Fright Night director Chris Gillespie has experienced the highs and the lows while sitting on the chair. While his Lars and the Real Girl was well received by critics, Mr. Woodcock wasn’t so lucky. Back by a strong cast, this contemporary re-imagining of the 80s cult classic may just pave the way for the director to have some great projects fall on his lap. This roundtable was fortunate enough to have Collin Farrell in the same room. He talks about his experience at Comic-Con. Of course you will have to hit the jump to hear the entire interview.

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During Comic-Con I read on my Twitter feed that Farrell received Oscar props for his performance in In Bruges. So I immediately asked him what it was like to continue to receive such praise, especially in a geek centric convention such as comic-con. Farrell responded that he appreciates that the fans acknowledge his work.

Farrell recognized that Jerry wasn’t human nor did he have any desire to be human. He basically stripped the character of any emotion and believed that he had a disdain for humans. He understood that there was a chance that he could be somewhat repetitive, but thankfully the script didn’t ask for him to completely take away all emotions.

The actor truly believed that the practical does enhance the movie experience. While he does love the green screen and CGI technology, he believes that there is a sense of liberation when it comes down to practical things. He says when you see him bare his fangs there is a sense of that fear, and it is because of the fact that it is make up and not computer generated that the fear can be real and not presumed as fake.

For Gillespie he judges the material by the script. But when he first heard that Fright Night was a vampire movie he was hesitant. Still he gave it a read and loved the script that was penned by Marti Noxon. He said that the script was able to strike a balance between the comedy and the horror so cleverly that he had to direct it. Gillespie said that the practicality of the vampire is what also drew him to the script.

Gillespie was not familiar with the original Fright Night and did not view it until he got the script and completed the casting process. There were some things from the original that the director did add to the film, but no so much that it became a complete recreation.

Farrell loves transitioning from his Horrible Bosses character to Jerry. He says that the two are more like a flick-of-the-switch kind of character where it was easy for him to go from one character to the other. But after five years of heavy drama films, the actor was more than happy to do something where he can make people laugh instead of cry.

At first Gillespie was reluctant to use 3D, but then it dawned on him, what would it be like for two people to stand inside a kitchen with 3D effects and tension drenched on the audience. He said that given that Avatar and Alice in Wonderland did so well capturing these moments with 3D, he wanted to use the technology. Gillespie wanted to have the audience immersed in that world.

Chris Sarandon played the vampire villian in the 1985 Fright Night. The likeness of his character has been replaced with that of Collin Ferrell for the remake that opens this Friday. But you will not see the same campy attitude that was present in the 1980s version, and that is how Sarandon likes it. Hit the jump to see his take on DreamWorks’ contemporary version of Fright Night.

The actor will always hold the original in a place in his heart, not only because it became a cult hit and is revered as one of the great movies in its genre, but because he had such a fun time with the movie. Like the original cast before, everyone that was involved with the movie had a great collaboration and knew that the project was very special. Sarandon didn’t see it as a remake, but a re-imagining of Fright Night.

When they told him that they would have a role for him in this new Fright Night, Sarandon was open to anything. He loved that he could play a character that is consumed by a character who becomes the character. Although it would have been poetic justice if he were to dress in his 80s attire, he realized that if you wink at the audience, you would be making fun of it. So instead he kept it in reality by keeping it grounded.

Sarandon then talked about what it was like to meet Ferrell for the first time. Since he would be replacing him. Ferrell came baring gifts, but their discussion wasn’t about Jerry. They confronted the fact that he might upset Sarandon for his take on his character. But of course Sarandon was very gracious and let him carry the torch.

On the subject of 3D, Sarandon was glad that the 3D wasn’t used in a gimmicky way. He said there was a sense of depth to it. He praised director Craig Gillespie for his knowledge of the technology and restraint to use it in a gimmicky way.

When talking about his fans, Sarandon talked about some of the awkwardness that he has come across. Particularly with his Princess Bride fans. According to him there is no demographic, people of all ages will come up to him asking him to sign things from memorabilia to tattoos.

