Graham Haught/Staff

Like a lot of porn, Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman’s “Lovelace” is anticlimactic, aimless and extremely unsexy. The film follows the young Linda Boreman (Amanda Seyfried), better known as “Linda Lovelace,” who left her repressive Catholic parents (played by Robert Patrick and Sharon Stone, unrecognizable in an excellent yet entirely fruitless Oscar bid) for the abusive Chuck Traynor (Peter Sarsgaard). As her manager and husband, Traynor manipulated her into becoming the star of “Deep Throat,” a 1972 pornographic phenomenon. The 60-minute film was shot in less than a week, with all interior shots filmed in the same cheap motel room. It cost $30,000 to make but grossed almost $600 million, making it one of the most profitable films ever made. Boreman only ever collected a salary of $1,250.

In the 2010 Allen Ginsberg biopic, “Howl,” directors Epstein and Friedman similarly attempted to deconstruct an icon. With “Lovelace,” they make another ambitious attempt at demystification, but they end up with a very limited portrayal that seems more like an impressive television movie than a daring exploration of the darker elements of Boreman’s life.

“Lovelace” follows the brutality and degradation Boreman suffered during her marriage to Traynor and her career in the porn industry before she eventually escaped and went on to write a memoir about her experiences. The film’s bifurcated structure first presents the fantasy of Boreman’s marriage and career as perceived by the public before going back and allowing audiences to observe Boreman’s life through her own eyes. However, the film presents an overwhelmingly simplified version of Boreman’s story, removing many of the most shocking and painful aspects of her life — drug addiction, bestiality, her violent death. The film also glosses over Boreman’s activism in second-wave feminist movements.

Boreman played a crucial role as a spokeswoman for the anti-pornography movement in the early ’80s. However, Andy Bellin’s screenplay cuts out this key part of her life, ignoring her influence on feminist thought. The film arrives at a very abrupt conclusion, attempting to do justice to Boreman’s later life in the final 10 minutes. Despite reports that Sarah Jessica Parker had been cast as anti-porn activist Gloria Steinem in the film, both Steinem and fellow activist Andrea Dworkin are absent. The script instead seems to suggest that Boreman was rescued from the brutality of the porn industry by her second husband and child, as we see her gushing, “As a wife and as a mother, I have found my joy.”

The film suffered from predictably sexist marketing, as film posters depicted Seyfried with come-hither gaze, lips suggestively parted and a falling bra strap exposing cleavage and bare shoulders. However, “Lovelace” is ironically sexless for a film about pornography. Epstein and Friedman opted to treat the sexuality of the film with humor rather than eroticism. Adam Brody, a former star of “The O.C.” and now delightfully adorned with a porn-star mustache as Lovelace’s co-star Harry Reems, told The New York Times, “It’s more ‘American Pie’ than it is Lars von Trier.” The film rests heavily on the notion that all ’70s porn was facetious, and the few sex scenes we do see from “Deep Throat” suggest a cheery and comic production.

The film’s overall attitude toward sex is somewhat confused, as we are offered an abundance of shots of Seyfried topless — along with moments of frivolity and silliness during her scenes with Reems — before abrupt shifts to segments depicting the gritty reality of domestic violence, marital rape and abuse in the (largely mafia-led) porn industry.

“Lovelace” effectively reveals the violence against women that was widespread in the sex industry in the ’70s, but the film is extremely limited in its representation of Boreman and her later life. If “Lovelace” intends to illustrate that Boreman was more than just the brutalized star of “Deep Throat,” it falls flat. The film becomes too lost in the cultural ornaments of the decade and the comic production of “Deep Throat” to make any kind of passionate impact on the viewer, offering a mere glimpse into the life of Linda Boreman before and after her short-lived porn career. For a film about porn, “Lovelace” unsatisfactorily fails to penetrate.

Meadhbh McGrath is the arts editor. Contact her at mmcgrath@dailycal.org. Check her out on Twitter at @MeadhbhMcGrath.

