Oscar-nominee Djimon Hounsou (In America), Hollywood’s latest “It Guy” Chris Evans (Fantastic Four) and gorgeous rising star Camilla Belle (Adrift) talk about their collective participation in the thrilling sc-fi action/adventure Push — a gritty and believable superhero good-versus-evil epic without the goofy costumes or insipid monikers. Having generated a sizable cult following ever since its theatrical release earlier this year, Push is one of the more highly-anticipated DVD/Blu-ray releases of the summer.

In Earl Dittman’s laid-back interview with Evans, Hounsou and Belle, the three actors explain what makes Push different from superhero film franchises like X-Men and The Fantastic Four, and how they physically prepared for the film. Additionally, Camille jokes about de-glamorizing herself for the role of Kira, Chris complains about the food in Hong Kong and Djimon reveals if he’s ever had any psychic experiences of his own. (Plus: this week’s DVDs, all after the jump.)

In the Paul McGuigan-directed Push, Nick (Evans) possesses extraordinary powers of the mind. Ever since he was a young lad, he has been on the run from Agent Carver (Hounsou), a merciless, gun-toting operative from The Division, one of those proverbial shady, underground, government-sanctioned gang of kidnappers and killers. As Nick grows into young man, he decides to lie low in Hong Kong, but soon runs into others in the Asian mega-city who harbour similar psychic gifts and powers. Sensing danger, he becomes very protective of Cassie (Dakota Fanning), a pre-teen who can see the future, and begins to fall for Kira (Belle), a Division escapee who is considered a “pusher,” a person with the potentially dangerous ability to plant thoughts into people’s minds and make them do her every bidding. Agent Carver and members of The Division are soon hot on the trio’s trail. 

With the economy still in such bad shape, why do you think adults or college kids should spend their precious money on seeing, buying or renting a film like Push?

CE: “Well, I think movies, in general, are pretty cheap dates for the most part. I think that’s why movies — I should knock on wood – hopefully, movies will stay recession proof. If you see it in the theater, I still think you could spend nine bucks on a ticket, five bucks on soda and popcorn, so it is still a relatively cheap night. It’s just a fun movie it’s something that I think – especially college-aged kids can really relate to. The plot is incredibly entertaining and I think I’d like to believe that we offer something in the way of special effects that I don’t think has been done before. Our director really tried to avoid relying on CGI and green screen. For the most part the majority of our special effects were pretty much just done with stunt men and some clever camerawork.”

What was it about working on a movie like Push, a film that afforded you new or different experiences?

CE: “Oh, that’s a good question. I think working in Hong Kong was certainly a different experience. Yes, being there for three months you know, having an environment that’s tangible to play off. You know, that when you do these special effects heavy movies it’s traditionally done on green screen and you kind of have to tap into your imagination and really do your best to just make believe that there are explosions and things happening all around you. This was a much different experience in a sense that everything around us was real. You know, Paul [McGuigan, director] really tried to avoid relying on special effects and it that sense you really could give your brain a rest and just play off the tangible environment around you. There was also a little bit less rehearsal time, I’m a big fan of rehearsal, I come from a theater background and Paul as well as my fellow costars are of the mind set you know, let’s keep it fresh. Let’s let it happen on the day, and there are plenty of actors — phenomenal actors who approach film making in that manner. So this was different from me in a sense that I didn’t really get to enjoy the normal amount of preparation time with my collaborators that I normally do. But it was a great experience because that’s something you have to be ready for because you know, everyone approaches film making differently.”

Djimon, what did you think of this movie when you got the script?

DH: “Well, I thought it’s about time somebody deals with that world. That was my first thought.”

Which world?

DH: “The science/occult world that most of us don’t know anything about. Certainly, believing that, or imagining that this is ever possible I think is definitely a realistic thought process.”

Has it always been a fascination of yours?

DH: “Always has been in a way. I mean, where I’ve come from in Africa, we have a lot of mystical things that goes on there, but enough to let you believe that that is by far quite feasible.”

Ever had any psychic experience?

