Teeming with edgy, in-your-face dialogue, controversial sex situations and tender family moments, Californication features David Duchovny (the former Agent Fox Mulder from the decade-long running series The X-Files) in the most hedonistic and narcissistic role of his career. “I don’t want people to judge it superficially or morally,” Duchovny says of Californication, the second season of which in now out on home video. “It’s not a show about a drug addict or a show about a sex addict or a show about all of these tags that you try to put on it because they’re spectacular or they might make good copy or they might enrage someone. I think it’s a comedy. It’s a human comedy. It’s an adult comedy. It’s not an adult acting like a six year old, which is what most comedies are like. It’s about an adult doing adult things.”
Check out Earl Dittman’s chat with Duchovny, and this week’s DVDs and Blu-rays, after the jump.
Boasting a fine balance of debauchery and moral values, in the critically-acclaimed Season Two of Californication, Duchovny returned to his Golden Globe award-winning role as downbeat, self-loathing writer Hank Moody. A New York transplant now living in California, Hank’s life is spinning gloriously out of control as he juggles his sex and drug addictions while raising his daughter Becca (Madeleine Martin) and trying to win back the love of his ex-girlfriend (Natascha McElhone). Complicating matters further is his straight-laced agent (Evan Handler), who is always trying to break Hank’s continuous case of writer’s block that’s preventing him from cranking out another hit novel (while he secretly envies Hank’s swinging bachelor ways).
You don’t look like you have aged at all since the early days of The X-Files. How do you stay looking so young? Do you have any secrets about not aging?
“No, I don’t have any. I eat well. I exercise. Take one-a-day vitamins. I don’t know. My brother and sister always look younger than they are. I think it’s probably just…”
Genetics?
“Yeah, it could be genetics. I mean, we look good, but then we die young.”
When you got the role of Hank Moody in Californication, did you start to go to the gym more since you have more revealing scenes?
“Yeah, yeah, yeah.”
What have you done to step it up more?
“I’d like you to rephrase your question to be, ‘Obviously you’ve been to the gym a lot.’” [Laughs]
What are you doing?
“Well, you know what, for the first time I started lifting a little weights. That’s it, but I always did something.”
Running or something?
“Just something — sports, swimming, yoga, boxing or basketball.”
No diet change?
“No, not really a diet change. With the kids it’s hard because they leave the macaroni and cheese out.”
Do you avoid the craft service table?
“Oh, I always did. I learned early on in X-Files, don’t eat the M&M’s.
What does Fox Mulder have in common with Hank Moody?
“Well, as you say, I think that Hank might be in a little better shape. I guess that they both want to know the truth and they both speak the truth. I haven’t really thought of it that way, but I guess that they both speak their minds to their detriment.”
After finishing The X-Files series, you had said you didn’t want to do TV anymore. But now you are getting ready to start your third season of Californication, a big cable hit. Why the change of heart?
“At the time that I left, the show was all-consuming and it felt like a box. But years later, I had done a bunch of other stuff that I enjoyed and proved to myself, not anybody else, that I could do certain other things. It wasn’t an issue anymore. And if you were saying, ‘Would you go back to doing the television show of The X-Files, I would never do that. The time commitment was crazy. Californication is a 12-week season. That’s one of the reasons I could go back to television because it wasn’t a ten-month job.”
With shows like Californication, do you think cable television has become a more creative and interesting field for actors?
“I think it’s been that way for a long time, especially with the advent of the cable channels. What you have on cable television, you don’t have to please as many people as network television or movies do. Movies, especially now they’re made to please people 13-80 men and women. How can you do that? What kind of thing can you make that’s going to do that? It’s going to be very general. Let’s say it’s the better version like Iron Man or Batman or I don’t know what you like, but that’s the better version of it. But still not very personal. Not small. Not human.”
In Hollywood terms, what kind of movies are being made on networks like Showtime?
“On cable television, you can really make the kind of work that used to be called independent cinema. Even independent cinema now is no longer independent cinema — unless you have your true independence. You don’t know who they are, neither do they, because that’s how independent they are. [Laughs] The so-called independents are really just person-generated, lower budget movies that the huge corporations decide to take a minor gamble on by putting up a five to ten million dollar budget, secretly hoping that it catches fire and makes them a shitload of money.”
Before Californication — and before the second X-Files movie — it was a well-known fact that you tried to distance yourself from the role of Mulder as much as you could. But, then, you did The X-Files: I Want To Believe sequel. Do you have a love/hate relationship with the show that made you famous?
“The love/hate has nothing to do with the actual content, the actual people, the actual anything. The love/hate had to do with me wanting to get on with the rest of my life, the rest of my career and when you think about it, that I did nine years and Gillian (Anderson) did ten, that’s a lifetime.”