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Bonnie Mata Matthews/Senior Staff

The Daily Cal arts staff searched the Berkeley campus for summer looks that capture the distinct individuality of our student body. As temperatures soar, tank tops can be tempting, but these trendsetters embrace any chance to express themselves.

First photo: After picking it up recently at a flea market, Woodrow considers his leather jacket a modern and versatile staple. He is now rarely seen without it and swears that both his jacket and hat can be worn in all weather.

Second photo: Angelica Garcia spices up a light summer dress with T-bar sandals and her signature hair wrap from Venice Beach.

Third photo: Ashley Morgan opts for a shorts and flatforms combo to take her from class to the dance floor.

Fourth photo: Velour enthusiast Pat Simpson ordered this track suit online because he believes it is “all-purpose attire” and ideal for shooting hoops with friends.

Meadhbh McGrath is the arts editor. Contact her at mmcgrath@dailycal.org. Check her out on Twitter at @MeadhbhMcGrath.

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Pol Rebaque/Staff

In The Daily Californian’s first ever fashion editorial, we show you how to stay chic in the heat. With unpredictable weather around the Berkeley campus and the larger Bay Area, layers that mix patterns, textures and bright shades will take you from balmy summer days on the Glade to dewy evenings in the Berkeley Hills. Whatever the occasion, the perfect summer look embraces tropical florals, lucite extras and printed separates. Our favorites include palm tree-printed trousers on Nazhat and a lightweight linen gown on Jahon.

Models: Jahon Amirebrahimi, Nazhat Salim

Editorial Photographer: Pol Rebaque

Editorial Director: Meadhbh McGrath

Editorial Team: Sasha Chebil, Ashley Chen, Mohana Kute, Denise Lee & Bonnie Mata Matthews

Special thanks to Sway, Mars and James Rowland Shop for providing models’ attire.

Contact Daily Cal Arts staff at arts@dailycal.org.

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Amanda Burke/Staff

The buddy-cop film is a long-established genre, with a pretty rigid and uninspiring formula: Two cops with extremely different personalities take an immediate dislike to each other but are forced to work together to solve a particularly difficult case — something they can only achieve by first bonding and becoming friends. The two incompatible characters are almost always played by men. However, in “The Heat,” directed by Paul Feig and written by Katie Dippold, the mismatched cops are played by two women, Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy.
In an interview with The Daily Californian, Feig explained, “Katie’s whole motivation on this was that she was tired of all those movies being with guys.” Originally titled “The Untitled Female Buddy Cop Comedy,” Feig’s directorial follow-up to 2011’s “Bridesmaids” reworks the traditionally male-led genre by opening it up to female actresses. Feig explained, “I feel like women go to these male-dominated comedies and, you know, they laugh, but I feel like they’re not relating quite as much, and to find that thing that you’re like, ‘Oh! That’s me, that’s my friends, I really get it!’ That to me is kind of comedy nirvana.”

Feig has come to be known as somewhat of a pioneer in female-driven comedy, a role that puts some amount of pressure on him — if the film is a flop, it could be held up as some kind of proof of the failure of female-led action films and will contribute to the attitude that female leads won’t sell. However, “The Heat” opened to an estimated $40 million last weekend, the second highest after “Monsters University,” and, interestingly, much higher than its direct, in-genre competition, “White House Down,” a buddy action film of sorts with male leads, which had an opening of $25.7 million.

The film is particularly groundbreaking in that both lead actresses are over 40, suggesting that Hollywood’s harsh attitude toward female aging may be beginning to dissipate. Many have commented on McCarthy’s weight and how she is paving the way for larger women to be accepted for leading roles rather than minor comic characters. Another significant aspect of the film is that romantic plots are relegated to the background. Although Marlon Wayan’s Levy shows an interest in Bullock’s Ashburn, the film never suggests that their pairing will be the mark of a happy ending or that Ashburn “needs” a man to “fix” her. The major storyline focuses instead on the friendship between Ashburn and McCarthy’s Mullins. Feig was eager to avoid bitchiness or competition in their interactions. “I never wanted things to be mean-spirited as far as catfights or that kind of thing,” he said. “We did the same thing on ‘Bridesmaids’ — we really avoided that.” The incredible chemistry between the leads carries the film, offering moments of surprising warmth amid the coarse humor.