Finally Sarandon talked about the progression of vampires. He is surprised at how they have become romanticized. Although he admits he watches more sports that the evolution of the vampire now, he says that Fright Night brings the name of the vampire to its rightful place.

Listen to the complete interview and the last bit of his theory on why Jerry eats so much fruit in the movie.

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Recently MovieViral.com was treated to both a screening and a roundtable interview for the sentimental film called The Help. While we like to pride ourselves in being you the best movie viral coverage the Internet has to offer, we also like to broaden our knowledge of all things movies. The Help, a film based on the civil rights movement, has audiences seeing Emma Stone in a role they are not familiar with. Oscar nominee Viola Davis was partnered with the young actress and together they shared their experiences on and off the set, both displaying natural chemistry. Stone did mention that she had completed shooting The Amazing Spider-Man at the end of May and that she would be in attendance at the San Diego Comic-Con to promote the film, but remained silent on everything else. Davis spoke about the misconceptions of what an Oscar nomination brings and the difficulties she has with her non-stop schedule . You can read that and all of the stories they have to tell while shooting The Help after the jump.

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The two started to talk about how the cast adopted stray dogs and how fellow cast member Allison Janney got in over her head by adopting two strays.

Emma Stone believes that they were very lucky on the set and that the production was relatively chronological so there wasn’t a need to build this long lasting construction of friendship. For Viola Davis she believed that she doesn’t need to go into detail to build friendships. But she swears that she isn’t cold like that. But she believes it is because of her acting studies that allow her to “fake” a relationship. Trust me she isn’t cold as she seems, she is actually quite nice.

Davis explains that emotional scenes never get any easier and that Oscar nomination comes with more stress. It is because of that nomination precedes her now. She tries not to operate on the point of view of fear and that point of view is now stuck in her head. She fears that the movie she does will be found out and that the audience will judge her based on her performance.

Stone was quite embarrassed when one of the interviewers pulled out an issue of Vanity Fair, which she graces the cover of. Now that she is having such a huge year, she says that there is nothing you know until you know. She compares her recent jump in stock that to getting her own phone line when she was younger or her first car. She says it feels so different every year and that no year is the same or it bare little resemblances from the year before.

According to Stone and Davis, the cast never talked about the Hollywood working status to each other. Davis said that no one ever addresses her as Oscar nominated Viola Davis. For them it was just parties and having fun like normal people.

Stone attributes her stability in life to her friends and family in life. She says that her family has been proud of her and what she has done never once boosting her ego. She jokingly said that her parents would even be proud of her if she drove a garbage truck if that was her passion.

Quickly going to The Amazing Spider-Man, she said her friends never talked about what it was like to be on the set for the movie. Stone added that she struggled with the fan expectation. That unknowing factor is quite scary and that she hopes the story was translated well enough to please the fans.

Viola added that people read and interpret the stories differently so that their truth would also be different. But according to Davis, the hardest thing to do as an actress is that sometimes people want laughs and that because she is a purist she has to work against the cliché ta-das.

Since Stone has wrapped up shooting for Spider-Man in May, she has been on a break, but in Davis’ case, she hasn’t been on a break. She explains as a black actress she has to ride the wave. She regrettably was forced to play that card because there are just so few roles, and that whatever you see her or any other black actress in, it’s the biggest role for black actors. But she explains that it is a slippery slope for a black actress and that they are just happy to do what they are doing.

The Help opens tomorrow, August 10th, in theaters everywhere.

There is nothing like a little southern hospitality, and that is what MovieViral.com got when The Help’s Jessica Chastain and Octavia Spencer sat at a roundtable. The two had such wonderful chemistry on screen and off which will be pretty prevalent if you listen to the entire interview. Both talked about what it was like to cook, share scenes together, and test for chemistry during their auditions. Hit the jump to listen to the interview.