There’s a couple of series that in their 15th season and over.
“Yeah, but there are no other dramas that keep the same characters that run that long. If you look at Law & Order or ER, they’re 20 years old or whatever they are, but they’re completely recast. So it’s just not something you see. You don’t see actors not get fatigued and not get frustrated in a drama where we’re working, cell phones or not, everyday for many, many hours playing the same characters. So it’s just natural to burnout. There was always love for the show and love for the character. There was never any hate for that.”
What was your first job in TV?
“I guess that it was Twin Peaks. It was great.”
On the DVD set, you like a pretty good-looking woman.
“You’re being kind.” [Laughs]
What’s been the most difficult or most physically demanding role you’ve done?
“Probably this one, the role of Hank.”
Why Hank?
“Because I have my shirt off and there is some physical comedy as it’s playing out in the series which I’m all for.”
Do you enjoy that?
“Very much, very much. That’s just like playing a game to me.”
What makes Californication different from all the other series on television?
“It’s the drama and the comedy and the graphic content and yet at it’s heart it’s lighthearted, even though it’s about a guy in despair possibly. It’s still got a light heart to it because at its heart it’s a comedy, and I think that’s what makes it not a sitcom. Even compared to like Sex and the City or something, that’s much lighter. This is a seemingly stark world, but it still has this buoyant heart which is what I want this character to be. There’s something fun loving about him. These are the kinds of things that I need to forget on Monday.”
Do you think that The X-Files would’ve been different if it had been on Showtime, the same network as Californication?
[Laughs] “Well, Mulder and Scully probably would have had sex right away and then the show wouldn’t have lasted.”
Are you anxious to see “How Sexy Are You?” Click here to see if you share Hank’s views on sex and romance. At the same time, catch a few clips from Californication: Season Two and watch David/Hank in action with his women. Have fun!
Californication: The Second Season — BONUS FEATURES: Interviews with cast members David Duchovny, Natascha McElhone, Pamela Adlon, Madeline Zima and Evan Handler, Audio commentary with Pamela Adlon and a never-before-seen featurette. EBRIDGE: Two episodes from The Tudors: Season Three and The United States of Tara: Season Two.
Life: Season Two
With his Zen-ish approach to crime-solving, Detective Charlie Crews (Damien Lewis) will always rank as one of the more eccentric and clever cops we’ll ever see on television (sorry Columbo and Monk). With the last of the labyrinth-like plots and story lines of its shamefully ignored Season Two (which was probably too clever for its own good) finally on DVD, you can now see for yourself how smart Life really was. Although it wasn’t renewed for a third season, we do get to see Crews — who spent 12 years in prison for three murders he didn’t commit — figure out who framed him. And, while we would have loved to see Crews and his partner Det. Reese (Sarah Shahi) apprehend more of L.A’s wrongdoers, Season Two is enough to let you experience the brighter side of Life. Bonus Features: Audio commentary with cast & crew; deleted scenes and gag reel.
Adventureland
Did you ever have the greatest time of your life at the worst, minimum-wage job on the planet? Well, you can relive every wonderful moment of those days through the eyes of director Greg Mottola in Adventureland, his follow-up to the box office smash Superbad. Set in 1987, Jessie Eisenberg plays a young man who wanted to spend his summer between high school and college just hanging. But, he needs money for school, so he takes a job at an old, bogus amusement park. Although he should hate it, after making some great friends and falling for the sweet and awesome-looking Em (Kristen Stewart), it turns into the best summer he’s ever had. Also starring Bill Hader, Kristen Wiig and Ryan Reynolds and a killer soundtrack with iconic ‘80s pop songs by The Cure, David Bowie, Crowded House, INXS and Lou Reed, Adventureland is a laugh-packed cinematic roller coaster ride. Bonus Features (DVD/BD): Deleted scenes, a making-of feature, audio commentary and Picture Music Collection. (BD Only) Three featurettes and a Digital Copy.
NCIS: The Sixth Season
Led by NCIS Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibb (Mark Harmon), the former Marine gunnery sergeant and his team of seasoned crime-solving agents for the Navy and Marines — DiNozzo (Michael Weatherly), McGee (Sean Murray) and Ziva (Cote de Pablo), forensic specialist Abby Sciuto (Pauley Perrette) and medical examiner “Ducky” (David McCallum) — spend another season traveling the globe, investigating murder, espionage and terrorism. If you can’t wait for the new spin-off series, NCIS: Los Angeles, beginning next month and starring Chris O’Donnell and LL Cool J, this six-disc collection includes the two-parter “Legend” episode that introduces NCIS fans to the new agents on the block. Bonus Features: Audio commentary on selected episodes and six featurettes.