“The Heat” also addresses the systemic sexism many women face in the workplace, as we see both women dismissed or criticized by their male co-workers for the kinds of behaviors that would be praised if they were men. Ashburn is condemned for being “competitive” and has to suffer the obvious condescension and resentment of her colleagues, one of whom sneers, “No wonder she’s single,” after Ashburn locates concealed drugs and guns her male colleagues failed to find. Mullins’ brashness results in her colleagues avoiding and fearing her. Such “arrogance” and “obnoxiousness” are seen as negative and undesirable in women — on-screen, behind the camera, in the audience — whereas they are held up as powerful traits in a man. The film does a good job at leveling the playing field and demonstrating this inequality.

Feig is passionate about advancing gender equality in film. “One of my goals in my career is to break down the wall so it’s not a ‘chick flick,’ it’s not a ‘guy comedy,’ it’s just a comedy — this one just happens to star women, this one just happens to star men — so that men will stop reacting like, ‘Oh, it’s a chick flick, I don’t want to see that.’ I feel like Melissa has been a great ambassador for that … it felt like Melissa was the one that could straddle those worlds the best.” One of the keys to this is breaking the gender stereotypes surrounding female comedy and whether women can be funny, while avoiding the “one-up-manship” so prevalent in “guy comedy.”

Feig is already working on a sequel to “The Heat” and is also preparing to tackle another traditionally male-dominated film genre, the spy film: “There’s a movie I wrote that’s basically like a female James Bond, and I’m hoping that’s gonna be the very next movie I make.” By breaking cultural gender stereotypes, Feig hopes to change attitudes toward having female comedy leads without slighting the reality of those characters — he doesn’t try to force women to conform to the hypermasculinity perpetuated by the male-dominated genre. Feig aims to break the barrier between “guy comedy” and “female comedy” to ultimately prove that funny people are funny people, regardless of gender.

Meadhbh McGrath is the arts editor. Contact her at mmcgrath@dailycal.org. Check her out on Twitter at @MeadhbhMcGrath.

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Ed and Eddie/Courtesy

In honor of Pride week, the Daily Californian A&E is bringing you the best of the queer arts community.

Pride and Privilege: For all the invisible queers

Graham Haught/File

Meg Elison shares her experience of growing up with an openly gay friend in a deeply conservative town and asks the silent LGBTQIAA members to stand up in light of the recent Supreme Court decisions on same-sex marriage.

‘I’m So Excited’ does not live up to its title

Sony Pictures Classic/Courtesy

Pedro Almodovar’s latest movie “I’m So Excited” is not worth its title and is utterly forgettable.

The other sexism in gaming

Graham Haught/File

Queer gamers seek to create safer gaming spaces in wake of cissexist comments.

Queer Women of Color Film Festival spotlights social justice issues

QWOCMAP/Courtesy

In its ninth year, the festival includes a line-up of 57 short films examining queer life.

Lead from ‘Priscilla, Queen of the Desert’ reflects on how the show resonates with genderqueer community

Graham Haught/File

Lead actor Wade McCollum discusses the different reactions to the show in small and large cities.

Genderqueer fashion gets political in San Francisco

Tom Betts/Courtesy

Bay Area designers combine fashion with political activism in advocating for LGBT rights.

Gay penguin play delights in San Francisco

Graham Haught/File

Marc Acito’s heart-warming play follows same-sex penguins in love at Central Park Zoo.

Fresh Meat Festival gives a stage to queer performers

Kegan Marling/Courtesy

Founded in 2002, the festival provides an innovative and groundbreaking medium for queer performers and dancers to express their art.

