Moonpie

[xo_stuartlarkin_]

Hi! I was wondering if anyone remembered that movie that Michael McDonald and Stephnie Weir did two years back called Moonpie. I have some information and video clips on this movie, but I would love a DVD release. Since it is an indie film, it's only been to a few film festivals. However, I decided to start this thread, and, hopefully, start a petition for a DVD release because I am so devoted to this cause. The fact is, from what I've seen, it looks like a hilarious and incredible film, and I know plenty of people (MAD fans and otherwise) who would love to see this film! So, everyone, let me know what you think by taking the poll, and of course, replying!

On a final note I also have to thank mizzimad, edkedkedk, and newt007 for all of their support, and tvmanismadformad for posting "The Stephnie Weir Timeline," where I first learned about MOONPIE!

Now, I leave you with some hilarious clips and trailers, as well as a synopsis, from MOONPIE:

Genre: Comedy

Director: Drake Doremus

Cast: Michael McDonald, Stephanie Weir (from MAD TV)

Mitch Henderson, principal of small-town Roundlake Elementary, should be living the American Dream: a comfortable middle-class existence with his wife and son. But he's stuck in a rut, and it's going off the rails. Candy Peterson, a third grade teacher at the school is struggling to keep her own life on track, having just been diagnosed with bipolar disorder. The only place she really feels at ease is in her classroom after dark, gazing through her telescope at the night sky, imagining that something out there might be more mysterious than her own faulty brain seems to her.

The two cross paths when Mitch starts spending his nights at the school, seeking refuge from a once-perfect marriage that's become anything but. Their troubled worlds come together in a developing relationship that feels almost...well, perfect.

This offbeat romantic comedy from first-time writer-director Drake Doremus features "MAD TV" veterans Michael McDonald and Stephanie Weir in the style of NAPOLEON DYNAMITE and GARDEN STATE

(Source: www.myspace.com/famefilm)

http://video.aol.com/video-detail/mo...ler/2413073805
http://myspacetv.com/index.cfm?fusea...ideoid=2064262
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbFIjf-p9U4

See more clips at the Fame Film MySpace URL!

Thank you all so much for your time!

~Fatima~

[tvmanismadformad]

Originally Posted by xo_stuartlarkin_

tvmanismadformad for psoting "The Stephnie Weir Timeline," where I first learned about MOONPIE!

Thanks! glad I could help! I have never seen the movie mostly because it is so hard to find.

[seanmathis26]

well it was at film festivals in California, but i also have been trying to look for it too but nothing is working out

i even went on sun dance channel which is like a INDY movie channel and i did not see it.

[xo_stuartlarkin_]

Thank you all so much for your help!

[xo_stuartlarkin_]

Originally Posted by tvmanismadformad

Thanks! glad I could help! I have never seen the movie mostly because it is so hard to find.

Oh, I know! GRRRRRRRRR! LOL! But I have seen several clips and it looks pretty cool. Besides, when first learned that two of the BEST MAD ppl ever were STARRED in a movie, that was all I needed to know and I was there!

[newt007]

I definitely would LOVe to see this movie. Hopefully we can get the attention of the filmmakers to show our support

[edkedkedk]

Sounds greater than I expected from the movie title (come on now, Moonpie ?)

I'll love to see this DVD come out, of course!

[xo_stuartlarkin_]

Originally Posted by edkedkedk

Sounds greater than I expected from the movie title (come on now, Moonpie ?)

I'll love to see this DVD come out, of course!

LOL! It's called Moonpie because the basis of the plot revolves around them giving other ppl moonpies. In one scene, Michael beats the shit out of a vending machine for a moonpie!

Michael McDonald vs. Vending Machine (LOL!):

http://myspacetv.com/index.cfm?fusea...ideoid=2064262

[xo_stuartlarkin_]

hmmm...no one's posted on here in a while...*tears* lol

[grenn-o]

never heard of it, but i would love to see it! it sounds pretty cool
hopefully there will be a dvd release...

