The Sex Tape Junket- My Trip To LA for the #SexTape Premiere!

*Disclosure: The-Mommyhood-Chronicles was not compensated for the following post. Opinions are all our own. The cost of the 2 day trip however was covered by Sony including airfare and hotel expenses.*

I’m Liza from Cira’s Lyrics. While Melissa was welcoming her adorable new baby girl last week, I was covering her press trip to LA for her. Sony invited select bloggers out for a viewing of the Sex Tape movie (with Cameron Diaz and Jason Segal) before it hits theaters on July 18th. We were also able to interview director Jason Kasdan, as well as actors Cameron Diaz and Jason Segel!

Wednesday night we headed out to the screening of Sex Tape at the AMC Century City 15.

Let me preface the rest of this post by saying that while the movie is Rated R, if you are easily offended by language – or sexual situations – this is not the movie for you. The opening of the movie was a little surprising to me, I do have to admit. I did however, find it hilarious as well.

What is Sex Tape about?

When Jay (Jason Segel) and Annie (Cameron Diaz) first got together, their romantic connection was intense – and though they’re still very much in love, ten years and two kids have cooled the passion. To kick things up a notch, they decide – why not? – to make a video of themselves trying out every position in THE JOY OF SEX in one marathon three-hour session. It seems like a great idea – until they discover that their most private video is no longer private. With their reputations on the line, they know they’re just one click away from being laid bare to the world… but in their race to reclaim their video, they’ll find that it will expose even more than they bargained for.

Part of what I loved is that Cameron Diaz’s character Annie is a mom blogger. In the beginning she is writing about how in love she still is with her husband, but they don’t have the same kind of time they did before kids. As a blogger and mom of 3 kids, married 10 years myself, that really struck a chord with me.

Annie’s blog is on the verge of being sold for profit to a toy company run by the Piper Brothers and she is warned against posting anything in the future like post about sex. After filming themselves trying out all the positions in The Joy Of Sex, Jay decides to watch it once then erase it … but there is a malfunction with “the cloud” sending the video out to several iPads he has given away to friends and family. They do not realize it until someone sends him an anonymous text – that they know – and tries to blackmail him.

The result is hilarious.

Jay: “It went up, it went up to the cloud!”

Annie: “You can’t get it down from the cloud?!”

Jay: “Nobody understands the cloud! It’s a Mystery!”

Jay and Annie spend a wild night running around, trying to get back each and every copy – as well as to find out who is blackmailing them in the process. Their best friends Robby and Tess are played by Rob Corddry and Ellie Kemper. Rob Lowe plays Hank, CEO of the Piper Brothers and recipient of one of Jay’s many iPads. How Annie and Jay get into his house, and what happens while they are there, had the entire theater laughing. You won’t want to miss the cameo by Jack Black either!

Thursday afternoon we were broken up into small groups at the Four Seasons Hotel and had the opportunity to first interview director Jake Kasdan, then Cameron Diaz and Jason Segel together.

Jake told us that the biggest challenge in filming the movie, was the daily challenge figuring out what you are doing moment to moment. Sometimes a lot of sexualization can overwhelm people’s ability to laugh … it was trying to figure out how that balance would work and taking away the discomfort from the audience. He said that it was important to him that it felt like a couple at home … at it’s core feels like a couple in their house trying to activate their love life.

I have to admit I found it really cool getting to sit and talk with a director about how he chose to film things. I was able to ask him how much was improvised versus what was in the script to begin with. He explained that he likes improve, because you get better acting. While there was a lot of improve in the process, the finished movie is very close to the original script. (The cameo with Jack Black was surprisingly not at all improvised.)

Getting to then sit down with Cameron Diaz and Jason Segal was also pretty awesome. I asked them the first question. I explained that my kids had been in a movie and I found that some of the best parts came from what happened behind the scenes, whether it made it in or not … I asked if they had a favorite memory from filming that might not have made it in. They both laughed and said yes, while they were filming the clip shots for the college sex montage, not everything made it in. They improvised a part with Cameron on Jason wearing a sombrero, whipping Jason while he yells “I’m not your f$%#* burro Annie!” Everyone on the set was hysterical.

When Cameron was asked about the now famous Esquire interview – about not having kids – she told us:

That’s not what I said unfortunately. I never said it.

I said I haven’t had children thus far.

The reason I haven’t had kids so far is because I realize when you have children it takes up a large part of your life and for whatever reason – there’s a lot of reasons why I haven’t had children till now – and I’ve always said if I wanted to have children in my life prior to this I would have had children … but I’m not opposed to children … I am totally open to having children in my life … I believe that children come into your life if they are meant to.

She went on to say that she has 3 nieces, a nephew, and several of her friend’s children she is close to and she is part of the tribe and the village that brings up children and that she is blessed to be a part of these villages.

Getting back to talking about the movie, Cameron explained that their characters Annie and Jay really love each other, know that they married the right people, and are not having a hard time. They are just having a hard time having this part of their relationship.

Jason added that:

For married couples who have been together a long time, from my experience there are couples that are both sitting feeling separately like they both wish they were having more sex – and neither of them are having that discussion.

So I hope that when people see the movie, there is an interesting phenomenon the car ride home where they laugh a little bit about how crazy it was and the adventure of it all … then there is a little bit of silence and then this real discussion begins.

Sex Tape is being released in theaters nationwide on July 18th. Go see it!!