DH: “Hmm, no. You mean you having a déjà vu? No. You? Camilla?”
CB: “I have in a certain way. I think everyone has, I talked about intuitions or kind of feelings that you have. I think a lot of my friends complain that they never listen to them and they kind of ignore them. My mom’s Brazilian and in that culture, it’s very much in tune with their intuitions, their feelings and my mom’s really raised me to feel that way and stay in tune with it. So in a sense, I kind of experience it in a very different way.”

Chris, what was it about your character Nick that attracted you to the role?

CE: “Well, he’s pretty different from myself you know, he’s had a lot of pain in his past. I think he’s hiding from the world, I think he’s too scared to have people leave him. So, in turn he just shuts everyone else out. I think he’s pretty closed off to his emotions, and I’m a very open guy. It’s just always fun to play someone different from who you are. I’d say more so than the character was the script that attracted me in general. It was a really entertaining plot and any time a script can keep your interest the way this one did it’s obviously worth pursuing.”

Camilla, what was it like having to look unglamorous for Push? You look almost dead in some of the scenes.

CB: “This is very true, quite horrific, like a corpse in a lot of the scenes.”

It must have been demoralizing for you?

DH: “It was for me. I thought we hired her for that, the glamorous side of her.” [Laughs]
CB: “And I look half dead throughout the movie.”
DH: “Then she’ll come out of the makeup room… great.”
CB: “I enjoyed it. I think it was the fun part of this job.”
DH: “She enjoyed it.”
CB: “You didn’t enjoy it. It’s a fun part, you get to look so different from your normal life. When you go to the premiere, days like today you look good and you want to look good, but then if you get to show up to work and look really terrible, it’s also fun. You want to push it. ‘Make me look even worse.’ Okay, why not? If you get to push it, why not?”

How long a process was it making you look terrible?

CB: “I mean, there’s just certain tricks that they have in order to make you look that way but it took the same amount of time. I think it takes the same amount of time as making yourself look good, same amount of time making you look bad.”
DH: “I generally think that it takes less time to make somebody look bad.”
CB: “It’s true. You don’t have to cover anything up. Just let every blemish, every bad thing show.”
DH: “Splash the makeup on.”

Chris, do you worry in having done Push, another action movie after The Fantastic Four, that you might be type-cast, and will only be asked to do bigger, high-budget action films from now on?

CE: “Sure, there is always the worry to be type-cast, it’s a tricky approach you know, it’s something you want to stay aware of but if the pieces to the puzzle fit. For example, if all of the sudden I got an offer for another science fiction film, and it was the right film and it was a challenging role despite the fact that I’ve done a few of those, it would be hard to say, ‘No.’ You obviously don’t want to be type-casted but, by the same token, if the moon is aligned and it’s a part that I really feel a connection to, it’s hard to pass up. It’s tricky, it’s something you really can’t plan against because you don’t’ want to avoid a role just because you’ve done one similar to it. It’s a good question and it is something I come against absolutely. And it’s just something I have to take one day at a time I guess.”

Before taking the role, did you see any similarities between Push and The Fantastic Four?

CE: “You know, I didn’t really see the similarities but really — the only similarity is the fact that there are super powers. Outside of that, the story, the character evolution I think the look of the film, I think you know obviously locations and the actors we worked with. Other than the fact that we’re dealing with people with extraordinary abilities, I really didn’t see too many similarities and there are certainly are no similarities in the character. Johnny Storm is in love with the attention and the spotlight and he’s very confident, and very self-assured and cannot wait to use his powers. Nick is a character who is on the run in hiding, insecure and would just as soon shed his powers if he could.”

What makes Push different from films like X-Men?

CE: “I think they did a really great thing in X-Men. With X-Men they kind of made it that mutation was a known thing, it was something that was dealt with in the public, on the news, and in the White House. This movie no one knows that powers exist, this branch of the government is called Division. Division is a secret branch of the government that operates under wraps. So the general public is completely unaware that people with these abilities even exist. So, I think it’s – just to me, it makes the stakes a bit higher.”

How did you prepare for your in role in Push?