[princesspeach]

Wow this movie looks awesome. It reallly reminds me of Garden State as mentionned above. I would love for it to come out on DVD!

[seanmathis26]

Yeah but it is strange the only place it came out was at the Sundance Film Festival that i know of.

[xo_stuartlarkin_]

Originally Posted by seanmathis26

Yeah but it is strange the only place it came out was at the Sundance Film Festival that i know of.

It also screened at a few other festivals...I'll do some research later in the week!

[xo_stuartlarkin_]

Originally Posted by xo_stuartlarkin_

hmmm...no ones posted on here in a while...*tears* lol

Awesome, more ppl! LOL @ me quoting myself!

~Fatima~

[xo_stuartlarkin_]

Okay, everyone! According to www.myspace.com/famefilm, (Fame Film is the company that I believe helped produce MOONPIE), and www.myspace.com/moonpiethemovie, MOONPIE has played at the following film festivals:

Cannes Film Festival 2007
The 11th Annual Hollywood Film Festival
Provincetown International Film Festival
Hamburg Film Fest 2007
INDIEFEST Chicago

Also, through MOONPIE's official MySpace page (www.myspace.com/moonpiethemovie), I was able to access a slideshow of stills from the movie. You can see the slideshow here:

http://www.slide.com/r/ODksGi2csz8bt_OEL52SiUBHRSGFInPB


Furthermore, I found an interview that Stuart Douglas Larkin himself--Michael McDonald did for MOONPIE...I believe that, as MADtv fans, you may find that the answer to his last question was terribly disturbing!

Here is the interview:

Interview with Michael McDonald for MOONPIE


Michael McDonald didn't start out as a comedian. He had a brief career as a bank loan officer before quitting to join the well-known Los Angeles improvisational theater group, The Groundlings. From there he acted in B-movies, playing small roles that usually ended in gruesome deaths at the hands of mutant babies, rubber dinosaurs, or crazed leprechauns.

Today, the six-foot-four actor/writer is not only the longest running member of FOX's "MadTV," he is also the star of a new comedy "Moonpie," which will screen at the Provincetown International Film Festival this month. He'll also participate in a panel discussion about comedy. In a telephone interview from Los Angeles, McDonald reflected on his career and the current state of comedy.

What was your first professional acting job?

I did a lot of small little B-movies like bad Roger Corman movies. I think my first job was on a movie called "Angel in Red" and I played a guy who hired a prostitute, a john I think it's called. (laughs) I think I was just called John, literally "John, the john."

And then did you start writing and directing with (director) Roger Corman?

I was in so many bad Roger Corman movies at that point that, I thought, "I may not be a good writer, but I'm no worse than whatever they're doing here." And so I started writing movies for no money at all. And they were all bad of course. I was good on my promise, I was as bad as they were. I wrote about five of those and then as I saw them get directed, I sort of had the same philosophy about directing, which was I'm just as bad of a director as those guys. So they let me direct a couple of them, and at that point thought "oh, I'm not going to be an actor, I'm going to be a writer and a director."

So what got you back into acting then?

By that point I'd been performing at the Groundlings for, God, a long time, like maybe for 6 or 7 years and I just saw everybody else getting jobs instead of me or they were getting offers to go and do things like Saturday Night Live and Mad TV, and I just kind of said "I guess it's not going to happen for me" and I gave up on it. And weirdly enough, the minute I gave it up, the pursuit of acting, that's when both SNL and MadTV, and also a sitcom pilot all within like a week, I was testing for all of them. I don't know what the lesson is in that, but it seems like the minute I stop pursuing something that's when something happens.

You're now the longest running cast member on MadTV. Are you thinking about moving on?