Boot Camp
Do you have a troubled teen in your house that you just can’t make behave, no matter what you do? Well, why not send then to a state-of-the-art boot camp on the gorgeous tropical island of Fiji? Makes you wish you had given your parents the bird on a daily basis, doesn’t it? Think again. Sent to an island with no rules, no walls and no way out, a group of disobedient teens (led by Mila Kunis and Gregory Smith) immediately discover that the brochures their parents read were all lies. Instead of emotional therapy and positive reinforcement, they must endure physical and emotional abuse that leaves most of them brainwashed and close to death. So, they decide to revolt and bring down the evil camp director (Peter Stormare). A lush-looking action adventure/psychological thriller, Boot Camp is a unique take on controlling teenage rebellion that will have you thanking your lucky stars that your parents only sent you to band camp.
The Untouchables: Season 3, Volume 1
A true masterpiece in every sense of the word, this trendsetting crime drama, based on the real-life cases of Federal Agent Eliot Ness (Robert Stack) — the G-Man who brought down Mob kingpin Al Capone — chronicles Ness’s attempts to also put another mobster behind bars — Frank Nitti, who has begun to make heroin the drug of choice for party people trying to survive prohibition. While Capone’s Chicago-based 1920s booze empire may have been an easy target for the U.S. Prohibition Bureau’s top agent, trying to stop Nitti’s hoodlums from turning the streets crystal white with heroin is proves much harde. Narrated by columnist Walter Winchell, this 1961-1962 season of The Untouchables has long been considered the most exciting (and the most historically accurate) season of the influential series during its long-running primetime domination of the early-‘60s.
Scrubs: The Complete Eighth Season
It’s been nothing but fun for the doctors, nurses, patients and television-viewers at Sacred Heart Hospital, one heath care facility where nothing is sacred. Since its inception, actors Zach Braff as Dr. John “J.D.” Dorian and John C. McGinley as Dr. Cox, along with a funny ensemble cast that also includes Donald Faison, Sarah Chalk and Judy Reyes, have all kept Scrubs a TV favorite; wacky portrayals and whip-smart dialogue have kept audiences in stitches. Season Eight — which includes guest appearance from Elizabeth Banks, Scott Foley, Christa Miller, Thomas Cavanaugh Courteney Cox and Sesame Street’s Elmo — is no exception. In fact, with 119 episodes packed solid with its trademark surrealistic humor, this season of Scrubs (which marks the end of Braff’s full-time status on the series) reaches a fever pitch with its hysterical and heart-warming two-part season finale. Bonus Features: Intern Webisodes, Bahamas featurette, alternate lines, bloopers and deleted scenes.
American Son
A hit at 2008’s Sundance Film Festival and a contender for the Grand Jury Award, American Son is the heart-wrenching story of a young Marine who must made the biggest decision of his life. Featuring a compelling performance by Nick Cannon, American Son opens after 19-year-old Marine Mike Holland (Cannon) completes basic training at Camp Pendleton and is given a four-day leave so that he can spend Thanksgiving with his family and friends before being shipped off to his first mission to Iraq. A tour de force about a young man’s uncertain coming-of-age, the unflinching and uncompromising American Son focuses on a young man who is torn between his past and future. And, like many before him, in just 96 hours, he must decide whether to avoid the Iraqi battlefields and stay a boy or heading off to war where he will certainly become a man. Bonus Features: Deleted scenes with optional commentary, featurette and audio commentary with the filmmakers.
NFL San Francisco 49ers: Five Greatest Games Super Bowl Victories
With the 2009-2010 football season just around the corner, it’s time to gear-up for what promises to be a great season, and you can start it off by experiencing the A-games played by the NFL’s two greatest teams — the San Francisco 49ers Five and the New York Giants. On the five-disc San Francisco 49ers Five Greatest Games: Super Bowl Victories collector’s set, fans can witness the excitement of the original network broadcasts of every San Francisco 49ers Super Bowl game all together for the first time. From NFL hero Jerry Rice leading the 49ers to the most points in Super Bowl history and Joe Montana earning three MVP awards to Steve Young setting the all-time high of six Super Bowl touchdown passes, Niners buffs can relive the moments that turned them into the fans they are today.
NFL New York Giants: 10 Greatest Games
Big Blues fans can recall, with excitement and joy, the best games of their favorite team with NFL New York Giants 10 Greatest Games. A ten-disc collectible set, this box set gives instant access to many of the amazing moments in team history. From Phil Simms to Jeff Hostetler to Eli Manning, Giants fans will get the chance to witness all three quarterbacks lead their teams to Super Bowl glory. If that’s not enough, they can witness Lawrence Taylor’s domination as the Big Blue Wrecking Crew impose their will on the 49ers and Redskins and allow the Giants to outscore their opponents by a combined 66-3 on their way to a victory in Super Bowl XXI. These are games you wont forget.
