"Chris [Weitz] was always extremely supportive and I was glad to have him behind me," Lautner says. He is such a cutie! And I’m like some lovelorn Twi-hard teeny-bopper!

“New Moon” hits theaters in three days. Have you got your tickets? I do!

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And apparently, Dakota Fanning and Kristen Stewart are BFFs, having filmed “New Moon,” “The Runaways,” and “The Twilight Saga: Eclipse” together back to back.

“New Moon” hits theaters next Friday, Nov. 20, 2009. 

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He thanked the fans for all the love and support they’ve offered during the difficult time following his son Jet’s death.

“Old Dogs” opens in theaters Nov. 25, 2009. Also check out Access Hollywood’s interview with Travolta, wife Kelly Preston and daughter Elle Bleu. All three appear in the movie, along with Robin Williams.

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But I’m definitely going to catch “2012,” in theaters this Friday, Nov. 13, 2009. Directed by Roland Emmerich, the movie also stars Thandie Newton and Woody Harrelson. Check out a 5-minute clip of the film here. There’s some major computer generated effects in this one. 

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They look great in the interview, and seem to be doing well. Ella talked about wanting to be an actress, how she plans on handling fame, and she also diplomatically said she looked like a mix of both John and Kelly.

It will be really fun to see all of them on screen together in the same movie.

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I caught up with Jordan Nagai, who voices the part of Russell the Wilderness Explorer in the film. He’s enthusiastic and energetic – not unlike his on-screen counterpart – and they even look alike, don’t they?

Read on for Jordan’s thoughts on making “Up” and running an obstacle course before his recording sessions.

Tell us about your new movie, “Up.”

“Up” is about a young wilderness explorer called Russell. Russell needs his last wilderness explorer badge – the Assisting The Elderly Badge – so he goes to his elderly neighbor, Mr. Fredricksen, to see if he can get it.

What happens when Russell meets Mr. Fredricksen?

Mr. Fredricksen has just lost his wife and he is about to lose his house, so he decides to go on an adventure by attaching balloons to his home. He sails into the sky, but Russell accidentally goes along for the ride.

More after the jump…

Tell us a little about Russell?

Russell is an active, enthusiastic and determined 8-year-old boy. He loves animals and he loves the wilderness, so he has a great time exploring when they land near Paradise Falls. Russell is a funny, helpful and smart boy — and he wants to get this last badge to please his father.

What is Mr. Fredricksen like?

Mr. Fredricksen is grumpy and he doesn’t like going outside. Russell loves being outside and he loves running around, so they’re opposites. Russell has only been to museums. He’s never experienced the forest for real, so this is his first trip into a wilderness.

What are your favorite things about Russell?

I like the way that he’s funny. He makes a lot of jokes, and he sometimes shows off what he knows from his wilderness explorer camp. He shows Carl – Mr. Fredricksen – different knots and the different calls of animals.

Are you anything like Russell? 

We both love animals and I’m pretty determined at getting things that I really want. I’d love to explore the wilderness too!

How did you get the part of Russell?

The principal at my school sent out an email to all students saying there was an audition for 9 and 10 year old boys. My brother was 9 years old at the time and he went to the audition, so I went along with him. Even though I was only 7 years old, I was allowed to do the audition, too. I did several auditions after that, and finally, I got the part!

Was it hard recording your voice in the sound booth?

It wasn’t very difficult, but I had to repeat the same lines over and over again. I also had to stand for a long time, so it was a little tiring. The director – Pete Docter (read my Q&A here) – tried to make it easier for me, so I took a lot of breaks. I had a lot of fun recording the voice!

Did you do anything special to prepare for the recording sessions?

Before some recordings, I’d do jumping jacks or I’d run around the studio to pump up my energy. When I needed to be excited, Pete would make obstacle courses for me to run around, too!

What was your funniest moment from the recording sessions?

There was one time when I needed to laugh, so Pete held me upside down and tickled me. That was really funny.

Is it weird to hear your voice coming out of a cartoon character?

It’s pretty weird, but it’s cool too.

What do your friends think of your new fame?

They are all very excited for me. We went to see the movie together on opening day. They like the movie a lot, and they think that I’m very lucky.

Have you always wanted to be an actor?

It wasn’t my plan, but I really enjoyed working on “Up.” 

What other films would you like to star in?