I'm always thinking about moving on. I am going back for next season, which will be my 10th and the show' s 13th... Some people say "well you know, why don't you move on?" and believe me, I always look around, but right now in television, nobody's making comedy anymore. So it's one of the few good gigs... I know that MadTV will be around for at least a full season next season. I really like the people that we work with. We get to do different stuff every week, so … the cure for "aren't you tired of doing the same thing?" is kind of built into the show, that you get to do new things all the time. But yes, would I like to get out and explore something that isn't sketch? Absolutely.

So tell me about the new movie "Moonpie."

The way I actually got involved was that (former MadTV castmate) Stephanie Weir said "oh, I'm going to be doing this independent movie and the writers of it are these young kids... and they wanted to know if I could get the script to you." And since I don't really get a lot of work in film, I was like "yeah, of course, send it over." And within like the first five pages, I really, really liked it. It's like a smart, sad little comedy. It's almost like a romantic tragedy, rather than a romantic comedy, or tragicomedy. I don't know, but it's just a really simple story about two unhappy people... They have these sad little lives and they find each other.

And do you relate to that character personally?

Yeah. For me, all the stuff that I do in general, most of the stuff that I write, it may not seem like it from the result, but I think sadness is a perfectly legitimate launching pad to find some good comedy. As good as anything.

I believe "Moonpie" is Drake Doremus' first film, right?

It was his first film. He co-wrote it with his partner, Lindsay Stidham. They're these young kids, like 23 or 24 years old. We went out and shot it in Arizona in August, which I don't recommend. I don't know if you know this or not, but your readers may be interested to know, in August in Arizona it's really hot, but it rains literally every day. It's the monsoon season. So we were shooting for next to nothing in these like crack-den, desert, they looked like something from "Mad Max," just theses post-apocalyptic little towns. Where everyone was lovely - in case they're reading this. They were very, very nice people.

Would you do it again?

I would. I would. I might ask for that we not shoot during the monsoon season.

A lot of times when people on comedy sketch shows go on and do movies, they're really kind of bad. What do you think happens in translating something from television to movies?

Well, I don't know. I think that there have been plenty of success stories. I think it's tricky to do something from sketch to a movie, just from the simple standpoint of sketch characters are meant to be seen in little bursts and a movie is two hours long. I think it's just as simple as that. Just like sketch characters get tired. I know I'm guilty of doing characters that have stayed past their prime. Although I will say that's not so much a function I think of most of the writers and performers. It's usually the machine of television, and maybe it applies to film, too. The producers want more of that thing that's working. I guess it's just the nature of the beast of television to just mine something until it's dead.

Your MadTV character "Stuart" is one of the most popular characters on the show. So is there a movie in the works yet?

No there will never be a Stuart movie. (laughs)

OMG! Michael you MUST make a Stuart movie! ! JK! Well, before we can await the release of a Stuart movie, we'll have to rely on MOONPIE (and of course, MADtv re-runs) for Michael to enertain us will his genius sense of humor!

More updates to come!

~Fatima~

[edkedkedk]

Originally Posted by xo_stuartlarkin_

From there he acted in B-movies, playing small roles that usually ended in gruesome deaths at the hands of mutant babies, rubber dinosaurs, or crazed leprechauns.

LOL! Nice start.

[xo_stuartlarkin_]

Originally Posted by edkedkedk

LOL! Nice start.

LOL, I must have read the interview three times, and I never noticed that!

Anyway, I found out that the movie has been to several film festivals, and therefore, it seems that it was put out there more than most of us realized!

~Fatima~

[princesspeach]

Woo! Thanks for posting that interview!

[xo_stuartlarkin_]

Originally Posted by princesspeach

Woo! Thanks for posting that interview!

Anytime, Princess Peach! If you have any updates, feel free to let me know!

[xo_stuartlarkin_]

Okay, everyone! The poll has been closed as of today, and a whopping NINE PEOPLE (LOL!) out of everyone on Planet MAD responded! From now on, I will stop posting on this thread, and if anyone has any questions concerning the thread, or the movie, feel free to send me a PM! I would like to thank EVERYONE who has supported this cause!

Peace and many thanks, fellow MOONPIERS!

~Fatima~