In “Remember Me“, Tyler Hawkins (Robert Pattinson) is a rebellious young man in New York City who has a strained relationship with his father, Charles (Pierce Brosnan) since his brother’s suicide. After meeting Ally Craig (Emilie de Ravin) through an unusual twist of fate, the two bond over their similar tragedies as Ally’s mother was murdered. But the two will soon find their relationship threatened.

Thanks to our friends at Hoyts Distribution, we have 10 double passes to giveaway! All you need to do is follow us on twitter - www.twitter.com/rci_mag - and 10 lucky followers will win a double pass to see the film.

Remember Me hits cinemas today (March 11) and is rated M.

In Surrogates (available on DVD and BluRay today), the use of remotely-controlled androids called “surrogates” allows everyone to live in idealized forms in the safety of their own homes. Because damage done to a surrogate is not felt by its owner, surrogate use is safer and near-universal. The film stars Bruce Willis and is directed by Terminator 3’s Jonathan Mostow.

We were thrilled to catchup with Jonathan on the eve of the DVD & Blu-Ray release, which you can read after the jump!

Q: How did you direct your actors to have the ’surrogates’ effect? What kind of suggestions would you give?

Jonathan Mostow: When I made Terminator 3, I learned something about directing actors to behave like robots. And one of the key things I learned is that if an actor tries to play a robot, he or she risks playing it mechanically in a way that makes the performance uninteresting. So how I approached the issue in that film and in Surrogates was instead to focus on erasing human idiosyncrasies and asymmetries — in posture, facial expressions, gait, etc. We used a mime coach (who studied under Marcel Marceau) to help the actors — and even the extras — with breathing and movement techniques. The actors really enjoyed the challenge.

Jonathan Mostow: I wish there was a recipe! It would make my life so much easier. Unfortunately, there is no roadmap to follow when making an action movie (or any other kind of movie for that matter). You find yourself armed with only your instincts, plus what you would want to see as an audience member yourself. The place I begin is with story. If the audience doesn’t care about that, then it doesn’t matter how amazing the spectacle is. My central philosophy is that people go to the movies to be told a story, not to see stuff blow up.

Jonathan Mostow: For the look and feel of this movie, I found inspiration in some black and white films from the 60s — early works of John Frankenheimer — plus the original Twilight Zone TV show. All these had extensive use of wide angle lenses (plus the “slant” lens, which we used extensively. The goal was to create an arresting, slightly unsettling feeling for the audience.

Jonathan Mostow: Making this movie had made me much more conscious of how much time I spend on the computer. Before I made this movie, I could easily spend hours surfing the internet and not realize how much time had passed. Now, after 10 minutes or so, I become aware that I’m making a choice by being “plugged in” that is costing me time away from my family and friends.

Jonathan Mostow: I talk about that on the DVD commentary — it was a big challenge. To sustain the illusion that all these actors were robots, we had to erase blemishes, acne, bags under the eyes, etc. In a sense, the actors were the visual effects. As a result, there are more VFX shots than non-VFX shots in the movie.

Jonathan Mostow: We talk about that in one of the bonus features on the Blu-ray. The novel was interesting in that it was highly regarded, but not well-known outside a small community of graphic novel enthusiasts. So that meant that we weren’t necessarily beholden to elements in the graphic novel in the way that one might be if adapting a world-renowned piece of literature. Even the author of Surrogates acknowledged that changes were necessary to adapt his novel to the needs of a feature film. Hopefully, we struck the right balance. Certainly, I believe we preserved the central idea — which was to pose some interesting questions to the audience about how we can retain our humanity in this increasingly technological world.

Jonathan Mostow: I’ve been very lucky to work with some great movie stars of our time. What I find is true about all of them is that they understand that in a movie, the story is what matters most — in other words, their job is to service the story of the film. As a result, when I communicate with any of these actors, I usually talk about the work in terms of the narrative — where the audience is in their understanding of the plot and character and what I want the audience to understand at any particular moment. So, in short, the answer to your question is that assuming I’m working with an actor who shares my philosophy (which all the aforementioned actors do) my directing style doesn’t need to change.

Surrogates is available on DVD and Blu-Ray now.

A personal aide to the US Ambassador in France, James Reese (Jonathan Rhys-Meyers) has an enviable life in Paris and a beautiful French girlfriend, but his real passion is his side job as a low level operative for the CIA. All James wants to do it become a bona fide agent and see some real action. So when he is offered his first senior level assignment, he can’t believe his good luck – until he meets his new partner, special agent Charlie Wax (John Travolta).

A trigger-happy, wisecracking, loose cannon who’s been sent to Paris to stop a terrorist attack, Wax leads James on a white knuckled shooting spree through the Parisian underworld that has James praying for his desk job. But when James discovers he’s a target for the same crime ring they’re trying to bust, he realizes there’s no turning back…and that Wax himself might be his only hope for making it through the next forty eight hours alive.

Starring John Travolta, Jonathan Rhys-Meyers, Kasia Smutniak and Richard Durden, From Paris with Love is directed by Pierre Morel (TAKEN) and produced by Virginie Besson-Silla. It hits cinemas February 18th. Check out our ticket giveaway after the jump!

