“The Best and the Brightest” kept me laughing the whole time! It goes to show parents will do just about anything to find the best education for their child . The cast did an amazing job with their crazy antics and lines. However, Bridget Regan stole the show! She did a fantastic job as the “crazy ex-girlfriend”! I believe Bridget showed us how diverse she can be in her roles (Robin is very different than Kahlan). Any Bridget fan (or any comedy film lover) will immensely enjoy this film! Go get it! (Thanks again to Lindsey for mine!)

~J.Grace

Many thanks to Jess for her infinite patience with us! There is a bit of a story that led to her not getting the DVD ahead of time as I had intended, but instead a few days after it was released. The best laid plans and all that.

Secondly, we have another copy of The Best and the Brightest to give away! As we promised, this contest is only open to non-US residents. (See? We didn’t forget about you.) Want to win? Leave a comment below telling us what project you’d like to see Bridget take on in the future be it more comedy, Wonder Woman, or something else entirely. Contest will close Monday September 5 at midnight and we will announce the winner on Tuesday.

For those of you without a DVD, how would you like to win a copy and do a little press for the movie as well?
Step 1) Follow us on Twitter: @hbe
Step 2) Simply tweet the following: “@BestNBrightest starring @BridgetRegan is out today on DVD! Want to win a copy? Follow @hbe and RT! http://bit.ly/nzJw17″ Or click here to have the status filled in for you.

The contest will end on Wednesday night, 8/17, at midnight central US time and we’ll notify the winner via DM as soon as we can. Contest is open to anyone currently residing on planet Earth. (The shipping to Mars is WAY too expensive. Sorry Martian peeps.) Good luck and happy tweeting!

To enter, simply leave a comment below, one entry per person. We’ll leave the comments open from now until midnight Saturday, July 30, and we’ll announce the winner on Sunday. Because there is a time issue involved, this contest is open to US residents only. (We’ll do another giveaway for our international peeps at a later date.) Good luck!

“THE BEST AND THE BRIGHTEST,” STARRING NEIL PATRICK HARRIS AND AMY SEDARIS, HITS VOD, DIGITAL & DVD ON AUGUST 16
All-Star Comedy Cast Also Includes Bonnie Somerville, Christopher McDonald, John Hodgman, Peter Serafinowicz and Kate Mulgrew

07.05.2011– Following sold-out grassroots screenings and a theatrical release in June 2011, THE BEST AND THE BRIGHTEST, a new comedy directed by Josh Shelov and co-written by Shelov and Michael Jaeger, makes its way to VOD, digital platforms and DVD on August 16.

Featuring an all-star cast including Neil Patrick Harris (How I Met Your Mother), Bonnie Somerville (The Ugly Truth), Amy Sedaris (Strangers with Candy), Christopher McDonald (Harry’s Law), Kate Mulgrew (Star Trek: Voyager), John Hodgman (The Daily Show with Jon Stewart), Peter Serafinowicz (Couples Retreat), Jenna Stern (Game Change) and Bridget Regan (Legend of the Seeker), THE BEST AND THE BRIGHTEST offers a refreshingly “adult” twist on contemporary parenting.

Compared by Movie City News to “A Fish Called Wanda” and “Ruthless People”, THE BEST AND THE BRIGHTEST is a modern-day farce set in the world of New York City’s elite private schools. The Jasinskis (Harris, Somerville) are a middle-class couple from Delaware who move to New York City with their five-year-old daughter for a last chance at “the big time.” Upon arrival, they experience a big problem: they can’t get their daughter into a single private kindergarten. The couple desperately turns to kindergarten consultant, Sue Lemon (Sedaris), who recommends Jeff pose as a high-profile poet to gain kudos from the VIPs (Hodgman, McDonald and Mulgrew) who are deciding between two child candidates for the last coveted slot at Coventry Day School.

An innocent ploy quickly turns into sexual blackmail and creative persuasion as the Jasinskis battle to enroll their child. The film also stars Nina Lisandrello (The Bleeding House), and Emily Tremaine (Collar).

THE BEST AND THE BRIGHTEST premiered at the 2010 Philadelphia International Film Festival and was shown in more than 200 movie theaters across the country in “sneak peek” screenings, prior to its theatrical premiere in June 2011 in New York and Los Angeles.