CE: “Well, not with rehearsal. There wasn’t as much rehearsal as I usually enjoy with films like this. It was an isolating thing when I was in Hong Kong. Luckily, we shot in a foreign place where I didn’t know anybody. I was out of my element given the fact that I wasn’t allowed to rehearse the way that I normally like to. So, in a lot of ways, I felt like I was on an island. I had to operate within a vacuum and that’s very struggle to Nick’s struggle. Nick lives in a vacuum, Nick lives on his own and he’s very much out of his element.”

Did any of you spend a lot of time in the gym before this?

CB: “No, not really.”
DH: “Me, no.”
CB: “Not really, the fight scene, I do live a pretty active lifestyle anyway. There wasn’t anything specific that I had to do for the film. I think it’s just being healthy, being fit because we’re shooting long hours on location. You didn’t have the food you were accustomed to so you really had to be healthy in order to continue working every day and feeling up for it. But for the fight scene, it was more about choreography than anything. It wasn’t specific training for it, just about choreographing the scene and practicing it.”

What was the biggest challenge while filming Push?

CE: “The food. (laughs)  I mean, I’ll keep that one real simple. The food, you know, Hong Kong is just – it’s got a different cuisine than America. You’d be hard press to just find a nice piece of white chicken meat. If you ask for chicken, not only are you going to get dark meat, but you’re going to have about five hundred bones in there. So it’s just a different world, and it’s a different process, you know, the way movies are made in other places really can’t compare to Hong Kong. Hong Kong has the local workers there, they just have such an amazing work ethic and dedication. When you show up in the morning, it’s time to work, a lot of other movie sets are a little lazy and they move at a slower pace, and everyone takes their time. Not in Hong Kong, you know everyone kind of straps up their boots and get their hands dirty. So, all of us delicate actors have to kind of pick it up – kick it up a notch.”

Was that your first time in Hong Kong?

CE: “Yes, it was my first time in Hong Kong, I’ve been to Tokyo a couple of times, but this is the first time in Hong Kong, yes.”

What about you two? How did you like the Hong Kong food?

CB: “The thing about Hong Kong, there’s so much offered. We had a Nobu in our hotel.”
DH: “We had great food around.”
CB: “We had great food in the hotel.”
DH: “Again, it takes knowing.”
CB: “You have to know where to go, but if you found it, there were some. I went to some great Chinese restaurants that weren’t as greasy or I didn’t have to eat the pigeon. You could eat some really great rice dishes.”
DH: “Pigeons?”
CB: “Yeah, pigeons. And chicken feet.”
DH: “Oh yeah, she freaked me out one night and said, ‘Well, you know, sometimes you order from room service, you’re not sure what kind of meat you’re getting.’ I just freaked.”
CB: “You could find good options but I think the one thing you miss, I love to cook. I missed having my own kitchen, being able to cook my own food. Besides that, you were able to find good options.
DH: “Good options, other than pigeons? Yeah. No, it was good.”

Push seems like it’s naturally set up for a sequel, except for Djimon, that is.

DH: “Hmm? What did you say again? Don’t write me out of the film yet.” [Laughs]

Are you each game for a sequel?

DH: “That’s a different story. Actually, it definitely it leaves room.”
CB: “It does leave room for that. You never know.”
DH: “There’s room to explore that, but yeah, you never know.”

Push Blu-ray + DVD: Deleted scenes; featurettes and audio commentary with the cast and crew.

The Unborn: Unrated

Shortly after a young woman (Odette Yustman) begins to experience terrifying nightmares, her days become mentally and physically torturous when a demonic ghost — in the form of a young boy — begins to haunt her. When she reveals to her superstitious, occult-friendly best friend that she is being plagued by an evil spirit (and after another talk with her tight-lipped dad) she discovers that the poltergeist making her life hell is none other than her stillborn twin brother. Relying on a spiritual advisor (Gary Oldman) to break the paranormal curse that has put upon her, an exorcism is set up to help rid her of her pesky, satanic near-sibling once and for all. However, as we’ve all learned from The Exorcist, these demon-be-gone ceremonies never go as well as planned – and the horrifying exorcism in The Unborn is certainly no exception. Downright wet-your-shorts scary, The Unborn Blu-ray and DVD contain both the theatrical and unrated versions of the thriller and a few choice deleted scenes.

