SMALL APARTMENTS (Jonas Åkerlund, 2012)

[leigh1975]

Dolph's sweater is a multitude of horrors.

[Geoff]

Dolph's sweater is a multitude of horrors.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

[Jox]

From writer Chris Millis FB:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Chris-Mi ... ref=stream

Hi everybody! One month from today, my first feature film "Small Apartments" will premiere in limited theatrical release from Sony Pictures on Feb. 8th. Video-On-Demand and DVD's for the film will be available Feb. 19th.

Pretty. Cool.

Every day this month here on FB and on my Twitter feed (@ChrisMillis), I will be posting my personal memories of the film's 20-day shoot in Los Angeles back in March and April of 2011. I'm so excited to finally share this film with the world and my goal is to get you excited to see it. Hopefully, I will get you excited enough to share the news of the film's release with all your friends.

An interesting fact about "Small Apartments" is that much of it was filmed in an abandoned office building that was set to be demolished right after we left -- reportedly to make room for a Wal-Mart. Also, all the street addresses mentioned in the film are accurate to the location where they were shot, only the numbers have been changed.

The first time I was introduced to Peter Stormare (who plays Mr. Olivetti in the film) by director Jonas Akerlund, Peter said, with a straight face, "Oh Chris... I know Chris. This is our third film together." Peter Stormare is a lunatic and I love him.

Please, please... All this month, feel free to ask me any questions you have about my new film "Small Apartments" starring Billy Crystal, Matt Lucas, Johnny Knoxville, James Caan, Rebel Wilson, Juno Temple, Dolph Lundgren, James Marsden, Rosie Perez, Amanda Plummer and so many more. It premiers in theaters Feb. 8th in limited release. I will do my very best to answer any and all questions you may have....

[Jox]

To request a theatrical screening near you:
http://www.tugg.com/titles/small-apartments

Trailer on iTunes
http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/sony ... partments/

http://www.firstshowing.net/2013/rebel- ... s-trailer/

[Nathan]

Looks not bad, total waste of time though releasing it DTV. Nobody is gonna pick it up not knowing what it is, it should have had more festival buzz and recognition. As it stands, it's a virtual unknown. A horror movie or action movie people will impulse buy, something this weird they will not.

[Jox]

I guess theater programers were not sure about it either (hence the release through Tugg.com), don't assume companies make all the decisions regarding how their films get released, they don't. And if it should have been picked up in other festivals it would have... I guess it is too "weird" before you've seen it, having read the novel (fun) and this trailer it actually seems good, but hopefully it'll make its way to people and become kinda cult on its own with time.

And it seems a release is on its way in the territories where Sony owns the rights, as it's set for release in Italy on March 5:
http://www.amazon.it/Small-Apartments-D ... 741&sr=8-1

http://film-dvd.dvd.it/dvd-commedie/sma ... d-4159266/

[Jox]

Here is ANOTHER TRAILER (more Dolph included), the original trailer I think (not Sony's) on Jonas Akerlund's site:
http://www.jonasakerlund.com/trailers/# ... ts-trailer
http://www.jonasakerlund.com/trailers/

[Geoff]

This is gonna be 100% love it or hate it!!!

[leigh1975]

I'm looking forward to this. Jonas Åkerlund Is a really interesting artist, and even his small filmography shows incredible range, going from Spun, onto Horsemen and then through to Small Apartments... each film couldn't be more different. Horsemen is a fantastic thriller.

[Jox]

Author Chris Millis who wrote the novel (winner of the 3-day writing contest) and the screenplay gave a few trivia anecdotes about S.A.:

More "Small Apartments" Backstory:

I only missed one half-day on set for the shoot of "Small Apts." Unfortunately, it was the night the wonderfully hilarious DJ Qualls (who plays Artie, a clerk at the 24 Hour Convenience Store) shot his scene with Matt Lucas (Franklin Franklin) and Juno Temple (Simone).

I did leave set for a great time, though. That night, my wife, Lisa, and I attended Rob Schneider's wedding to his lovely bride, Patricia, at the Beverly Hills Hotel. The band at the reception was an awesome Beatles cover band. For the first set, they were the Fab Four in their mod suits, mop tops and skinny black ties. And the second set was all Sergeant Pepper's. They sounded amazing and looked incredibly authentic -- except for one, minor detail...

At one point, during some of the band's onstage chatter between songs, I said, "Whatever you say there, right-handed Paul McCartney."

