Week of « Prev | Next »
1-20 of 24 articles « Prev | Next »
Screen Queens: Hollywood Does AIDS
1 hour ago
Hi everyone, MattCanada here with another weekly dose of gay cinema. This week we're looking at Philadelphia, the Oscar winning courtroom drama, essentially the defining Hollywood response to the AIDS epidemic.
I first saw this film as a kid. I must have been about seven when I watched it with my parents and it was definitely my, and probably many other people's, introduction to AIDS. For me it continues to shape how I think about the virus, the stigma, and the epidemic. Longtime Companion opened a few years earlier but this was the first mainstream prestige film to deal with AIDS and homophobia. Having two big stars in Tom Hanks and Denzel Washington must have seemed like a big step for Hollywood. All of this is well and good, but rewatching the film for the first time in over a decade, I had serious problems with its filmic construction and especially its politics. »
- CanadaMatt
Puppets and Precursors
1 hour ago
Given that precursor season is nearly upon us and I've always believed in full disclosure you should know that I recently joined the Bfca. Yes, the same group I have taken to task in the past for their insistence on equating "best" with "Oscar predictions". I've never understood that as an operating agenda but then... it's hardly endemic to them. In fact, each year I have to underline the difference between predictions and preferences several times over when people start saying things like "you think that's better than that?" while holding their nose. So many people think it means the same thing but it never does. When the two crossover it's an accident... a happy accident. Best is your own perceived meritocracy. Prediction is what you suppose a random group of other people might collectively prefer. I promise to vote by way of Best.
Swag watch: Bad Lieutenant companion book »
- NATHANIEL R
Broken Moon
6 hours ago
Mmmm, Penelope. If people had any sense it would be Almodovar movies that broke attendance records. Not the movies that, in fact, do. But enough handwringing about box offizzze. Given Towleroad’s generous coverage of all things Twilight (all things equalling shirtless wolf boys and wild haired Pattisons) I had hoped to share a few thoughts on New Moon for today’s movie column. No can do. I wasn’t invited. Curiously I had been invited to the press screenings of Twilight. Perhaps I’ve been too openly disdainful of sparkle-in-the-sunshine vampires or creator Stephenie Meyers’ retrograde sexual politics (I had quite enough of that in my own Mormon years, thank you).read the rest at Towleroad for a bit more on New Moon, Broken Embraces and Red Cliff. And also check out my Pedro & Penelope piece at Tribeca. I've been a busy boy.
*
»
- NATHANIEL R
Invictus yay or nay? Maybe a bit of both.
10 hours ago
Received an email about Clint Eastwood's Invictus this week. I'll have to share anonymously but I do know the person who sent it so it's legit. He's much more of an Clint fan than I am, but he wasn't too impressed. He sees a somewhat mixed Oscar response coming, but a big hit. Here's what he had to say:It’s very surprising in that it isn’t very well-made (and if Clint is anything, he’s usually a craftsman). There is some Clunky shit in that movie. And both Freeman and Damon play ciphers...they’re both “good” but don’t really have anything to play. I can’t imagine either of them being nominated and that pains me to say, since I am a huge fan.
The problem is that Eastwood has an enormous amount of info/context to put out there in the first half hour, and »
- NATHANIEL R
Directors of the Decade: Brad Bird
12 hours ago
Robert here. My initial thought for my series on the directors who shaped the past decade was to combine the Pixar guys into one big entry. Five minutes later I was filled with great shame. How dare I think that just because these men make animated films, they don’t deserve their own entries. It was ghettoization all over again! Sure, Pixar films all tend to have similar themes but that doesn’t mean that the great Pixar directors are interchangeable. Over the next few weeks we’ll take a look at them and see what makes them the same and different. First up: Brad Bird.
Number of Films: Two.
Modern Masterpieces: One. With my apologies to The Incredibles, which is an incredible film, the masterpiece is Ratatouille.
Total Disasters: Not even close.
Better than you remember: If you think either of these could be better, you should probably just stop reading now. »
- Robert
Birthday Suits, That Girl Those Girls
12 hours ago
1694 Voltaire, Enlightment philosopher, writer, progressive. Candide is his work that's most familiar to modern audiences having been filmed, adapted, and put on lists like this one as well as being adapted into a popular and oft-revived comic operetta. Kristin Chenoweth doing "Glitter and Be Gay" is theater heaven.