THE BEST AND THE BRIGHTEST is directed by Shelov and co-written by Shelov and Jaeger; produced by Robert and Patricia Weiser (High Treason Pictures), Nicholas Simon, and Declan Baldwin (Big Indie Pictures). Richard Schiffrin (Wellfleet Phantasy Productions) is the executive producer.

In LA:
Laemmle’s Sunset 5
8000 Sunset Blvd.
West Hollywood, 90046
310-478-3836
Tickets: http://www.laemmle.com/viewtheatre.php?thid=2

In New York:
Quad Cinema
34 West 13th Street
New York, NY 10011
(212) 255-8800
Tickets: http://www.movietickets.com/house_detail.asp?house_id=216

And, if you’re not in New York or Los Angeles, (and even if you are) you can always pre-order the movie on DVD over on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004QPOVB4

And to those of you who found your way here from YouTube because of the interview, hi! (And, of course, HUGE thanks to Peter Dee for the mention!)

Click read more for a transcript of the interview.

Bridget: Hi! It’s Bridget!

Peter Dee: Hey, how are you?

Bridget: I’m good, how are you?

PD: I’m doing great, thanks for talking with us today.

Bridget: Oh, I’m happy to.

Peter: So, you have a lot going on right now.

Bridget: Yeah, I’ll say.

Peter: So on top of being a new mom, congrats on that.

Bridget: Thank you

Peter: You have this awesome movie coming out, the Best and the Brightest

Bridget: Yes, yes

Peter: So tell us a little bit about that.

Bridget: I, um, in between seasons of Seeker, I went back to New York and I wanted to work on something else. Just, you know, to do something different. And I actually really wanted to do comedy and this movie sort of fell into my lap and I met with the director writer Josh Shelov. It was such a funny part for me to do. It’s just the exact opposite of Kahlan and Seeker, everything, it couldn’t have been more different. It was also working with a pedigree cast, Neil Patrick Harris, Amy Sedaris, Jack Hodgman, Chris McDonald you know, it was just like incredible comedic actors that I’ve admired for a long time. The movie is set in New York and it centers around Neil’s character and his wife who’s played by Bonnie Summerville and they just moved to New York City and they’re trying to get their daughter into private school, who’s about to enter kindergarden. And I don’t know if you know anything about.. [Frankie cries] There’s my little one crying right now. And you know, I don’t know if you know anything about private school in New York City but it’s apparently insanely competitive. So they enlist the help of Amy Sedari’s character who’s kind of known as a sort of underground get in the backdoor, sneaky, the person who helps people get their kids into school. So they’re basically willing to do anything. And at one point [Frankie cries] Neil’s character has to appease Christopher McDonald’s character. He has to go out on the town and he’s supposed to go out with a girlfriends, not his wife, like a mistress or something. To play along with this he kind of begrudgingly calls my character, Robin, who is as far as he knows an actress who [Frankie cries] kind of plays this role for this night. Robin’s bit delusional and a little bit crazy so she takes it a little bit more seriously than she should. Yeah, it was a lot of fun.

Peter: I love this role because [Frankie cries] you jumped from riding horses and sword fighting and kicking ass to kicking ass in a different way.

Bridget: Yeah, well the first year I went to set I was shooting the park scene with Neil and it was totally crazy because I had just gone from 9 months so I’d shot 22 episodes of Seeker. It was kind of like an out of body experience, you know? I was like what am I doing here? But it was good for me, a nice change. It was a lot of fun and very… different.

Peter: And it’s so funny because we had said that we would be interviewing you and you have like a ton of fan sites. You have so much support.

Bridget: [laughing] I’ve heard.

Peter: And we were looking at some of them and one of them is Her Blue Eyes. And they’re awesome fans to work with. There was one that is dedicated to your hair!

Bridget: What?

Peter: Yeah, obviously you have great hair but I don’t know of anybody else that has a fan site for their hair, besides maybe you and Justin Bieber.

Bridget: That’s awesome! I take my hair vary seriously so I really actually appreciate that. Especially on Seeker Kahlan’s hair became a character in itself. I appreciate that.