Email us at win@redcarpetinjection.com before March 1st with your name, address and favourite John Travolta film for your chance to score a double pass thanks to Hoyts Distribution!

As the dust settles on Survivor’s 19th season and we begin to look toward Heroes vs. Villians, we have the pleasure of chatting to Survivor: Samoa’s runner up – “Evil” Russell – and the winner – Natalie White after the finale.

Russell has been rumoured as a member of Heroes vs. Villians’ cast so we tried to get as much information about the upcoming season out of him as we could.

Natalie, on the other hand, describes to us her gameplay throughout the show and the moves she made to ensure her survival and eventual win.

Check out both interviews after the jump!

Survivor Samoa’s winner: Natalie White.

Survivor Samoa’s runner-up: “Evil” Russell

Exclusive Interview with Brett after the jump!

Exclusive Interview with Jaison after the jump!

Like your vampire films more bloody than sparkly? Daybreakers is an Australian/American hybrid with a cast combining some of the best talent of both countries, set in 2019. A mysterious plague has swept over the earth, transforming the majority of the world’s population into vampires. Humans are now an endangered species – forced into hiding as they are hunted and farmed for vampire consumption to the brink of extinction.

It’s all up to Edward Dalton, a vampire researcher who refuses to feed on human blood, to perfect a blood substitute that might sustain vampires and spare the few remaining human’s. But time and hope are running out – until Ed meets Audrey, a human survivor who leads him to a startling medical breakthrough. Armed with knowledge that both humans and vampires will kill for, Ed must battle his own kind in a deadly struggle that will decide the fate of the human race.

We caught a sneak peak at the film late last year and absolutely loved it. To score one of 10 double passes to see the film (which opens February 4th) email win@redcarpetinjection.com with your name, address and favourite vampire film. It’s that easy – but be quick because entries close on February 11th!

This giveaway is thanks to our good friends at Hoyts Distribution!

Daybreakers is rated MA15+ for Strong horror violence, blood and gore.

Up was, without a doubt, our favourite film of 2009. The visually stunning animation paired with the heartfelt storyline blew away the live-action competition. To celebrate the DVD & Blu-Ray release of Up (out now!), we had the chance to chat with the two directors of the Golden-Globe winning film, Pete Docter and Bob Peterson – which you can read after the jump!

Could you explain the development of the love story between Carl and Ellie, this is a true love beyond death.
Bob: Great question. The love story was the spine of the movie. When we develop these films we look for themes that guide us in how we tell the story. As the process of writing progressed, we realized that our main theme was “How does a person define adventure?” Is adventure out there in great deeds, or can it also be between people in the small moments that make up a life. Carl and Ellie’s love story helped us tell that theme – that small moments lead to a life’s adventure.

What are the challenges of writing for animated movies that one might not face with live action, and how do you overcome those challenges?
Pete: We approach our writing exactly as one would approach a live-action screenplay; the focus is on character and keeping the audience engaged. Our whole process is remarkably similar to live- action; we have cinematographers, lighters, costume designers, etc. We use different tools to get there, but the creative process is the same.

Both of you are animators, does it help to have that background to be a good director on a film like this?
Bob: Pete is the gifted animator between the two of us. I hail more from the world of storyboarding and cartooning with a bit of animation experience (I worked on Sid in “Toy Story”). The great thing that Pete possesses, partly from being an animator is that he is a good student of movement and entertaining physical actions. Being a cartoonist, I spent a lot of time with staging, drawing appeal and dialogue. It’s great that we bring different strengths to the table. That said, Pete is a great writer and story man and our skills blur. So to really answer your question, it does help.

What was your experience like taking the film to Cannes?
Pete: Cannes was amazing. It was overwhelming, like something out of a fever dream. Here we are, a bunch of geeks who draw cartoons, being mobbed by reporters and fans, at one of the most prestigious international film festivals in the world… I kept thinking, “You’ve got the wrong guys!” But we think of what we do as filmmaking — not anything more or less. We don’t think we should get any special “free pass,” or be seated at the little kids’ table, just because we use animation to tell our stories. And being selected to open the Cannes Film Festival showed us that the film community feels the same way. It was very gratifying.

On the “Up” Blu-ray, you talk about being inspired by a drawing of a grumpy old man holding balloons. At what point did you realize you had a movie, and not just a premise?
Bob: I think the first pitch to John Lasseter when we made him cry (with no visuals!) did we think we had the emotional underpinnings of the story. Story wise we had finally cracked Carl’s motivation for escaping life – that he had lived an amazing relationship with his wife that ended in something not quite completed. It’s a good feeling when you find that nugget of truth in your story. Humor and characters will come in and out of a story, but that nugget will remain.

Up is available on DVD and Blu-Ray right now!

Remember, Survivor Samoa’s finale airs Tuesday, February 2nd on the Nine Network. We will have interviews with Natalie, Brett, Jaison and yes, Evil Russell in the days after the finale (unfortunately we couldn’t catchup with Mick.)

Exclusive Interview with Danger Dave:

Exclusive Interview with Monica:

Exclusive Interview with John: