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Ashland Ski Area shut down again by lack of snow Police Reports Chief Holderness retiring, wants to help find successor Ringing in the new year Howling good time at a wolf moon conclave Education Ashland schools to implement chickenpox precautions In the new year, be sure you have your 'ICE' file ready Walker students show creative chops at Invention Convention Teacher's Tips: Second — and third — chances are there for students For a friend: AHS seniors team up to help former fellow student Environment New TAP pumps bolster Ashland's options Most residents speak against gas pipeline proposed for Southern Oregon Home Help: Make your new house feel like home Business Ashland Safeway becomes Haggen's in March Ride & Drive: 2015 Honda Crosstour Dear Monty: Best start for 1st-time homebuyers Ride & Drive: 2015 Volkswagen Jetta TDI Silvio Calabi: Infiniti Q50 offers business-class driving Politics and elections Chief Holderness retiring, wants to help find successor State certifies recount showing failure of GMO-labeling measure State News Police officer shoots armed driver near Reedsport Nation - World Obama makes Maduro’s ‘insolent Yankees’ line harder to sell Obituaries Death Notices Death Notices Local radio pioneer Howard LaMere, 64, dies at Ashland home Death Notices Death Notices Shareable Looking back: Do you remember 2014’s biggest stories? 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Ashland Ski Area shut down again by lack of snow ... Ashland Calendar ... Ringing in the new year ... Mt. Ashland Ski Area shut down again by lack of snow ... Ashland Calendar ... Ringing in the new year ... Interview: Josh Brolin goes bananas in 'Inherent Vice' Comment By Ed Symkus More Content Now DailyTidings.com By Ed Symkus More Content Now Posted Dec. 31, 2014 @ 9:40 am By Ed Symkus More Content Now Posted Dec. 31, 2014 @ 9:40 am » Social News In recent years, Hollywood producers have been picking Josh Brolin as their go-to guy when they need someone to play a tough cop. Detective Trupo in “American Gangster” (2007) and Sgt. John O’Mara in “Gangster Squad” (2013) come to mind. With “Inherent Vice,” based on Thomas Pynchon’s hilariously complicated satirical noir novel about L.A. weirdoes in 1970, Brolin takes on a different kind of cop role. He gives us Lt. Detective Christian F. Bjornsen — you can just call him Bigfoot, the nickname he earned due to his penchant for kicking down doors instead of knocking. Bigfoot is a no-nonsense cop with a lousy attitude. If he doesn’t want to do something, he won’t do it. (He doesn’t want to play by the rules.) If he doesn’t like you, he’ll be sure to let you know. (He doesn’t like the story’s pot-smoking private eye protagonist played by Joaquin Phoenix.) Brolin, with a strong assist from writer-director Paul Thomas Anderson, makes the sharp-dressing Bigfoot both funny and menacing, which is quite an achievement. Speaking by phone from Los Angeles last week, he was laid back and obviously proud of the character he helped to create. Ed Symkus: Your career is going in some really interesting directions these days, with “Men in Black 3,” “Oldboy,” the “Sin City” sequel and that short bit of playing Thanos in “Guardians of the Galaxy.” Josh Brolin: Yeah, it feels good. I like the people that I’m working with a lot. I like these stories. I just did “Everest” and “Sicario,” and I feel good about both of them. I feel really good about this trajectory. ES: How did the part of Bigfoot come to you? JB: Paul (Thomas Anderson) called me directly, and said, “I may have some work for you.” I said, “Great! Can I see you when I get back?” Because I was leaving the next evening. He said, “I would actually love for you to read [the script] right away, and I’ll come and see you in the morning.” So I read it very quickly, which was useless (laughs). But I got a general overview of what it was. I knew of Pynchon but I didn’t know his work. So I got to hear it through Paul, which was perfect. Because not only was Paul extremely intimate with the book, he was incredibly impassioned by it, and I loved this character Bigfoot. I said yes right away. ES: So you’ve got the book, the script, this director, and your own input. How do you start putting Bigfoot together? JB: You start pulling from wherever you can, because you don’t know what you’re going to do. A lot of times, you start thinking about people you know that are similar. You start doing research, looking at pictures, writing things down. You read the book, slowly; you read the book again, slowly. You write down more notes, and one day something clicks. ES: Please introduce the Bigfoot that appears on the screen. JB: He’s somebody who’s fighting to have an impact. With the name Bigfoot, because he’s known for breaking down people’s doors with his foot, he wants to make an impact so badly, he has to resort to making a physical impact. He doesn’t care about the subject matter at hand. He’s out for his own fame. He wants to be noticed. That’s why he’s doing episodes of “Adam-12” and why he’s dressing up as a hippie on TV ads even though he hates the idea of hippies. He’s stuck with this image of himself which, when you go in his house, is completely turned upside down because you see him totally emasculated by his wife. She might as well have had a whip. ES: That scene was funny but it made me uncomfortable. I was laughing and squirming at the same time. Is that what you were looking for? JB: I love those dichotomies. With Tarantino, I find myself doing the same thing. I’m sitting there smiling and then I see my body language is all contracted. So I enjoy that and I enjoy playing that. It was fun, and the language in the script was fun. You have this great contrasting thing between this guy who isn’t the man he wants to be or the man he wants people to perceive him as, yet you have this kind of wacky, Beckett-like dialogue that you get to have fun with. Here’s this guy who doesn’t live up to the language he’s speaking (laughs). That’s great! ES: You spend a lot of time eating in the film. What did you have more of, pancakes or chocolate-covered bananas? I had tons of pancakes, but it was more the bananas than the pancakes. The pancakes were tough, just because I kept dipping them in syrup. So there was a sugar high where I would have to stop the scene because I was shaking so bad. But the bananas — I think we clocked 44 bananas in one day. So I won’t be looking for bananas any time soon (laughs). “Inherent Vice” opens Jan. 9. By Ed Symkus More Content Now DailyTidings.com By Ed Symkus More Content Now Posted Dec. 31, 2014 @ 9:40 am » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. calendar Connect with DailyTidings.com Facebook Twitter RSS Back to top Reader Services Reader Services home Subscriptions Subscriber controls Contact us Submissions Photos Events Letters to the editor Corrections Alerts Email alerts RSS feeds Text Alerts Advertise Media Kit Home Products and services Ad rates Advertising contacts Mail Tribune Daily Tidings The Nickel Shop Our Valley Blogs Stay Informed Email newsletter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Your privacy is important, read our privacy policy. © Copyright 2015 Local Media Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 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