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Tom Betts/Courtesy

Fashion has always played an important role in the portrayal of gender, particularly the affectation of masculinity and femininity — from the wigs and powder worn by men in the 18th century, to the gender-bending styles of David Bowie and Grace Jones, and now the recent success of androgynous models, such as male model Andrej Peji’c (who models both menswear and womenswear), named the 98th “Sexiest Woman in the World” by FHM. Ford Models announced earlier this year that it had signed its first female menswear model — the 36-year-old, French-born artist and former Olympic swimmer Casey Legler. In the same month, Saint Laurent Paris signed Dutch model Saskia de Brauw as the face of its spring-summer 2013 menswear collection, demonstrating that designers were becoming more and more aware that men’s fashion shouldn’t be restricted to people who are male-born or male-identified. Nicole Farhi showcased some of her 2014 RTW menswear designs on female models, while JW Anderson’s spring-summer menswear collection featured halter-neck blouses and knee-length gowns.

Many of the most fascinating designers today are those who manipulate gender codes and affect our ideas about maleness or femaleness. The instability and shifting nature of gender means our views on what makes a man or woman are constantly evolving. In 1990’s “Gender Trouble,” Judith Butler described gender as the repeated performance of certain behaviors coded as masculine or feminine. Models like Legler and Peji’c bring a political element to fashion by drawing our attention to the ways in which they make us believe in the gender they perform, in effect illustrating that all gender is a performance.

The Bay Area is beginning to emerge as a capital for experimental fashion and creative gender expression. The genderqueer menswear shop Tomboy Tailors first opened in San Francisco on Feb. 2 with the goal of tailoring clothes and supplying shoes and accessories “for people of all genders.” Alex Orozco from Tomboy Tailors told The Daily Californian, “‘Be who you are’ is our unofficial motto. Many people come to our shop excited to find a place that can provide them with a look they’ve always wanted in a comfortable atmosphere.”

Fashion has a long-standing connection with the genderqueer community — the fashion industry stands out as a field in which queer individuals can excel and be respected without encountering the homophobia, sexism and other prejudices often found in more traditionally heteronormative careers. Creativity holds a special place in queer culture, which may be partly due to the fact that the arts were once one of the only spaces in which members of the queer community were welcomed and could still preserve a strong sense of self and a pride in their accomplishments.

When asked about the relationship between politics and fashion, Orozco explained, “Fashion can be a political statement. How you dress can influence both how you feel about yourself and how others view you.” However, the store is also interested in catering to the everyday needs of same-sex and genderqueer couples: “At the same time, we have upcoming fittings for same-sex partners getting married who just want to look good; it isn’t necessarily a political statement for them.”

Now, several Bay Area designers are advancing projects that link fashion with political activism, such as designer and Cal alumnus Jake Wall of couture suit line Artful Gentleman and Berkeley-based designer Cari Borja, who have teamed up with the Human Rights Campaign — the largest civil rights lobbying and LGBT rights organization in San Francisco — to promote marriage equality through funds raised by the San Francisco fashion industry. Wall is currently working with Borja and Heather Freyer from the HRC to plan the charity fashion show “Suit Up for Equality” this August in San Francisco.

Wall noted that San Francisco is a city that is not necessarily known for fashion: “From my point of view, not only as a supporter of the cause, it’s hard to do fashion in San Francisco. In fact, people don’t traditionally do it. They go to New York or Los Angeles for that. It’s exciting to think that together through this partnership, it might be the HRC that helps us take our story national and take a little bit of fashion from San Francisco across the country. It’s amazing that you can see how San Francisco is truly a leader in so many things, particularly because of our plurality, our openness.”

The increased visibility of genderqueer individuals and genderqueer fashion signals a change in the fashion industry and perhaps a fraying of the carefully crafted image of beauty we have been conditioned to accept. Those strict boundaries continue to be broken down, opening up a space to empower and celebrate the beauty in all gender expressions.

Addy Bhasin (Staff) contributed to this report.

Meadhbh McGrath is the arts editor. Contact her at mmcgrath@dailycal.org. Check her out on Twitter at @MeadhbhMcGrath.