To which a nearby Adam Sandler replied, "Ahh. You can't have everything."

One of my favorite actors in "Small Apts" is James Marsden (who plays Franklin Franklin's institutionalized, but strangely wise, big brother Bernard). Amazingly, James was cast the day before his scenes were scheduled to be shot. We had offered the role to Paul Ruebens (Pee Wee Herman) who director, Jonas Akerlund really wanted -- but Reubens passed. Reubens would have been great, but very different in the role. Other near-Bernards included Paul Rudd and Jason Sudeikis. But we lucked out with Marsden. He's amazing.

James Marsden arrived on set like an adrenaline shot at the mid-point of shooting. In my opinion, he's a brighter, more handsome, James Franco. He brought an original, infectious energy to the character of Bernard -- and to the overall fun of making the movie.

For various reasons, I wrote a lot of James's lines on the fly -- literally running back-and-forth to the production trailer to have his pages printed out. At one point, James was reading over his new lines, asking me how his character would approach the tone of a certain run of dialogue. He had me flat against a wall asking questions while I did my best to nod pleasantly and avoid eye contact.

Avoid eye contact? Yes, because a few days earlier, I had overstepped my bounds a bit by trying to correct some lines being delivered by Billy Crystal (who plays LA Fire Investigator, Burt Walnut) in a scene with James Caan (who plays Franklin Franklin's cranky neighbor, Mr. Allspice). It's a big no-no to step between the director and the actors on set. What I should've done was told our terrific Script Supervisor, Britta Menges (who's job it is to make sure everything in the script makes it onto the screen correctly), or just told Jonas directly. There's a strict hierarchy on a movie set. What I should not have been doing was directing Billy Crystal.

So, when James Marsden had me cornered, asking me how his character might play a certain scene, I just kept looking over at Jonas, assuring him with my eyes that I was not directing his actor. I was just a guy. A guy leaning against a wall. A wall that happened to be next to James Marsden.

The legendary James Caan plays Mr. Allspice in "Small Apartments" -- our hero Franklin Franklin's irascible, nosy neighbor. Caan insisted on wearing his own sneakers for wardrobe over the protests of our sensational, world-renowned costume designer, B. Akerlund. Anyway, there is a scene where Mr. Allspice needed to remove his shoes -- but Cann refused. He was worried about exposing his toe, which I think he'd just has surgery on or something. After much coaxing, he was convinced to remove his shoes with this caveat announced to the crew: "Any of you step on my toe and I'll bite your fucking eyeballs out."

Coming from Sonny Corleone, that was more a promise than a threat.

One of the video technitians turned to me and said, "Did he just say he's bite our eyeballs out?"

"Yes," I said. "Yes he did."

[savagesketch]

I'm looking forward to this. Jonas Åkerlund Is a really interesting artist, and even his small filmography shows incredible range, going from Spun, onto Horsemen and then through to Small Apartments... each film couldn't be more different. Horsemen is a fantastic thriller.

SPUN is extremely unique and trippy, but I felt HORSEMEN left a lot to be desired. The script was all over the place with an ending that didn't make a whole lotta sense and seemed tacked on. Overall, the flick was disjointed, which makes sense considering that it went through a number of reshoots. Great premise, but a real missed opportunity.

[bomaz]

Nice to see that Dolph has screen time with partners (from the plot and the part of Dolph, I thought he was only a character "on screen", like Tappy Tibbons in RFAD).

[Jox]

http://www.joblo.com/movie-news/crazy-t ... h-lundgren

[Jox]

Chris Millis posted three books from SMALL APARTMENTS "featuring the Svengali mental health guru Dr. Sage Mennox (played by a hilarious Dolph Lundgren)."


https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid ... 088&type=1

[Jox]

DL anecdote from Chris Millis:

During a break in filming a bookstore scene on Vermont Avenue in Los Angeles, I was standing beside the monitors when Dolph Lundgren slid into one of the director's chairs beside me. He was resplendent in his B. Akerlund-designed loud floral suit as TV mental guru guy, Dr. Sage Mennox.

Dolph, with his jet black-dyed hair, leaned back and said, "I think this is good for me: doing a dark, indie comedy. Sometimes I get tired of saying 'Where are the grenades!' and 'Let's get to the chopper!'"

EDIT:
Trailer face-off: SMALL APARTMENTS vs. WRONG (which incidentally features a main character answering the name of 'Dolph')
http://www.interviewmagazine.com/film/t ... s-wrong/#_