“Toy Story” would be a great movie to work on. My brother and I have always liked “Toy Story.” I think it’s really cool when the toys come alive and have their own adventure.

What do you like to do in your spare time?

I like to swim and play basketball. I also love judo. I like the drum and the guitar!

Russell heads off to South America in the movie … Is there any place you’d like to visit?

I would like to go to Africa. I want to go on safari and see the wild animals, like the cheetah. That would be very cool!

Images: ©Disney/Pixar. All Rights Reserved; INF

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Q: “Up” became the first animated film to open the Cannes Film Festival. Do you believe animated features are becoming accepted as a more serious artistic platform?

Pete Docter: We were very honored to be the first animated film to open the prestigious Cannes Film Festival. Walking around there, I kept picturing Hitchcock, Coppola, Truffaut; these big time directors … and US?!?! It seemed like some sort of mistake! But we do look at our work as filmmaking, just like any other film. And it’s nice to see the world looking at it that way as well.

Q: How did Michael Giacchino (composer) come to the project? How was working with him?

Pete Docter: Michael had worked with Brad on "The Incredibles" and "Ratatouille" and of course did a great job on those. He’s a true collaborator. We started out talking through the film conceptually, discussing the things we were looking for — like paying homage to the films of the 40’s and 50’s, the Disney films and Frank Capra and films like that. We wanted to evoke that kind of a feel.  And then we went through sequences shot by shot sometimes and talked about the construction of the scenes and what I was hoping to achieve musically. Not necessarily like arrangements or anything like that, but more like, "Okay, it should start really low here, sneak in, and then build to this point … and then jump out at us!"  We’d talk more emotionally like that and then I’d leave it to Michael to write the music. He would play us these demos and we’d listen via teleconference, and anytime we’d have thoughts or suggestions, he would do changes, sometimes right on the spot. He was very open to whatever the film needed. He’s a filmmaker. Really thinks about the storytelling and how music communicates to people. He’s got range that a lot of film composers either don’t have or don’t utilize.  His "Ratatouille" score doesn’t sound like the "Up" score, which doesn’t sound like "The Incredibles" or "Star Trek." Amazing.

More after the jump…

Q: Can you explain the process of how Carl’s montage at the beginning evolved?

Pete Docter: That was probably the scene I’m most proud of in the film. It came into play early as we developed the story of this guy floating away in his house, and we asked ourselves, "Why is he doing that?" We figured there was some sort of loss or unfulfilled dream that he was trying to make right, and so we came up with the back-story of Carl and his wife.  We initially constructed it as a compressed series of small short scenes, with dialogue and sound effects. Little snippets of life.  Bob [Peterson] wrote it. When Ronnie del Carmen started to storyboard it, we felt like it would be nice to reduce it, simplify it, and take the dialogue out. My parents shot a lot of Super 8 movies of our family growing up. Watching them now, there’s something really emotional about not having any sound. That allows, I think, the audience to participate more actively and kind of imagine, "What are they talking about there?"  Or "what happened right before this moment? " And that feeling was all part of what went into that scene… these really little beautiful real-life moments showing the highs and lows of life. Carl’s true adventure — their relationship together.

Q: There must have been a ton of research that went into the look of the mountain tops; were any similar tests conducted into using helium balloons to lift an entire house?

Pete Docter: The first thing our technical team did when they started working on the balloons was to figure out how many balloons it would take to lift a house in real life. Here’s his math: * Carl’s house is 1600 sq ft * Somewhere I found some figures saying that the average 1600sqft house weights about 345,000 lbs, of which 160,000lbs is from the foundation, and about 30,000lbs is from the garage. * Since Carl lifts off and leaves the foundation behind, that leaves about 155,000lbs ( == 77.5 US tons == 70,306 kg) that the Canopy needs to lift. Accelerating toward the ground at 9.8 m/s^2, that’s 688,998 N of force from gravity that the Canopy has to overcome. * With the density of Helium at .1786 kg/m^3 and representing a balloon as a sphere with a radius of 2.78ft (85 cm, ~5.56 ft diameter — we’re talking weather balloons here…) — each balloon can generate 4.5N of buoyant force… * So to generate at least 688,998N of force to overcome gravity, you’d need: 153,053 helium-filled, 5.56ft diameter balloons. * If you’re trying this with big party balloons, say 1 ft diameter, then you’d need a whole lot more: 26,550,146….26.5 million balloons. * None of this takes into account the weight of the balloons themselves or the strings to tie them to the house.

