Joana Metrass Connected With JCVD Without Ever Speaking

I was given the opportunity to speak with Joana Metrass to promote her latest film We Die Young. A film coming out March 1st 2019 about a war veteran who tries to help a boy and his younger brother when they get mixed up with a vicious drug lord and his gang. 

After a few attempts to clear up the static on the phones we were finally able to have a great conversation about her career and upcoming projects. This is the partial transcript of our interview together. 

Chris: What was it like being on set and working with JCVD?

Joana: It was incredible and an honor. I did the audition without knowing JCVD would be in the film. When i got picked i found out and was very nervous to meet him. He was very humble and we had a lot of fun. It was great.

Chris: So when you found out you were going to be working with him. How did you approach and prepare?

Joana: I watched one of his recent films. It was great. He has a great monolog. I was really excited. Jean Claude Van johnson. There was a film before the show, that's what I watched. It's a parody of himself. It was an incredible film.

Chris: You speak about the monolog. That was an interesting thing about We Die Young. JCVD would not have any dialog. When i watched those moments it was your time to shine. You brought the emotion out. That's got to be a rough thing. How did it make you feel to do the majority of heavy lifting of dialog?

Joana: I was a challenge. We both couldn't hide behind words and use emotion. It had to be in our eyes not the words. It was incredible. I felt he did the heavy lifting. He had to communicate things without speaking and that was incredible work. We had to discover things and it brought us close to each other. It was a great journey.

Chris: I imagined funny things behind the scene where he stayed in character. Did he do things like that and not speak a lot to stay in character.

Joana: Once we would walk down the street sharing a piece of bread and connect without speaking a word. We became more fluent in that language. 

Chris: Without giving away any spoilers. The movie is about gang violence. Were you on location in Washington DC?

Joana: no we actually shot this in bulgaria. They did a great job. They had real images of areas and how they really looked and were able to replicate it very well. Our director was amazing and passionate and made the impossible possible. 

Chris: was there a lot of talking about MS 13 and the political environment?

Joana: we all did a lot of research. We brought what we had and knew and talked a lot about it. Our mission was to bring a different way of telling the story and not just make it black and white. We tried to understand why a kid would join a gang and not just say someone was bad for doing it. We tried to speak of every side and why people would do the things they do. My character was completely against the gangs and wants to stay apart from them. Not everyone in that area was about or supported a gang and a lot of people are different. People are victims who have to live that life everyday so we have to understand and not generalize. 

Chris: That was well portrayed. I have one last fun question. You've done work with Henry Cavil and Armie Hammer. Cavil cast as Superman and Hammer was cast as batman before ben affleck. Is there a dream character you'd like to play or a superhero you'd like to play. 

Joana: I'm completely in love with wonder woman. I love the way they are setting up the film with a female director. I wish I was doing that cause it looks awesome and so much fun. 

Chris: If you couldn't be wonder woman her self you should be one of the amazons.

Joana: My final project in drama school was to play an amazon I would love to play one again. 

Chris: It was a lot of fun talking to you.

Joana: Thank you. I will try to connect my social media to you.

Chris: why should we take a look at this movie

Joana: It's very excited and powerful and makes you look at things in a different. It went to select theaters and will be out on demand march first.


You can listen to the full interview on our Youtube Channel.

Directed by 

Lior Geller

Writing Credits  

Lior Geller	...	(screenplay)
Lior Geller	...	(story) &
Andrew Friedman	...	(story)
Lior Geller Jean Claude Van Damme, David Castaneda, Elijah Rodriguez, Joana Metrass

You Don't Have To Watch Sicario To Understand The Sequel Coming June 29th

Hello Consumers,
Before I begin I would like to give a spoiler alert warning. If you have not scene sicario day of saldo then this might be an article to read until you do.

The one thing that caught my attention was the fact that this movie started off taking another Jab at Muslim Americans or just Muslims in general. dealing with the Mexican cartels which is the main focal of the first and second movie was enough to move the story along, make it compelling and make it interesting all the way throughout the third Act. but linking cartels with the war on terror  sends signals to a lot of Americans. for good or for bad our relationship with Mexico is ever-changing. There is a lot in this movie to make you field that this movie is a pro Trump or Pro conservative, anti-terrorist agenda field picture. The problem that I had with that was it became a subplot and the rest of the movie was a means to an end.

Using the war on terror war on Extreme Islam as some people call them is creating an environment where some Americans are treating people who happen to be Muslim Americans with the stain and distrust. The fact that the film started off with making the attack on American soil caused by Muslim terrorist and then completely going into the Mexican cartel angle for the duration of 99% of the movie was a little jarring. It was as if the movie was purposely trying to make me more afraid or angry at Muslims and Mexicans equally. I'm not saying that cartels and terrorist have never worked together before or will never work together again but it just did not seem fitting for this type of film. With everything that's going on politically that part of this movie just felt like blood in the water that was already boiling hot.

Once the terrorist angle was out of the way and the focus was on the cartels being pinned against each other the movie became exactly what the first sicario was, extremely mind-blowing. All of the scenes where are the main characters work in conflict was gripping like I've never felt in a long time. You could hear a pin drop during the silent points of the movie. Josh Brolin and Benicio del Toro gave a high-quality impactful performance. these two men work very well together on screen. Their friendship on screen is very believable. I remember Benicio del Toro in the movie The Way of the gun and I thought there was very good chemistry there as well. it reminded me a lot of that. Josh Brolin has an unexplainable it Factor that makes you want him to succeed whether he's the villain or hero.

By the end of the film there is no delusion whether or not there will be an attempt at 1/3 sicario. Benicio del Toro is gearing up 2 find the people who gave the order that took away his family. this sequel made the plot from the original film thicken. It's not enough that a lawyer turned Hitman was able to avenge his family by killing the man and family that had his family killed but now it seems that there is a greater evil out there who was pulling all the strings. Halfway through the movie there was a Breaking Point in the cooperation of Brolin and del Toro's characters where they had to go at odds with each other. but I do believe that if a third film is developed there is a lot of space to bring these two back together based on the actions both men took that could be seen as going against their primary directives that would put them at odds with their commanding forces.

There was no Emily Blunt and part of the time I was asking myself I wonder where she is and how she feels about any of these events if her character is even aware of it. I would like to see her return for the third film. maybe she could be the only person to bring these two men in. I want you to see this film but before you go if you have not watched the car your part one in a while go see it again right before you see the sequel all plays like one giant movie. You don't have to see sicario part 1 to understand it sequel but it makes the experience that much more impactful on a grander scale.

I apologize for my lack of energy in the video review posted on YouTube, it was extremely late when I got home to record and the equipment was not cooperating. Despite that, I hope you enjoy it, become a subscriber to the channel and blog, send question.
Till next time consumers.

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Narcos Season 2 Premiere The Binging Begins Again

I'm sitting in my living room. Its 2:13 am CST. I've already begun the episode as Escobar walks to freedom. I'm excited to be bingeing again. This show just like the last few that have premiered is one of Netflix's diamonds in the rough. Once I've completed my binge I'll do a video recap. We will talk spoilers.

Prepare Yourselves Bingers!

This weekend belongs to us.

I see the Escobar as the Tony Soprano of the streaming world. The only difference is Escobar was a real dude. Still, feels appropriate.