One Tree Hill: The Complete Sixth Season
A prime-time phenomenon among young adults, One Tree Hill is filled with several intersecting story lines that deal with everything from sex and romance to careers in fashion, athletics and the music business. OTH kicks off its sixth year with a whirlwind of unresolved plots, but even the newest of viewers will find themselves easily up in the drama. The series features a cast including such beautiful people as Sophia Bush, Chad Michael Murray, Daphne Zuniga, James Lafferty and Bethany Joy Galeotti. Bonus Features: Unaired Scenes, four featurettes (from pieces on recreating the 1940s in Episode 11, the new sport of SlamBall, the One Tree Hill Celebrity Soundtrack and Murray, Galeotti and Lafferty directing their first episodes), commentary on two episodes by series creator Mark Schwahn and key cast & crew and Gag Reel.
House: The Complete Fifth Season
Unlike some actors who grow dull and boring or even experience burn-out after playing the lead character in television series for more than a handful of years, multiple-award-winning British actor Hugh Laurie is actually transforming the cantankerous, drug-addicted Dr. Gregory House into an even more fascinating and charismatic douche-bag. In a season where the doctor is forced to deal with emotional chaos as all personal and professional boundaries begin to blur all you can really do is love the damaged doctor. Joining Laurie for this fifth outing are such talented and diverse guest stars as Zeljko Ivanek (Damages), Mos Def (The Italian Job) and Carl Reiner (Ocean’s 13). Bonus Features: The featurette “House Meets A Milestone: The 100th Episode” and commentary with the filmmakers.
NOW ON BLU-RAY
Duplicity
What happens when you team up American beauty Julia Roberts with debonair Englishman Clive Owen in a funny and charming story of two former spies — who are now business operatives in a secret, intimate relationship — on opposite sides of a major a big corporate war? You get Duplicity, a cat-and-mouse thriller, a hot-pursuit actioner and a charming little love story. Directed by Michael Clayton helmsman Tony Gilroy, this is a fun, action-packed thriller for you and a sweet, get-ready-to-smooch romance for her; just right for those candlelit date nights at home. Bonus Features: Feature commentary with director/writer Tony Gilroy & editor/co-producer John Gilroy and BD-LIVE!
Smallville: The Complete Eighth Season
In Season Eight of Smallville, the sight of the red-jacketed, blue-shirted Clark Kent (Tom Welling) is becoming a rare one, especially since his Superman destiny draws closer. That’s right. Clark is no longer a teen — he’s a man living in Metropolis and working with Lois Lane and Jimmy Olson at the Daily Planet. But becoming an adult comes with a Man-of-Steel-sized price, particularly if you’re originally from the planet Krypton. Learning about love, dating and the secrets behind the female mystique are the least of Clark’s problems. Somebody’s on a mission to kill him, and it happens to be Davis Bloome — Doomsday. There’s so much action going on so many state-of-the-art effects, fans won’t want to miss a single thrill-packed moment of the 22 Episodes on the six-disc DVD and three-disc Blu-ray. Bonus Features: Unaired scenes, cast & crew commentaries, and several never-before-seen featurettes including “Smallville’s Doomsday: The Making of a Monster.”
Fighting
Thanks to his career-making performances in Step Up, G.I. Joe: The Rise Of Cobra and Public Enemies, model-turned-actor Channing Tatum is already being called Hollywood’s hottest new “It Guy.” In the Dito Montiel-directed Fighting, Channing portrays a seemingly naïve small-town boy who arrives in the Big Apple without a dime in his pocket. He meets up with scam artist (Terrence Howard) who talks him into making big bucks as an underground street figher. But when he’s ready to quit, giving up his gig as a take-no-prisoners brawler is not easy, and he soon finds himself fighting for his own life. Bonus Features: Deleted Scenes, D-Box Motion Enabled, BD-LIVE
Lie To Me: Season One
Inspired by the scientific discoveries of Dr. Paul Ekman, a real-life specialist who can read clues embedded in the human face, body and voice to expose both the truth and lies in criminal investigations, Lie To Me is an intelligent and humour-tinged crime drama. With Tim Roth as Dr. Cal Lightman, the world’s leading deception expert, he and his team of lie experts — Kelli Willliams, Brendan Hines and Monica Raymund — are constantly assisting federal law enforcement, government agencies and local police with their most difficult cases. Absolutely fascinating and downright gripping, Lie To Me is dramatic television at its most creative and daring. Bonus Features: Four featurettes.