Reno 911!: The Complete Sixth Season – Uncensored

No one can parody a reality crime series (like COPS) as effortlessly as the fictional squad of Reno Sheriff’s Department can. The loopy deputies of Comedy Central’s Reno 911! manage to make breaking the law and getting arrested look fun and exciting. With the addition of two new officers this season (the firearm-obsessed Deputy Frank Rizzo and the cranky, argumentative Sergeant Jack Declan) the laughs come quicker and last longer. When our lovable deputies come across a new crop of lawbreakers (guest stars George Lopez, Patton Oswalt, Craig Robinson) and are forced to deal with such usual suspects (like roller-skating male prostitute Terry, portrayed by Nick Swardson) they only prove they are even more incompetent than imagined by botching as many crime scenes as they can. Filled with nonstop laughs, the DVD also includes audio commentary from the cast and crew, featurettes, outtakes and a Digital Copy.

Kath & Kim: Season One

Based on the hit, number one Australian sitcom of the same name, Kath & Kim features the comedic talents of Saturday Night Live alum (and Superstar leading lady) Molly Shannon and the beautiful Selma Blair (the feisty, flame-throwing romantic gal pal from the Hellboy movies) as one of the most dysfunctional and hysterical mother/daughter duos ever imagined. In Kath & Kim, the sassy forty-something Kath (Shannon) gets married and her self-absorbed suburban princess daughter, Kim, decides (with a little push) that it’s time to leave the crazed familial nest. What follows next can only be described as sheer, unadulterated comedy. Molly Shannon is hilarious as an aging mom who thinks she has the goods to pass as her daughter’s sister — a performance that helps Selma Blair’s surprisingly fitting foray into comedy. The DVD for the outrageous (and sadly short-lived) Kath & Kim features all seventeen episodes, deleted scenes, a gag reel and commentary with Shannon, Blair and their fellow castmates, writers and producers.

Beau Geste • Trail of the Lonesome Pine • Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves • Lonely and the Brave

On DVD for the first time, these four titles are the latest batch of classics from the critically-acclaimed Universal Backlot Series (a collection of rare, over-looked cinematic gems). Based on the legendary novel, in 1939’s Beau Geste Oscar-winners Gary Cooper and Ray Milland star as brothers who join the Foreign Legion to escape a troubled past, only to find themselves the victims of a tyrannical, sadistic sergeant. The tale of the Arabian Nights are brought to life in amazing Technicolor as a young thief (Jon Hall) and his adopted bandit family help him avenge his father’s death in Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves (1944). With the distinction of being the first movie ever filmed outdoors in Technicolor, Trail of the Lonesome Pine (1936) features Henry Fonda and Fred Murray as two men caught in a bitter feud deep in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Finally, Kirk Douglas stars as cowboy fugitive on the run from the law in 1962’s Lonely are the Brave. In addition to being remastered from the original print, this DVD includes a tribute to Douglas and to the music of Jerry Goldsmith.

Third Watch: The Complete Second Season

While the average person is getting home from work, cooking dinner and preparing for bed, the members of the 55th Precinct and Station 55 (Bobby Cannavale, Eddie Cibrian, Michael Beach, and Kim Raver) report for the 3-11 p.m. shift (affectionately known as the “third watch”) with the hopes of making the streets of Manhattan just a little bit safer. Created by John Wells (ER) and Edward Allen Bernero (Criminal Minds), this Emmy and Peabody Award-winning show was one of the first primetime dramatic series to not only focus on the extraordinary, life-saving feats of bravery these everyday men and women performed on a daily basis, but it also allowed viewers a peak into the intricacies of their romantic and personal relationships, both at the stations and in their own homes. The second season will best be remembered for unforgettable episodes including the boys in blue searching for a cop-killing sniper, the raw competition between fire houses when they take time off to “play” football and trying to stop a-boy-who-cried-wolf 911 dialer from putting others at danger.

