Pullman’s ‘Day’ call-to-arms lives on – Lonely Island aim for ‘Spinal Tap’ for today

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This image released by 20th Century Fox shows Liam Hemsworth portraying Jake Morrison in a scene from ‘Independence Day: Resurgence’, opening in theaters nationwide on June 24. (AP)
This image released by 20th Century Fox shows Liam Hemsworth portraying Jake Morrison in a scene from ‘Independence Day: Resurgence’, opening in theaters nationwide on June 24. (AP)
President Thomas J. Whitmore, famed speech-maker and defender of the planet from aliens, has the kind of poll numbers Hillary or Donald dream about. In “Independence Day: Resurgence”, Bill Pullman will reprise his much loved president from the 1996 original. His Whitmore was a relatively small piece of the movie, which featured other attractions like Will Smith punching an alien. But his rallying call-to-arms had an outsized impact amid the CGI spectacle.

Pullman’s full-throated pre-battle speech (“Today, we celebrate our Independence Day!”) is like the popcorn-movie answer to the St Crispin’s Day speech of “Henry V.” Pullman’s big scene has gone down in the annals of movie motivational speeches, alongside Gene Hackman in “Hoosiers” and Mel Gibson in “Braveheart.”

Over the years, he’s seen it take on a life of its own.

“It’s a strange kind of pseudo position I have in the realm of politics,” says the 62-year-old actor, who also played a president in the short-lived sitcom “1600 Penn.”

Pullman’s extensive fictional experience in the White House could arguably make him more qualified to run for office than some of this year’s presidential candidates. But in Roland Emmerich’s “Independence Day: Resurgence”, out June 24, his character is out of office and a potential liability in a new war with invading extraterrestrials.

Epitome

Pullman, Jeff Goldblum and Vivica Fox are some of the stars returning from the original, but much of the cast is made of up newcomers: Liam Hemsworth, Jessie Usher and Maika Monroe, among them. For Pullman, the longevity of “Independence Day” — the epitome of the corny, pre-9/11 summer blockbuster — is surprising. The original made $817.4 million worldwide, far and away the biggest hit of 1996.

“When it was summarized it sounded like maybe it was a cartoon,” says Pullman. “I remember there was even some pushback about it being more like a popcorn movie, or something. The fact that it’s kind of endured as a classic is good and puts a lot of pressure on the second one.”

For an actor who starred in “Spaceballs” and David Lynch’s “Lost Highway,” and performed in Edward Albee and David Mamet plays on Broadway, “Independence Day” is an unlikely touchstone. It even threatened to typecast him.

“If I had accepted every presidential role or every politician,” he says, “I think it would have been too much.”

Pullman will, however, play a more earthbound politician, Texas Sen Ralph Yarborough, in Rob Reiner’s upcoming Lyndon Johnson drama “LBJ.”

Lonely Island, the trio of Andy Samberg, Akiva Schaffer and Jorma Taccone, has technically already made the leap to the big screen in 2007’s wannabe daredevil comedy “Hot Rod.” But it won’t be until “Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping” hits theaters that the full experience of Lonely Island — in all their seductively wrapped male anatomy glory and seafaring glee — lands at the movies.

“This is the first one that’s really ours, from the ground up,” says Samberg. “’Hot Rod’ was a script we inherited and then we reworked it. We definitely took I’d say like 60 to 70 percent to our tone. Whereas this one we completely wrote and are producing it. We’re hoping it’s sort of the best of what we do.”

“Popstar,” in theaters June 3, was written by the threesome, co-directed by Schaffer and Taccone, and stars Samberg as Conner4Real, a rapper whose suddenly plummeting fame forces him to reunite with his boy band. The film, produced by Judd Apatow, places the former “Saturday Night Live” digital short creators in their wheelhouse: satirizing pop music while simultaneously celebrating it with surprisingly well-crafted original songs. (The soundtrack will double as the fourth Lonely Island album.)

Though the title plays on Justin Bieber’s 2001 film “Never Say Never,” Samberg says the group was inspired by other self-aggrandizing music documentaries, too, to make a contemporary ode to “This Is Spinal Tap.”

Wave

“The genre of it is born out of the new wave of pop documentaries that (Justin) Bieber, Katie Perry and One Direction were making,” he says. “It felt like the way ‘Spinal Tap’ did it with rock docs, now there was sort of this new version of it that’s sort of newer and shinier and poppier.”

Rest assured, there will be Bieber jokes. But the target of “Popstar” is broader, taking in all of today’s social media-saturated music world. Pink and Adam Levine are among the movie’s many cameos.

“You see kind of the way people have their inner circle and their bubble and it kind of travels them around and insulates them. And then at the same time they’re divulging everything about their lives on social media,” says Samberg. “We thought there was something really interesting and potentially really funny about how much is put on the relationship between artists and their fans now.”

Also:

LOS ANGELES: Director Rian Johnson offered a few breadcrumbs to appease hungry fans until the next update on “Star Wars: Episode VIII.” Johnson took to his “lousy stinkin” Tumblr to share some big news with “Star Wars” fans.

“I can’t believe we’re halfway through the shoot. (We’re halfway through the shoot!)”

He also released some set photos showing himself in “action”, captioned: “Good. Bad. I’m the guy with the microfiber sham.”

The second image shows a First Order base or ship and the iconic mask or headpiece that was made famous in the original trilogy. It looks like Johnson may be taking a page out of the original “Star Wars” movies and moving away from the helmets used in “Star Wars: A Force Awakens.”

“Force Awakens” was directed by J.J. Abrams. Last year, Abrams’ longtime friend Greg Grunberg told the Washington Post that Abrams regrets not sitting in the director’s chair for the sequel. However, he’s still on board as executive producer.

Johnson also posted other set photos earlier this month and in April.

But Johnson isn’t the only one who has been sharing some early looks at “Episode VIII.” Mark Hamill humorously tweeted in February: “EXCLUSIVE 1st LOOK #EP8 Exotic alien creature to terrorize … oh no wait, that’s just my daughter’s dog #Whoops #MyBad.”

Joining Hamill in “Episode VIII” are cast members Carrie Fisher, Adam Driver, Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Lupita Nyong’o, Domhnall Gleeson, Anthony Daniels, Gwendoline Christie and Andy Serkis. Benicio del Toro and Laura Dern will also be joining the franchise in unspecified roles.

“Star Wars: Episode VIII” is set to blast into theaters on December 15, 2017. (Agencies)

By Jake Coyle

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