The Interview

[Mitch Henessey]

A day after Sony authorized screenings of "The Interview" in a limited number of theaters, the studio announced that the film will also be available via on-demand services.

As first reported by CNN's Brian Stelter and later confirmed by Sony, viewers are able to rent or buy the film from YouTube Movies, Google Play, Microsoft's Xbox Video and via SeeTheInterview.com. (The cost is $5.99 to rent, and $14.99 to purchase).

"Last Wednesday, Sony began contacting a number of companies, including Google, to ask if we'd be able to make their movie, 'The Interview,' available online," David Drummond, SVP Corporate Development and Chief Legal Officer at Google, wrote in a statement. "We'd had a similar thought and were eager to help -- though given everything that’s happened, the security implications were very much at the front of our minds.

"Of course it was tempting to hope that something else would happen to ensure this movie saw the light of day," he continued. "But after discussing all the issues, Sony and Google agreed that we could not sit on the sidelines and allow a handful of people to determine the limits of free speech in another country (however silly the content might be)."

Sony Entertainment CEO Michael Lynton also released a statement about the streaming debut:

We never stopped pursuing as wide a release as possible for 'The Interview.' It was essential for our studio to release this movie, especially given the assault upon our business and our employees by those who wanted to stop free speech. We chose the path of digital distribution first so as to reach as many people as possible on opening day, and we continue to seek other partners and platforms to further expand the release.

I want to thank Google and Microsoft for helping make this a reality. This release represents our commitment to our filmmakers and free speech. While we couldn't have predicted the road this movie traveled to get to this moment, I'm proud our fight was not for nothing and that cyber criminals were not able to silence us. No doubt the issues we have confronted these last few weeks will not end with this release, but we are gratified to have stood together and confident in our future. I want to thank everyone at Sony Pictures for their dedication and perseverance through what has been an extraordinary and difficult time.

Sony's decision to stream the film was also praised by President Barack Obama.

"The president welcomes the news that people will be able to decide for themselves whether or not to see this film, and appreciates Sony's work on this effort over the past few weeks," White House deputy press secretary Eric Schultz said in a statement. "As the president made clear on Friday, we do not live in a country where a foreign dictator can start imposing censorship here in the United States. With today's announcements, people can now make their own choices about the film, and that's how it should be."

In addition to the on-demand release, Sony will debut "The Interview" in select theaters on Christmas Day. (Here's a list of all the theaters showing "The Interview.") According to Variety, Sony is also in discussions with Netflix about possibly streaming "The Interview" to subscribers within the next few days.

As noted by SeeTheInterview.com, watching the film online is currently limited to only viewers in the United States.

Last week, it was unclear if people would ever see "The Interview." Following terror threats made by hackers against theaters that planned to show the film, major chains like AMC Entertainment, Regal Entertainment, Cinemark, Cineplex Entertainment and Carmike Cinemas pulled "The Interview" from schedules. Sony then dropped the film from its release schedule.

Soon after, Sony was criticized by members of the Hollywood community and President Obama, who called the cancellation "a mistake." On Tuesday, Sony flipped its decision and announced that the film would make it to select theaters on Christmas Day, its previously scheduled release date. Independent movie theaters around the country amended their schedules to add showtimes.

Before the Wednesday VOD announcement, there were other rumors about an online release. On Sunday, it was reported that Sony would release "The Interview" via Crackle, the streaming video service the company owns, but that speculation proved untrue. BitTorrent also said it would allow Sony to release the film via its platform.

Co-directed by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, "The Interview" focuses on what happens when the C.I.A. enlists an entertainment journalist (James Franco) and his producer (Rogen) to assassinate Kim Jong Un (Randall Park). You will now be able to watch the comedy as Rogen and Franco probably always intended: at home with a joint. Just don't do it alone.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/12/24/the-interview-vod_n_6377116.html

Before all the controversy erupted, I didn't have high hopes for The Interview. If we're talking about Franco/Rogen collaborations, Pineapple Express is the only film I truly enjoyed, because I never understood all the fuss over This Is The End (I know it's an ensemble piece, but Rogen and Franco are still major stars in the film, and you can't forget about the Pineapple Express stuff). To add to that, it's hard to ignore Rogen's schizophrenic inconsistency over the years, and you can say the same thing about Franco.

Of course, with the new release, you have some wild conspiracy theories floating around, with Sony hatching some master plan to intentionally cancel the release to capitalize on the controversy afterwards. Either way you look at it, the controversy will draw more interest, because you'll have the crowd, who wants to see what all the fuss is about.

I plan on watching The Interview soon enough. I haven't seen it yet, but I highly doubt The Interview will live up to any expectations for shock value. If I'm using the trailers as a sign of things to come, The Interview is a silly and goofy comedy. After all, without the assassination storyline, the movie wouldn't receive so much press and the buzz surrounding The Interview would be nonexistent, because we're just talking about another run-of-the-mill Franco/Rogen collaboration.