1912 Eleanor Powell, queen of tap. Broadway Rhythm it's got me Everybody...
1938 Marlo Thomas, That Girl. Yes, that one.
1941 Juliet Mills, Globe nominated film actress (Avanti!) best known for TV roles. She was a cougar before they had a word for it, marrying hunky Maxwell Caulfield when she was 39 and he was 21, before he'd even made Grease 2. They're still married, going on thirty years now. Today's generation might know her best as witchy Tabitha from her long campy run on daytime soap Passions.
1943 Brigitte Broch, favored production designer of both Baz Luhrmann (Romeo + Juliet, Moulin Rouge!) and Alejandro González Iñárritu (Powder Keg, »
- NATHANIEL R
Sometimes I doubt your commitment to Sparkle Motion
20 November 2009 12:35 PM, PST
.
Ja from Mnpp here, doing the 2001 thing, briefly noting a flick from the year that left a bit of an impression on lil' ol' me. Yes, Richard Kelly's Donnie Darko. I can and have - seriously I have, click here to see - list a bunch of reasons why I believe this movie's too cool for school, but it really, the essence, it all boils down you see to that delightful line uttered there above. Sometimes Beth Grant doubts our commitment to Sparkle Motion. Sometimes I doubt our collective commitment to Sparkle Motion.
But then I pop in a cassette tape of "Head Over Heels" by Tears For Fears and I contemplate how exactly one does suck a fuck or what the sex lives of Smurfs are all about or if "feces" means "baby mice" or whether "cellar door" might just be the most beautiful phrase in all of »
- JA
Her First Time.
20 November 2009 11:00 AM, PST
Jose here with a look back at one of 2001's cinematic gems.
At a time when abortion is still a controversial issue, where the ratio of HIV infections in people under 25 increases by the day and where some systems insist on abstinence as the only form of sexual education; Catherine Breillat's Fat Girl must seem like the devil.
Its idea that people, make that pre-adolescent women, have the right and capacity to make choices about their sexuality sounds shocking now, so imagine how it was eight years ago when the movie was released. Banned by the Ontario Film Review, prohibited in Singapore and left unrated in the United States, the film's themes left audiences and critics baffled, but for all the wrong reasons.
It is not that the movie has things we haven't seen before (although full frontal male nudity continues to be scandalous in this day and age »
- Jose
Birthday Suit (With Bright Yellow Trench)
20 November 2009 7:08 AM, PST
Today is the 109th anniversary of one Chester Gould the creator of Dick Tracy. Every time Dick Tracy (1990) comes up, I think "you should watch that movie again!" but I never do. I think I'm still mad that Warren Beatty kept cutting away from Madonna's "More" performance... which should've easily been one of the best movie musical numbers of the 90s (sigh). Otherwise I quite like the movie
Trivia Alert! Dick Tracy is one of Oscar's two favorite comic book movies along with The Dark Knight (2008). Their Oscar track was very similar. Dick Tracy had 7 nominations and 3 wins. The Dark Knight had 8 nominations and 2 wins and in mostly the same categories, too.
Supporting Actor (both, and the only two comic book performances ever nominated*: Al Pacino and Heath Ledger, winner)
Cinematography (both)
Art Direction (both)
Costume Design (Dick Tracy only)
Sound (both)Sound Editing (The Dark Knight only, »
- NATHANIEL R
Queer Birthday Suits
19 November 2009 1:55 PM, PST
Cinematic birthdays for Nov. 19th, this time with lighter loafers.
1889 Clifton Webb, reportedly as out as an actor could be back in the day but Oscar never gave him their top prize. They never give out actors the statue. Sad, but true. Classic films include Oscar favorites like Laura and Three Coins in the Fountain (review) but he's most famous for playing Mr. Belvedere, the uptight gentlemen bachelor of a certain obvious if unspoken persuasion. I saw the first of the three Belvedere films Sitting Pretty (1948) a few years ago and it was quite an... unh... time capsule.
1933 Larry King, asker of inane questions
1942 Calvin Klein makes pretty things
1938 Ted Turner took Jane Fonda away from me (the movies... same thing) ages ago and I've never forgiven him.
1954 Kathleen Quinlan an actress I don't really get
1958 Charlie Kaufman mindbender
1961 Meg Ryan have you ever noticed how people turn on actresses »
- NATHANIEL R
The Best Opening Scene of 2001?
19 November 2009 9:57 AM, PST
Robert here. As Nathaniel looks back at 2001, I feel myself wanting to throw in some praise for the best opening scene of the year.