Q: You’ve said in the past that you identify strongly with Buzz Lightyear, are there any other characters you identify with?

Pete Docter: Well, I Identify strongly with Carl. I often grouse about how things are changing, and "why did they take that item off the menu?!?" I’m going to make a good old man. Weirdly, Kevin the bird is another character I really like. Not that I feel a kinship, but she was a fun character to play around with, because she’s so unpredictable.

Q: I saw the video of the trip to gain artistic inspiration for UP … what are some examples of other inspirations for animated elements in your work that came from more mundane/conventional sources?

Pete Docter: Doing research is one of the best parts of working on these films. One day we brought in an ostrich. It was cool to see an ostrich running around on the front lawn here. And of course the film was a great excuse to bring in our dogs. We also went to a few Old Folks homes. We formed a band — we played Tin Pan Alley type tunes and went in to a local retirement home to play for them. As we were up there, all of us were secretly taking mental notes and doing sketches behind our ukuleles. It was great — we got good research, and they said we were the best act to play there in months!

Q: Was the choice of presenting the film in 3D a conscious decision from the beginning? How does it affect the production process?

Pete Docter: We start the process for "Up" in 2D, with the focus just on the story and the characters. It was about three years in that John Lasseter came to us and said, "Hey, there are some really cool new developments that have happened with 3D," and of course Pixar had a long history of interest in 3D, John being one of the prime cheerleaders.  He shot pictures of his own wedding in 3D, as well as "Knick-Knack," which is in 3D as well. So we did a ton of research, watching other 3D films, and made a list of things we liked and things we didn’t. I wanted to use 3D in a more subtle way than the usual, "WOAH! THERE’S A BIG BANANA CREAM PIE COMING OUT TOWARDS THE AUDIENCE!" thing you often see in 3D. We used 3D as another tool to communicate the emotion of the scene, like you would use color, lighting, or cinematography. In the end, we didn’t let it affect the way we approached the story at all. I didn’t want to compromise the 2D version — which is the way it will be seen most often (considering DVD and Blu-ray).

Q: As far as the animation style of “Up” goes, instead of going for “as close to realism as possible” kind of visuals, it has an almost caricature style, especially with the facial features highlighting big points, rather than looking like a human head. What influenced the style of “Up,” and why did you decide to go this route?

Pete Docter: The story called for Carl to float his house into the air buoyed by balloons. For that to be believable, we felt it would be necessary to caricature the world – and, therefore, the characters, as well. I think if we made it look photo-real, you wouldn’t believe it as readily. Besides, if you want something to look real, go get a camera and step outside. It’s a heck of a lot cheaper. We work in animation! We can do things that can’t be done in any other medium! So the idea of simplifying and caricature is always exciting to me.

Q: Do you remember the first time you drew something and thought, "Wow, this is something I want to do for a living." Do you remember what you drew?

Pete Docter: You know how there’s always those kids in your elementary class that are really good at drawing? They sit there and "wow" everyone by drawing horses and tanks and battles and stuff? That was NOT me. I was lousy at drawing. But as soon as I figured out I could make something look like it was moving — and thinking — I was hooked. My parents are musicians, as are my sisters, so I was dragged to a lot of concerts growing up. I would always steal everyone’s programs and draw all over them, thinking up jokes like, "What would happen if all the strings on his violin broke?" or "What if someone fell in the tuba?" Comic gold, I’m telling you!

Q: How did Tom McCarthy get involved in the writing of “Up”?

Pete Docter: We had referenced Tom’s film "The Station Agent" as we worked out the structure of “Up.” It’s very similar — a guy who isn’t really living, he’s just walking through life, trying to stay removed and alone. Then he reluctantly gets drawn into this surrogate family. It’s a great film, really well written and directed. We got Tom to come here to Pixar to screen it and talk about it, so we’d meet him. Bob and I were working together at the time, but then Bob was drafted on to “Ratatouille” for a while and I was left all alone. I cried a lot and talked to myself at first. I needed someone to spark off creatively, and so I asked Tom if he could recommend any writers he knew that might want to work on the film. He fell for it and said, "How about me?" Ha ha! Sucker. He was on for three months, and it was in his draft that we added the character of Russell, which of course we kept once Bob came back on.

Q: What are the challenges involved with writing for animated movies that one might not face with live action, and how do you overcome those challenges?

