchie. He's Chatchie- esque.
BLACKMAN: Were you ever Chatchie-esque in your youth?
RUDD: No, no I was pore Potsie-esque in my youth.
SHANNON: I think it's great that in independent movies, they do stuff that they might not get away with in a regular studio film, where they go, "Oh, that wouldn't work" or "That's too crazy." Like they really just went for it, and I think that's what was,-- is refreshing with this movie.
Lori Blackman, CNN Entertainment News, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
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