Peter: Definitely! And you definitely keep… you’re good about keeping in touch with your fans. You’re very up on Twitter, which is awesome. Is it hard to keep in touch with them?

Bridget: I love my fans, I think that they are the best in the world. I think that the Seeker fans in general, and maybe it’s that genre, maybe it’s… I don’t know what it is but they’re incredibly dedicated and have followed me to some other projects that I’ve worked on and they’re nothing like Seeker at all, they couldn’t be more different. They’re totally supportive and I love them so whatever I can do. I feel like I don’t tweet enough. Whenever I meet fans they’re like, you need to tweet more! More photos! And this and that so I always feel like I should be doing more. But, you know, Twitter is easy. I think it’s attentions, it’s not much, you know?

Peter: Do you find it addicting? I find it totally addicting, being on Twitter.

Bridget: I forget about it sometimes and then I’m like, oh my god I haven’t tweeted in a week or my husband will be like what are you going to tweet what are you going to tweet and then I remember. But I haven’t really gotten the hooks on it yet, maybe it’s because of this little [Frankie cries] appointments hat I’ve got now, a little girl. Maybe that’s it.

Peter: It’s funny because I’m the same way. I’ll go from not tweeting for week then I’ll tweet all day, I’m so annoying about it.

Bridget: Yeah, I’m not on Facebook or anything like that so I guess it’s my sort of social networking..

Peter: Getaway?

Bridget: Yeah

Peter: So you’re going to be heading to Ohio soon for the premier of the movie. Are you excited?

Bridget: I’m really really excited… well, I’m also nervous. My first time traveling with the baby so I’m kind of worried about being that guy on the plane with the screaming baby. But she’s so well tempered so I don’t think it’ll be bad. Fingers crossed, knocking on every bit of wood right now. I’ve got family in Cleveland and a cousin that’s going to school in Columbus and working there so I am going to be able to see them as well. It’s kind of a double whammy trips for us so it’s really great.

Peter: We just flew back from LA and one of our stops was in Cleveland and it was a fund little pit stop for our trip.

Bridget: Did you go to the Rock and Roll hall of fame?

Peter: No we stayed in the airport because we only had like an hour but it was definitely one of the friendliest airports I’ve ever been in.

Bridget: Well that’s good to know, we’re flying into Cleveland as well. But I can’t not take… I can’t not go to the Rock and Roll hall of fame. Next time you’re there you’ve got to go. I go every time I’m there, it’s pretty awesome.

Peter: I will definitely check it out, we’ll tell them you sent us.

Bridget: Cool, yes.

Peter: What is the best way for your fans to keep in touch with you? Because obviously you’re busy, you’re a busy mom. Is Twitter the best place for them to keep in touch with you?

Bridget: Yeah, that’s the only way I’m communicating, on Twitter.I just did a fundraiser again for this musical I’m producing on Kickstarter and that finished awhile back and I Skyped with like 20 fans that helped support the show and make it happen. So I’ve actually gotten to talk to a lot of people that way and I’m sure we’ll do another fundraiser the next show that comes around. I mean at first it was like, oh my gosh I’ve got so many people to Skype with but in the end, after I talked with them (and I actually still have few more to complete) I felt like after every single one… just overwhelmed and honored that these fans are so supportive and enthusiastic. And you know, sometimes people are really hilarious because you’re just giggling the whole time you know? So they can’t talk. Some of them were really funny. How else? My mom and my sister in Encinitas they help me with my fan mail so people can send me fan mail to that address and they help manage that for me. Then if people send me a photo and self addressed, yadda yadda yadda, I always send them back.

Peter: That’s awesome. I’m actually going to tweet you right after this interview because your fans are so great to work with and they’re so funny and so awesome. If you get a chance, definitely follow me back.

Bridget: Ok, cool.

Peter: Thank you so much for talking with us today. Good luck with everything. Congrats on the baby everything. Have fun at the premier.

Bridget: I will, I hope we a good turn out.

Peter: Well we’ll definitely support it and we look forward to seeing it.

Bridget: Awesome, thank you so much!

Peter: Thank you so much, have a good one.