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Graham Haught/Staff

Coming to the Orpheum Theater in August, the Broadway spectacle “Priscilla, Queen of the Desert” follows three drag performers driving a bus through the Australian Outback to a gig in Alice Springs. Wade McCollum plays Tick — known onstage as Mitzi — the lead character who has secretly arranged the trip so he can meet the 6-year-old son he has never seen. Tick is in a sense “double-closeted,” as he attempts to conceal his secret family from his friends while hiding his drag persona from his son. McCollum spoke to The Daily Californian about his take on the character and how the show resonates with the genderqueer community.

On the changes he has seen in the queer arts community over the years of his career:
I think that “RuPaul’s Drag Race” has had a lot to do with raising visibility and giving people a window into the craft … that drag and genderqueer art forms are not just about shock value … and that they’re not about being unprofessional, that this shit takes a lot of work. And it’s an incredible craft; it should be respected. I would say that, absolutely, the genderqueer material that I’ve performed throughout the years just gets more and more attention, it becomes less of a “let’s do this in the 100-seat theatre in the back where only a few people can witness the glory,” and it’s become much more of a main-stage thing.

On his character, Tick:
What appeals to me about Tick is that very complexity that makes him confusing to both himself and the people around him. I love ambiguity, and I love that his gender expression and his sexuality are somewhat independent from one another and somewhat mutually exclusive. I looked at his drag name that he chose for himself, “Mitzi Mitosis.” Mitosis is part of the biological process of cell division — it’s very much about being divided and a part of a creative process, and so I felt like it was a clue for me into this man who is naming his most powerful person — Mitzi is his most powerful and alive version of himself — but he names that person “mitosis,” which is about division. To me, that was a clue into the fact that he, in a way, for himself, is claiming his divided nature in that he is a kind of double-closeted, queer queer who is not really out to anybody about many aspects of his life, and that’s what’s interesting to watch.

On the show’s theme of belonging:
I believe that most everybody on one level or another feels out of place, and I don’t know if that’s just a transpersonal trope of the human experience, if there’s a sense of isolation or alone-ness or not fitting in-ness that is underneath all of the layers of our personality. I would argue that even the most heteronormative, rich, white man, who has had next to no external prejudices in his past, that on some fundamental level, he still feels out of place and that this show and its affirmation of belonging speaks directly to that transpersonal gem of isolation or whatever it is that exists even in him. You could say that that heteronormative white man could think, “Oh, there is value to these people more than just kitsch or kind of novelty.” We (the queer community) are incredible, powerful catalyzers of change and catalyzers of evolution. I don’t know if our show is necessarily going that far, but I go that far to say that genderqueer people are catalyzers of human evolution.

On the different responses to the show in larger and smaller cities:
I would say that in some markets, like in L.A., San Francisco, Philadelphia, some of the larger cities we’ve played, my character’s fear of coming out to his friends and his family as a bisexual genderqueer person and the anxiety around his son not accepting him feels a little dated. In the larger markets, it feels a little like, “What’s the deal, dude? Ain’t nobody gonna give a shit!” And that is a really awesome thing. It feels like, “Okay, we’ve made progress.” That to me is beautiful. It’s presumptuous of me, and I’m probably projecting on some level to assume that I understand how audiences relate to the material. I would say that what is incredible is in the smaller markets, we get a more apprehensive response at first. During the first act, I feel a tentativeness, where the audience is feeling each other out like, “Do you like this? If I laugh, does it mean that everybody’s gonna think I’m gay? If I enjoy myself, does it mean that I’m aligning myself with this material?” But by the end of the play, the response in the smaller markets is of epic proportions, and I think it’s because they have transcended their expectations of the material and of the people and … they feel like they got to know them and … they realize, “Holy fucking shit, we’re all virtually the same.”

Meadhbh McGrath is the arts editor. Contact her at mmcgrath@dailycal.org. Check her out on Twitter at @MeadhbhMcGrath.