Pete Docter: 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.

Images: ©Disney/Pixar. All Rights Reserved.

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The story follows Susan and the Monsters, who now work for the U.S. government. They’re sent to Susan’s hometown to stop an alien invasion in the days before Halloween. Clever as always, the aliens have adopted the guise of harmless jack-o-lanterns as they lie in wait for the perfect time to strike.

I caught up with Seth Rogen by phone:

1. Do you like Halloween and are you dressing up this year?

Unfortunately, I have to work at 6 AM the next morning, so that kind of puts a slight damper on my plans. I have a girlfriend now and I’ve entered the unfortunate world of paired costuming, which is not fun. I always end up being the lamer half of the costume. It’s like she’s a dog and I’m a fire hydrant, so maybe I’m dodging a bullet this year. As far as Halloween, I had a lot of allergies when I was a kid and I couldn’t eat sugar very often. So for me, Halloween was just a day to gorge myself, which is a tradition I carry through to this day.

More after the jump…

2. Do you get to improvise a lot doing voice work?

You can actually improvise a lot as a voice actor. The time consuming part is really creating the characters and the sets and the worlds. Aside from that, it’s not much different from shooting a live action movie; the characters’ mouths are quite easy to manipulate once all the information is built into the computer.

3. Do you have any favorite Halloween specials?

I always liked the Simpson’s Halloween specials. They were always amazing, and I always looked forward to that on Halloween. And I always watched the TGIF sitcoms because I was a nerd and had nothing to do on Friday nights. So I always enjoyed whatever the sitcoms would do for their Halloween special.

4. Did you have any input into the character of B.O.B.?

Yes, definitely. It was a collaborative process with the directors, Conrad [Vernon] and Rob [Letterman], trying to come up with the character. At first, there wasn’t a ton to work with, but then we slowly realized the joke was that he had no brain and he was very stupid, and we kind of worked from there.

5. Which do you prefer: acting or writing?

That’s a good question. Just acting is not enough; I can say that. To do a little role in something is very fun, but to be on set all day as an actor … it just seems like I’m doing an iota of what I should be doing with my day. I really enjoy writing. My most enjoyable times are when me and Evan [Goldberg] have a script to write and plenty of time to write it in and nothing else to do. But right now, we’re filming (“The Green Hornet”), and I’m one of the producers and the writer and the actor, so it’s busy, but it’s also a lot of fun. When it all comes together, that’s when it’s most creatively satisfying.

Image: Paramount Pictures

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Asked if she’d consider joining the “Twilight” saga, Biel said, “Well, I’m clearly familiar with the films… I know the idea of what it’s about. I mean, maybe [I'd be in the next “Twilight” film]. That would be lovely. I am not opposed to playing a vampire."

You can catch her soon in “Valentine’s Day” (in theaters Feb. 12, 2010), which also stars Taylor Lautner, who plays Jacob Black in the “Twilight” movies.

Could you see Biel in a “Twilight” movie? If so, which character should she play?

Image: Pacific Coast News

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“The scripts for the two films will be delivered very soon,” he revealed. “Then they’ll be budgeted, and then they’ll be cast. And they’ll be going when they’ve always said they would be, which is next spring – March or April.”

McKellen said director Guillermo del Toro told him that filming will take place over 383 days, and McKellen had this to say about the director: “He’s got that artistic autism! Jackson’s the same; they’re very, very, very alike. They also very different, but they’ve so much in common. They both can’t stand Hollywood and have wonderful imaginations, and they’re both obsessed with gore and fantasy. Both of them laugh a great deal. Guillermo’s one of the most brilliant men I’ve ever met. His English vocabulary is way superior to mine!”

Will Legolas (Orlando Bloom) and Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen) return for cameos, as has been speculated? Too soon to tell, but McKellen surmises not.

“Unforunately, there won’t be many of the actors going back, unless they’re going to put masks on and be disguised as dwarves! Andy Serkis is, at the moment, I think, the only other actor who’s doing this film.”

McKellen didn’t spill much more about the casting, including who would play the title character Bilbo Baggins. Others rumored to be cast include Ron Perlman, Hugo Weaving as Elrond, and Doug Jones.

I can’t wait until things are more firmed up, and we can actually start looking forward to the return of another Tolkien movie.

Image: New Line Productions; All Rights Reserved.

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