Stars, Tequila & Philosophy at Killer Joe Gala

Killer Joe had a gala screening Monday night in New York with stars Matthew McConaughey and Gina Gershon on-hand along with Oscar-winning director William Friedkin who had some choice words about gun violence, the law and their relationship to movies. His film, which will be released this weekend, described by its official website as a "Totally twisted deep-fried Texas redneck trailer park murder story" received an often-dreaded NC-17 by the MPAA for "graphic disturbing content involving violence and sexuality and a scene of brutality." McConaughey and Friedkin weighed in on violence and its sources post-TDKR tragedy at the event, hosted by the Cinema Society.

"Well, it’s a lot longer answer than I can give you now, but I will just say that is, one thing that we shouldn’t be saying in society when something like that happens anymore, we shouldn’t be saying ‘unbelievable,'" McConaughey told THR at the event. "It happens, and we don’t know the answer to it right now, but there’s definitely, people now more than ever, people can make a very murky line between reality and illusion." Continuing he added, "They can make a very murky line between the games that are played and civilization, without any thought of consequences at times…"

But Friedkin gave a more emphatic response to the violence that took place at the final installment in Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy, saying the Joker references made by the accused gunman James Holmes was simply an act. "He was not insane. He premeditated that. He bought 6000 rounds of ammunition, he was eligible to buy guns and ammo, he set it up, he booby trapped his room…"

Violence, insanity pleas and societal ills aside, the event, which was also co-hosted by Bally and DeLeón for LD Entertainment's Killer Joe was a typically pleasant affair. The after-party took place at nightspot No. 8 and DeLeón tequila flowed. Also attending the event were Tracy Letts who wrote the play and screenplay for the film and other brass from the movie including producers Christopher Woodrow and Molly Conners, Mickey Liddell (CEO, LD Entertainment), David Dinerstein (President, LD Entertainment).

Among the other notable guests in attendance were: Mélanie Laurent, Alan Cumming, Ethan Coen, Roseanne Barr, John Stamos, Graham Nash (Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young), Camila Alves, S. Epatha Merkerson, Courtney Love, Rinko Kikuchi (Babel), Michael Shannon (Boardwalk Empire), Isiah Whitlock (Law & Order SVU), Tony Danza, Russell Simmons, Tiki & Traci Barber, Billy Magnussen, John Cameron Mitchell, Alex Karpovsky (Girls), Stavros Niarchos, Jessica Hart, Rachel Roy, Nicole Trunfio, Dan Abrams, Debbie Bancroft, Daniel Benedict, David Zinczenko, Nicky Hilton and Cinema Society founder Andrew Saffir.

Movieline will have a full interview with director William Friedkin soon.

[Source: THR, Cinema Society]

[Photo: Nick Hunt/Patrick McMullan Co., courtesy of Cinema Society]