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Graham Haught/Staff

The story would sound utterly unbelievable — if it weren’t true. Between 2008 and 2009, a gang of affluent teenagers — nicknamed “The Bling Ring” by the media — stole more than $3 million in clothing, handbags, jewelry and cash from the homes of Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan, Rachel Bilson and a number of other young celebrities. The Bling Ring were able to determine when their victims would be out of town, using gossip sites such as TMZ, and found their addresses with a simple Google search. The homes they robbed had almost no security — Paris Hilton even left the key to her front door under the mat.

The story of this gang is the subject of Sofia Coppola’s latest film, “The Bling Ring.” Although Coppola has previously presented studies of youth and fame (“Somewhere,” “Marie Antoinette,” “Lost in Translation”), “The Bling Ring” examines a new generation that worships celebrities not for their talent but for their designer labels and media visibility.

The Bling Ring celebrated their crimes by posing for selfies with the designer gear they stole and posting them on Facebook. In an interview with The Daily Californian, actors Katie Chang (who plays Rebecca, based on Bling Ring leader Rachel Lee) and Israel Broussard (who plays Mark, based on Nick Prugo) described that “nowadays, it’s easier and easier to become a celebrity without really going through the normal channels of gaining recognition, and in fact, the normal channels are becoming YouTube and Twitter and Instagram, and I think that creates a whole skewed perception of ‘Oh, I can be famous just by being myself.’” Broussard discussed how social media allows celebrities to essentially “rub [their fame] in these kids’ faces … They’re in the same city, they go to the same spots … Why can’t I be them? Why can’t I just hurry up and be them?”

The Daily Californian Arts staff interviewed Katie Chang and Israel Broussard, actors in Sofia Coppola’s latest film “The Bling Ring,” on the making of the movie and their views on the modern-day “celebrity.”

Coppola is careful to avoid satirizing or passing judgment on her characters. Chang explained, “I think the way that Sofia wrote it, it was more about their actions and less about their personalities. We took some traits that we saw either on the TV show (the short-lived “Pretty Wild,” a reality series starring a number of the alleged Bling Ring members, including Alexis Neiers, on whom Emma Watson’s character Nicki is based) or in interviews of what people have said about the real-life kids. We are able to create our own characters around the script.”

Coppola assigned the cast a number of research exercises to prepare for their roles, including keeping journals for their characters, taking trips to Kitson and Robertson Boulevard together, doing mini-fashion shows and even carrying out a mock break-in into one of Coppola’s friends’ homes. Chang recalled, “I got an email from our (personal assistant): ‘Rebecca, this Friday you are going to be breaking into Rachel Bilson’s house. Here’s a list of things that you need to find; here’s the time that you have to get out of there by; Google the directions; find a way to get there; figure it out.’”

Unlike the majority of films about wild, careless high-schoolers, sex is significantly absent from the lives of these characters. Chang explained, “In a lot of movies about teens, there seems to be a lot of sex involved, but I feel like the sexuality is kind of implied in some characters (in this film) — the way that Nicki dresses, the things that she says … I think that’s enough. That’s all that Sofia wanted to give because she really wanted the audience to be hit hard by their consumption and the robberies, and adding one other layer would have been (too) much.”

However, the film itself is somewhat limited. While it is certainly more action-packed than 2010’s “Somewhere,” it still comes across as quite dull. Coppola’s decision not to offer a comment on celebrity obsession or exorbitant materialism can leave the audience feeling frustrated; it is as though the film is taking itself too seriously and taking too seriously the vapidity of the characters.

Despite these shortcomings, the film is aesthetically stunning. The time period of the film is ambiguous, combining the garish style and popular trends of 2008 with modern music and technology. It is interesting to see how Coppola manipulates designer labels — although the stolen Versace and Chanel look flashy and ostentatious on their new owners, they still possess a degree of enticement, adding to the sense of ambiguity the film exudes overall. Twenty years from now, the film could serve as a pretty perfect time capsule of early 21st-century youth culture.