Are you interested in The Interview?

 

[THTRobtaylor]

I putlockered it... not forking over card details to watch it when hacks are going on...

Totally glad I did.

I'll try and avoid spoilers but here were my thoughts.

Rogen is very underrated as a straight man in that duo, Franco gets the credit again for his "out there/real him" persona and the best lines but if there is a "hero" in the film it is Rogen's character... they use the Frodo/Samwise reference a lot in the movie and it's true... Rogen really is the heart and soul of the duo while Franco gets all the glory.

The gross out humor is very gross at times but again riotously funny and let's face it, for a comedy this has a lot of violence and a relatively high bodycount... don't let the kids see it.

The Kim Jong portrayal is tongue-in-cheek and near the knuckle at the same time... you can imagine all of it being true and horrific to the country at the same time.

There are a couple of major missed opportunities. The CIA girl is so blatantly modelled after Katy Perry, and she gets mentioned constantly, it seems like they maybe missed a trick (or tried and failed) to cast her in that role. Rogen also gets sidelined a little once they get to Korea, which is a shame... they could have done a little bit more to use him.

This isn't Dr. Strangelove good...but it's better than Team America was and is genuinely Franco and Rogen's best film together... there's a lot of satire about the romanticism of spying, violence, power and more than enough commentary on the power of TV and jingoism to see why Kim got bent out of shape for real and why Obama went to bat for the the movie... I get the feeling he did watch it before he made that speech... and wouldn't be shocked if Kim had seen it before the hacks.

Ironicaly the publicity means more people will see this movie than would have done, but it will take time, the word of mouth will be excellent... everyone I told to watch it so far has loved it. Rogen and Franco will get a LOT of good publicity and freedom from the sutdios to "do their thing" as a result because at it's heart it shows these are two guys who love working together on crazy movies and those movies will do well every time, same as Simon Pegg, Nick Frost and Edgar Wright...

It's been a long time since a proper "duo" like Abbot & Costello, Cheech & Chong etc but these guys are it... The next movie they do together will be huge...that might not be a good thing, they might just have hitched themselves together, like it or not for the rest of their careers but I've a feeling they know what they're doing.

 

[Mitch Henessey]

Pleasantly surprised by this, because I had low expectations for The Interview.

As usual, Rogen and Franco share good (and believable) chemistry as best friends, but it's kind of hard to ignore the pattern for the schizophrenic humor and the jokes throughout movie. You have a handful of truly hilarious moments, but on the other side of that, you also have a good amount of cringeworthy scenes (i.e. Franco's Gollum impersonation).

I was surprised Seth Rogen's Aaron was the more mature one in the group, while Franco was the obnoxious and self-centered egomaniac. Usually, Rogen and Franco are immature asshats together in their films , so it was a nice change of pace to see Rogen take on the the role of a babysitter.

Randall Park had his moments as Kim, and one moment that sticks out is the dinner scene with Franco towards the end, where Kim shows his true colors. Lizzy Caplan really nailed Agent Lacey, but once they make the trip to Korea, her character takes a backseat as an afterthought.

The scene involving the actual interview between Franco and Park was executed to perfection. The awkwardness, the tension, the disappointment from Americans watching at home, and Park's body language and facial expressions, when Franco pulls the rug out from underneath him. Great stuff.

I would say Eminem had the best cameo, but the opening scene and the joke behind his revelation dragged on and on for too long, so I'll go with Joesph Gordon-Levitt.

With all that said, I wouldn't set the bar too high for something truly shocking or earth-shattering. After the all the controversy, and Sony Pictures cancelling the release a little while ago, you can imagine some people taking a chance on The Interview, because they want to see what all the fuss is about. The Interview is a solid film, but at the same time, I wouldn't call it a five star masterpiece that justifies all the hype and controversy behind it. The Interview deserves credit some clever satire every now and then, but The Interview is loaded with more than enough dick jokes to trigger a "Oh, right. I'm watching another Seth Rogen/James Franco film. What a surprise" reaction.

I can't picture the Interview receiving an overwhelming amount of praise right now, because it's still too soon, and you need more time for things to settle down. But in the future, I can easily see The Interview receiving more praise as one of the more memorable political satire comedies, and Rogen and Franco's best film together, with Pineapple Express taking a #2 spot as the Dumb & Dumber film for Franco and Rogen collaborations.

 

[Ser Duncan the Tall]

I never expected the hype for this film to blow up out of proportion, but hey, that's only a plus for it. Might even get a footnote in history.

Dick jokes or not, it was a fun film and definitely worth the six fiddy dollars. SJWs can take their "rarrhw this racist film is mocking real-life oppressed koreans in real life" remarks and go home and buy a monkey!