An eclipse is coming and the drunks at the town bar enlist the help of village idiot Valuska to explain it to them. You see, Valuska understands things. And those things that he doesn't understand he finds fascinating and magical. In the world of director Béla Tarr, the most spiritual inquisitive man in the area is quite naturally relegated to village idiot status by those around him.
Werckmeister Harmonies is a fantastic movie and if you find the opening to be fascinating and magical, then you should absolutely seek out the rest of the film. Note the number of shots in this scene, which number a whopping two. And try not to note the bad dubbing, which unfortunately is from the original version (Tarr cast actors »
- Robert
Dancing at the Film Experience
19 November 2009 6:01 AM, PST
Glenn from Stale Popcorn here to throw in two cents worth of discussion about the year 2001 per Nathaniel's request.
Last week for the year 2000 I discussed a favourite from that year that I felt had been criminally underrated. At least a lot of people have seen that movie for it to be underrated. The 2001 film that I want to shine a light on has been seen by about three people (and a goat).
If you had to ask me what profession has gotten the worst representation in the history of cinema I would probably point to stripping. Oh sure, we all love Showgirls but when paired up with Demi Moore's Striptease, the profession has never quite been the same. Throw in the absurd I Know Who Killed Me starring the ghost of Lindsay Lohan's career, the "all star" Spun and even the dead-boring (if you can believe it »
- Glenn Dunks
Curio: Wild Things
18 November 2009 6:25 PM, PST
Alexa from Pop Elegantiarum here. While it's been in theaters for over a month, the influence of Spike Jonze’s interpretation of Where the Wild Things Are is still being felt pretty strongly. I've been enjoying following We Love You So, a collection of the art and style influences on the filmmakers. (Maurice Sendak was only the beginning.) From the influences to the influenced, here are some objects from artists and crafters out there, made in the wake of the film, that I think are pretty rad.
Maybe it's just this fabulous photo, but these pajamas from The Lb Gallery look like they leapt off the screen. Oh, and they make them for adults, too.
Elizabeth Caldwell has designed the perfect holiday card for the Wild Things fan, I think.
And Chris over at mamaroots made these journals. You know, for notetaking at that wild rumpus.
Finally, I've been a »
- Alexa
Snub! The Story of Snub
18 November 2009 5:54 PM, PST
Each year the Academy's documentary branch finds a new way to enrage film fans everywhere. This year's big casualty: Anvil! The Story of Anvil, the blissfully reviewed heavy metal documentary (my review). That unforgettable music doc's Oscar snub is unsurprising but in a way it only strengthens the movie, adding yet one more pitiable chord of try-try-try never succeed to the engrossing story -- think The Wrestler by way of Spinal Tap if you haven't seen it. Ewwww, I just pitched a movie as two other movies. I am So sorry. I hate myself right now.
Other big name docs that got the thumbs down: We Live in Public, The September Issue, Tyson and Capitalism: A Love Story. My favorite doc of the year, Prodigal Sons, was not eligible for some sort of funding reason... I'm a little unclear on why.
Here are the 15 finalists that the AMPAS voters actually did love. »
- NATHANIEL R
PGA Honors Precious.
18 November 2009 3:18 PM, PST
Jose here with some award news.
Continuing to establish itself as a front runner in the awards race, Precious: Based on the novel 'Push' by Sapphire, has been chosen by the Producers Guild of America to receive its prestigious Stanley Kramer Award for illuminating provocative social issues in an accessible and elevating fashion.
This award not only confirms the movie will be one of the ten chosen by the PGA for its Producer of the Year award, but bodes well for its chances of getting even more Oscar attention.
The Academy simply loves social issues (remember 2005?) and Kramer (who directed and produced Inherit the Wind and Guess Who's Coming to Dinner among others) was an icon in this aspect, even if the quality of the films he made didn't amount to much artistically. Stanley's films always talked about things we wanted to ignore. He taught us so much about ourselves »
- Jose
Salt N' Pepa N' Linkerella
18 November 2009 10:55 AM, PST
mmmmmANGELINA. Mangelina. I'm so curious to see Salt now that Jolie is staring me down from the poster (she does so more intimidatingly there -- the gaze is more benevolent in real life) and I'm reminded that Salt was originally written for a male star. Will we see any telltale signs of that gender-switch in the movie?