Meadhbh McGrath is the arts editor. Contact her at mmcgrath@dailycal.org. Check her out on Twitter at @MeadhbhMcGrath.

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In what is sure to be one of the funniest films of the year, Seth Rogen, James Franco, Craig Robinson, Jonah Hill, Jay Baruchel and Danny McBride all play themselves, trapped in Franco’s house and facing what appears to be the apocalypse. In an interview with The Daily Californian, writers and directors Rogen and Evan Goldberg, along with cast member Robinson, discussed the film’s self-awareness, their use of social media to promote the film and their choice not to feature any women in the core cast.

Click here to listen to the full interview with Rogen, Goldberg, and Robinson.

On developing the 2007 short ‘Jay and Seth Versus The Apocalypse’ into a feature film:
Evan Goldberg: We made the short seven years ago … It got a good reaction. It got almost 200,000 hits (online). Because it was online, we never forgot about it.
Seth Rogen: People would ask us about it — like, in interviews — every once in awhile.
EG: We’d always say, “We wish we could make that into a movie. That would be a cool movie,” but we just couldn’t figure out what the trick was that made it interesting, and we always had this other idea to have actors play themselves, which started off as “Seth Rogen and Busta Rhymes vs. the Ant Man.” That was our first idea, and we were like “Ah, maybe Busta Rhymes isn’t the right guy. Maybe like, (Rogen) and Brad Pitt together playing themselves.” And then we were like, “Ah, let’s just work with our friends. We like working with our friends.” And then we realized, “Wait! If we push these two ideas together, we have ourselves a pretty good story.”

On making fun of celebrity culture in the film and the idea that ‘actors should be the first to get rescued’:
SR: We don’t actually think that at all, and I will desperately hope no one actually thinks that we feel those things. To us, it’s all supposed to be very self-deprecating and commenting on how ridiculous it is. A) I’m sure a lot of actors think that, and B) I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s partially true in some capacity! We’re really trying to take the piss out of ourselves and comment on how self-centered and ridiculous and, you know, out-of-touch most actors are or are perceived to be.

On why there are no women in the core cast:
EG: The civil answer is that then, sex becomes a conversation.
SR: We were actually resistant honestly to even having Emma (Watson) return in the movie because we kept saying like, “It just goes sexual,” like, you know, “28 Days Later.” It just is this inevitable thought that you’re the last people on Earth, it’s all these guys, there’s a girl …
EG: Like, are you gonna repopulate the world?
SR: We kept saying like, “If we have a girl, it will start to feel rape-y,” and it wasn’t until that happened that we were like, “Oh, maybe, what if we make that the whole point of the scene?”
EG: That was the greatest studio note we ever received. The studio executive said, “Well, why don’t you just embrace that rapiness?”
SR: And we were like, “Wow, that’s actually a great idea!” I think that’s what it was. We just couldn’t … We’re not that good friends with any female comedians, honestly. Now we are more, but at the time we made this, they just weren’t in our circle of friends that much, and yeah, the other thing was that we just didn’t want it to have these kind of sexual overtones. To us, that’s just kind of like a comedy killer in some regards.
EG: We’ve worked with what we could over the years, and that’s just been a handful of guys, but if this movie does well…
SR: I’d love to work with women!
EG: We have some all-women movies planned.
SR: We just made a movie … where I’m married to Rose Byrne, and she’s amazing and … it makes up for this!

On traditional ways of promoting films:
SR: The last thing we want to do is stick to the traditional ways … Literally, we spent so much time talking about, you know — how, like, we’ve seen it change and evolve and with things like Twitter and Facebook, how that didn’t exist when we made “Knocked Up” or “Superbad.” The way we promote movies is completely different, and the way that people ingest this stuff is different, and so whenever it feels like we’re doing the same shit that we did six years ago, we always internally are just like, “What the fuck are we doing? It’s different … it should be different.” And so we actively try to seek new ways of kind of engaging the press and the people. Honestly, why we went to Twitter and Facebook is we spent so much time talking about how to get people on Twitter and Facebook to talk about us — maybe we should start building a relationship with Twitter and Facebook! Because that’s like (going) to the source, you know. So yeah, it’s all coming out of … the thought that we need to try to be progressive with how we promote these things.