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Right from the audition Chastain and Spencer became friends, but you would have already noticed that based on they chemistry had on screen. It was like they were sisters. Chastain talked about the processes she had to go through during the audition. Because she was shooting the Texas Killing Fields during that time, the actress really had to fight for the role. Spencer said that she was already familiar with some of the people behind the scenes, so it wasn’t too hard for her to get the role, but it wasn’t necessarily easy either. After the two had completed testing for chemistry, both Spencer and director Tate Taylor knew that Chastain was the right choice.

Spencer talked about how intimidating was share scenes with actresses like Viola Davis and Sissy Spacek. But she added that they were very disarming and gracious. However when Spencer talked about sharing scenes with Chastain, she said that she felt much more comfortable performing in front of the camera given that they tested so well. Likewise, Chastain talked about how she felt in her element whenever she and Spencer had scenes together. With their chemistry so electrifying, the two took their relationship beyond the camera, sharing things like daily life stories and even asking for recipes.

Spencer never experienced racism herself given the fact that she comes from a young family and that her family never talks about it. She jokingly said that if she had lived during the sixties, the south would of never really survived her. But she did learn about the civil rights movement from her mother and some of the experiences she may have had. She does admit she didn’t know enough about the 60s or Civil rights itself until she did the research for her character.

Both of them talked about their character growth in their arcs. While Minnie(Spencer) and Celia (Chastian) may come from different walks of life in the movie, both of them learned from each other and began to overcome their fears. Spencer believes that all the women were trailblazers and that if these women did not exist, this movie would not exist.

The Help opens August 10th in theaters.

Our last press event for Comic-Con was the Fright Night press conference, which included stars Colin Farrell (before he had to leave for the Total Recall panel), Anton Yelchin, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Imogen Poots, Chris Sarandon, writer Marti Noxon, and director Craig Gillespie. Listen to the press conference after the break.

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On Friday, the cast and crew of The Amazing Spider-Man sat down for a press conference at Comic-Con. In attendance was producers Avi Arad and Matt Tolmach, Spidey himself Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone (who plays Gwen Stacy), director Marc Webb, and Rhys Ifans (before his incident). Listen in to the press conference after the break.

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On Friday, I had to opportunity to participate in a roundtable interview with some of the cast and crew of the upcoming comedy 30 Minutes or Less. First up was actors Aziz Ansari and Michael Peña, then Nick Swardson and director Ruben Fleischer. Listen in after the break.

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After Robert Rodriguez had his Comic-Con panel to talk about his new Quick Draw Productions, he sat down for a roundtable interview to go into more specifics on what the company is for, as well as to talk about his other upcoming projects. Leslie Sobon, VP of global product and outbound marketing of AMD, was there as well, since the computer hardware company has partnered with Rodriguez and his production company. Listen in to the interview after the break.

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The USA Network had a solid presence at this year’s San Diego Comic-Con, and I had a chance to do a roundtable interview with Burn Notice creator and executive producer Matt Nix, geek legend Bruce Campbell (who plays Sam on Burn Notice), and the beautiful Fairly Legal star Sarah Shahi. Listen in after the break.

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From London, to Paris, to Tokyo, and beyond, Cars 2 raced into theaters this Friday, providing Pixar fans with the same sparkle, comedy, and tones that fans they are familiar with for the past 16 years. Owen Wilson returns to voice Lighting McQueen, the hotheaded arrogant racecar who thought that it was all about being number one. But he isn’t alone. The actor is joined by Eddie Izzard, a British comedian, who’s standup isn’t that well-known for the target younger audience, but his voice might resonant with them. The two spoke about their own experiences with voicing characters as opposed to just acting them out. Wilson talks about the joys about returning to voice a character he loves and that his own son would recognize him as an animated figure. He also added that he would not be in Wes Anderson’s Moonrise Kingdom. Hit the jump to hear the entire roundtable.

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Temp DL: http://movieviral.com/music/podcast/OwenEddieCars2.mp3 or HERE.