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Topher Grace and ’80s Night at the State Theatre

Most of us were either born in the late eighties or just barely missed the decade, but thanks to Topher Grace of “That 70’s Show” and “Spiderman 3,” we can all relive the era complete with music, fashion and parties. Last night, the State Theatre premiered “Take Me Home Tonight” as part of a special college tour for students to see the film before its release.

The premiere of the movie was proceeded by a Q&A session with stars from the movie: the hilarious Topher Grace and Australian bombshell Teresa (Tez) Palmer.

“I wanted to make a movie about the eighties that represented what I loved in both John Hughes and Cameron Crowe movies from the same time,” Grace said. “Like ‘Dazed and Confused’ was a movie made in the nineties depicting the seventies, I felt like there wasn’t any movies like that for the eighties that weren’t spoofing it.”

Grace succeeds perfectly with “Take Me Home Tonight,” a movie that looks at post-grad life and “just saying yes to life.” But this movie, despite how it looks in the trailer, contains not only lots of humorous scenes, but relationships, drugs, working-life and figuring one’s self out.

“Just like any John Hughes film would,” Grace said.

Tez Palmer, star of “I am Number 4” and “Sorcerer’s Apprentice” plays his high-school crush who he encounters before all hell breaks loose. Tez is a petite blond who seems to keep Topher on his toes as she playfully punches him and pretends she has never seen “That 70’s Show.”

Her Australian accent is sometimes offsetting, and she’s aware that’s not the only difference from making movies back home in comparison to here.

“In Australia, we’d make movies for two, three million but here the budgets for films are so big it makes you feel like a puppet sometimes,” Palmer said.

Topher and Tez both agreed that the best part of the movie was the friendships that were formed both on and off the set. They reminisce of the Superbowl party at Anna Faris’s house a few weeks ago and how Faris just recently got engaged (both in the movie and in real life) to Chris Pratt (Andy on NBC’s Parks and Recreation).

“You hear a lot of actors say ‘oh the whole cast was so close,’ but 90% of the time it’s total bullshit,” Grace said. “When we weren’t partying in the scenes, we were fucking partying together!” Grace says this just to ramp up the college crowd in between “We Are” outbursts.

The movie is a genuine representation of the eighties, rather than spoofing it like every other movie. It has the feel of a John Hughes movie, with a hint of modern film making, all the while with a hilarious, cohesive cast. Not to mention a kick-ass, truly rockin’ eighties soundtrack.

After several mildly-inappropriate questions about Palmer’s nude scene, Grace closed the conversation by saying “like she’s seriously the hottest girl you have ever seen; am I right?” to an explosion of applause.

Oh and just in case you were wondering, Grace has no plans for a “That 70’s Show” movie anytime in the near future.

Before Tez and Topher left the Q&A they recommended to spread the word to your friends and to check out the music video they made which actually spoofs the era in all the ways they didn’t want “Take Me Home Tonight” to portray.

“Guys, if you like the film, Tweet it; if you didn’t, shut the fuck up,” Grace jokes, closing the night out.

Follow @Tez_palmer, check out the trailer here, or watch the music video below.

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