Meadhbh McGrath is the arts editor. Contact her at mmcgrath@dailycal.org. Check her out on Twitter at @MeadhbhMcGrath.

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Clara Hatcher/Courtesy

The Legion of Honor’s exhibition “Impressionists on the Water,” in conjunction with America’s Cup, offers an examination of the important role boating themes played in the social and artistic contexts of late 19th century French painting. Many of the painters were themselves interested in sailing, rowing and yachting, and their intimate knowledge of boats is made clear in the technological detail of their paintings and designs. Upon entering the exhibition, visitors are greeted by “Nana” (1890), a large and imposing cedar French cruising gig and an example of the sophisticated design of Fernand Delmez frequently depicted in the paintings of Monet and Renoir. Nautical subjects were also popular at the time, as they provided a vehicle for Impressionist painters to express their interpretations of reality and modernity as well as allowing them to pursue their interests in the effects of light and atmosphere.

The exhibition traces the theme of boating in the history of French art, beginning with early Impressionist maritime painting and ending with Post-Impressionist works. The early paintings include Eugene Isabey’s “Fishing Village” (1852), an oil painting that adds a narrative to its nautical depiction by communicating what it was like to live and work on the coast in adverse conditions. The early section of the exhibition also includes a series of etchings by Charles-Francois Daubigny from “The Boat Trip” (1862). The series includes a stunning depiction of “The Floating Studio,” a boat Daubigny acquired to allow him to work directly on the waterways and that he named “Le Botin” (Little Box).

Inspired by Daubigny, Monet created a similar vessel in order to take to the water to paint, captured in his “The Studio Boat” (1874). Monet’s oil paintings and chalk drawings stand out as by far the most striking in the collection. The flurries of brushstrokes and pure colors in “The Seashore at Sainte-Adresse” (1864) and “The Seine at Argenteuil” (1873) set his work apart, making a powerful impact on visitors. The loose, broken brushstrokes of Renoir’s “Oarsmen at Chatou” (1879) are similarly spectacular. Several of the works — such as Renoir’s “The Seine at Argenteuil” (1874) and Monet’s painting of the same name — attempt to capture the atmospheric river at Argenteuil, a popular tourist destination at the time.

One of the rooms is devoted entirely to the yachtsman, boat designer and painter Gustave Caillebotte. Caillebotte’s paintings are notable for their steep viewpoints and the sense of unabating realism conveyed in works such as “Sunflowers on the Banks of the Seine” (1886). Caillebotte’s works not only demonstrate his skills as a painter but also his expertise as a yachtsman; in “The Regatta at Argenteuil” (1893), he painted himself steering a boat with one finger. Such ease of steering conveys his mastery of boats.

After the Caillebotte room, the exhibition begins to feel somewhat disjointed. Post-Impressionist painters such as Paul Signac and Maurice Denis reinterpret the theme of boating by placing the river and sea within a new aesthetic of flat, decorative designs, such as the wallpaper designs of Denis. These works, although beautiful, leave the visitor with a sense that they have all been thrown together merely because they each depict a nautical subject of sorts. In this room, one also finds a somewhat unlikely nautical sport enthusiast in Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. “The Passenger from Cabin 54” (1896) operates as a change from the nightclub scenes he is so famous for, yet it still feels a little out of place in the exhibition.

These turn-of-the-century French boating images represent the calm before the storm of the more radical modern art movements that would follow. While the exhibition does not exactly thrill visitors and, at $17 a ticket, may leave students feeling underwhelmed, niche art enthusiasts will likely find this exploration of boating as a pastime and this artistic subject a delightful and satisfying experience.

Meadhbh McGrath is the arts editor. Contact her at mmcgrath@dailycal.org. Check her out on Twitter at @MeadhbhMcGrath.

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