Oh link it, link it real good
MovieLine awesome composer Alexandre Desplat doesn't believe in holding his tongue. Doesn't approve of Quentin Tarantino's music
Old Hollywood Hedy Lamarr in ecstacy
Nicks Flick Picks finally gets around to "best actress 2008", both his own and Oscar's, but hot damn it's a good read. Plus: awesome comments section with heated / lucid opinions
In Contention Mélanie Laurent promoted to Lead Actress for Inglourious Basterds campaign
Cinema Blend Katey dives into the Screenplay categories. Cheerleads In the Loop
Cinematical maybe you missed my tweet on the Tim Burton exhibit at MoMA? »
- NATHANIEL R
A Non-Committal Post on Nine
18 November 2009 10:40 AM, PST
I'm not allowed to talk about it yet. Sorry! Give it a week. I will say I enjoyed (whew) and that I thought Marion Cotillard was best-in-show fantastic ...and with that -- the only note I will share on account of embargo -- I imagine thousands of Cotillard Groupies just went a little slack-jawed given the heated exchanges during Oscar Race '07.
Update: I have also been asked to wait to write about the Q&A as well which featured the entire cast (sans Sophia Loren) -- so that's next week, too. Gazing upon Judi Dench and Daniel Day-Lewis in the same space but especially seeing Nicole Kidman and Penélope Cruz simultaneously (you know how I do) made my head explode.
I am actually typing this with no head. I am headless. The adrenaline in my muscle tissues is moving my fingers and at any moment I cou
* »
- NATHANIEL R
Birthday Suits and a Ballsy Actress
18 November 2009 8:47 AM, PST
Today's stars! Well not literally today's but November 18th. Get a little history. Celebrate one of these cinematic entities today in whatever way occurs to you.
Senors Gilbert, Hemmings and Infante
1836 W.S. Gilbert of 'Gilbert & Sullivan' legend. If you've never seen Mike Leigh's exceptional biopic of this creative giant, Topsy-Turvy, drop everything right now and do so.
1908 Imogene Coca beloved comic actress, mostly known for TV roles
1917 Pedro Infante Mexico's biggest movie star ever. Here he is singing. Pedro Almodóvar fans will recognize this one immediately
1939 Margaret Atwood, best-selling much-awarded author. Strangely Hollywood doesn't seem to have taken to her in a big way. The Handmaid's Tale (1990) starring Natasha Richardson is one of the few adaptations
1939 Brenda Vaccaro, Midnight Cowgirl and she of one of the oddest Oscar nominations of all time... seriously, have you seen Once Is Not Enough? Here's StinkyLulu's look at that Oscar year.
1941 David Hemmings, »
- NATHANIEL R
Decade in Review: 2001 Top Ten
17 November 2009 8:41 PM, PST
What follows is my original top ten list of 2001. We'll discuss each year of the decade over the next month or two (we already did 2000). I do this because I am curious about which films "stick" and which fade and why and maybe you are too? Best year of the decade I think. The top five films would all be valid #1 film choices in some years. New comments are in red.
Note: This list references films released in NYC in 2001, not year of production or year in which they first the hit festival circuit or whatnot.
Runners Up (in descending order): Sexy Beast, Ali, Series 7: The Contenders, The Others, Last Resort and Waking Life. I don't remember loving Ali that much... and more than The Others? I don't remember that at all. I mean Nicole Kidman was the shit Twice Over in 2001.
In my round up of the »
- NATHANIEL R
Exclusive Buzz: Pfeiffer with Pfangs
17 November 2009 6:57 PM, PST
Rumor Alert!
Or, rather, 'Possiblity Alert'! And one you haven't heard yet. The other evening at a dinner party, I chatted briefly with writer/director Amy Heckerling (of Clueless fame). Since her very last feature I Could Never Be Your Woman starred Michelle Pfeiffer, you know I couldn't resist gushing about my favorite actress. The conversation quickly drifted to Saoirse Ronan, who played Pfeiffer's daughter in that film. Heckerling was very proud to have discovered her (...Woman preceeding Atonement, production-wise) and wouldn't you be?
Leaving the party later, I wished Heckerling well on her new comedy Vamps which should go before cameras in the spring. Remembering me as that weirdly obsessed pfan-guy, Heckerling clasped her hands together in supplication and said 'I hope I get Pfeiffer for it.'
[Collective Pfan Gasp!]
Has an offer gone out? Could Pfeiffer finally have a vampiric role? The movie is still in preproduction with only Kristen Ritter signed. »
- NATHANIEL R
1-20 of 24 articles « Prev | Next »