Knowing

Alex Proyas, the director of I, Robot and Dark City, has constructed another top-notch sci-fi thriller with Knowing — a tightly-wound glimpse into a bleak future. Nic Cage portrays a world-renowned professor and a loving, widowed father who must come face-to-face with the horrifying fact that there’s an apocalyptic end in store for all of mankind – and his son has something to do with it. When he discovers the terrifying predictions through a document filled with seemingly unrelated numbers, he uses all of his human powers to try to prevent the prophecies from coming true. An eerie and intense film experience (heightened on DVD and BD with deleted scenes, featurettes and commentary), Knowing will wrap itself around your psyche and refuse to loosen its grip until the very end.

Petticoat Junction: The Official Second Season

Petticoat Junction is a revered 1960s situation comedy that brought small-town (often Backwater) life to the metropolitan masses. A network kissin’ cousin of both The Beverly Hillbillies and Green Acres – you could often find the Clampett clan and the slummin’ Douglas signing in as guests at the Shady Rest Hotel (outside Hooterville). Often relying on stereotypes for its humour, Petticoat Junction maintained a mildly-naughty, yet chieflyinnocent sense of humour. What red-blooded male could ever forget the show’s opening title sequence where the three stunning Bradley sisters (boy-crazy Billie Jo, studious Bobbie Jo and tomboyish Betty Jo) – go skinny-dipping in the large railroad water tank belonging to the C.&F.W. Railroad? However, the real laughs were generated by the hotel’s owner, Kate Bradley (Bea Benaderet) and the get-rich-scheming Uncle Joe (Edgar Buchanan), who possesed the best comedic onscreen chemistry since Lucy and Ricky. Complete with all 36 of Season Two’s episodes, this five-disc set also includes a photo gallery and episode intros and interviews with Pat Woodall (Bobbie Jo) and Linda Kaye (Betty Jo).

Doctor Who: The Rescue/The Romans • Doctor Who: Attack of the Cybermen

These two mini-collections of episodes from Doctor Who’s early days on the BBC (which aired from 1963-1989, but was revived in 2005) are a must for any self-respecting collector. For those unfamiliar with the interplanetary hero, these episodes represent the ongoing story of the time-traveling “Time Lord” known as Doctor Who. The Rescue/The Romans double-feature stars William Hartnell (the third Doctor) as he jumps on his time-traveling spaceship, the TARDIS (a British 1950s police box), to save both present day and ancient civilizations. Attack of the Cybermen features the sixth Doctor Who, Colin Baker, as he attempts to transport the troublesome Cybermen back to their home planet. Both packages feature deleted scenes, featurettes, interviews and photo galleries.

NHL 2008-2009 Stanley Cup Champions

Ready to re-live the greatest moments from the NHL 2008-2009 regular season, playoffs and Stanley Cup Final? After the seven long months of regular season playing, (for a total of 82-games) and a playoff run loaded with drama, there was only one team left standing. One team that can be called champion – the Pittsburgh Penguins. Filled with hours of action-packed footage starring the Pens, the 08-09 Stanley Cup Champions, this exclusive collectible contains everything – from the season opener to the pivotal playoff games to the final buzzer in the Stanley Cup Final. Off-ice features and interviews with key players offers unique insight into the Penguins’ season and allows fans to experience this magical year again and again.

NOW ON BLU-RAY:

The Deep

This seductive thriller based on the best-selling book by Jaws author Peter Benchly, stars Nick Nolte and stunning and striking Jacqueline Bisset as a couple who relax and enjoy each other’s company by scuba-diving during a romantic holiday in Bermuda. However, their tranquil, idyllic life dramatically changes after they discover a hidden treasure. Soon after, they embark on a deadly underwater mission where they discover that the secrecies, legends and mysteries of the buried treasure go much deeper than the ocean floor. Special Features: Deleted and Extended scenes; “The Making of The Deep” featurette and select scenes from the three-hour Special Edition.