Contact Help Wanted

BROKEN EMBRACES Trailer

Directed by Pedro Almodóvar, Broken Embraces stars Penélope Cruz and Lluís Homar. Cruz is a potential Oscar 2010 best actress contender for this film.
Broken Embraces synopsis from the press release:
A man writes, lives and loves in darkness. Fourteen years before, he was in a brutal car crash on the island of Lanzarote. In the accident, he not only lost his sight, he also lost Lena, the love of his life.
This man uses two names: Harry Caine, a playful pseudonym with which he signs his literary works, stories and scripts, and Mateo Blanco, his real name, with which he lives and signs the film he directs. After the accident, Mateo Blanco reduces himself to his pseudonym, Harry Caine. [...]

Ben Foster, Woody Harrelson in THE MESSENGER Trailer

Directed by Oren Moverman, and written by Moverman and Alessandro Camon, The Messenger stars Ben Foster, Woody Harrelson, Samantha Morton and Jena Malone.
The film chronicles the emotional struggles of an American soldier after he becomes involved with the widow of a fallen officer.
The Messenger won both the Silver Bear for best screenplay and the Peace Award at the 2009 Berlin Film Festival,
The Messenger opens in the US on November 13, 2009.

Controversial FROM BEGINNING TO END Premiere Postponed

Rafael Cardoso, João Gabriel Vasconcelos as two incestuous brothers in From Beginning to End

Brazilian filmmaker Aluízio Abranches‘ Do Começo ao Fim (From Beginning to End), which revolves around a love affair between two brothers, has generated quite a bit of discussion in Brazilian online forums even though the film hasn’t been released, yet. Those waiting to check it out at the upcoming Festival do Rio, Rio de Janeiro’s international film festival, which runs Sept. 24-Oct. 8, will be disappointed.
Abranches has declared that his film won’t be ready in time for its scheduled screening. (Eliane Caffé’s O Sol do Meio Dia [The Midday Sun], about a dangerous love triangle in the Brazilian hinterlands, will take its slot.) As a result, [...]

Film Riot

Hosted by Ryan Connolly, the weekly series Film Riot is being launched today at the Internet TV network Revision3.
Film Riot follows a team of independent filmmakers from scriptwriting to the premiere of their latest film. All the while, they provide how-to tips "for making high quality films with little to no budget."
According to its press release, Film Riot will also feature film industry experts discussing the practical implementation of the special-effect techniques introduced in the show.
 

Bea Arthur

Beatrice Arthur, the witty television star in the hit shows Maude and The Golden Girls, and a Tony winner, died today at her Los Angeles home. Arthur, who was suffering from cancer, was 86.
Born Bernice Frankel on May 16, 1922, (1923 according to some sources) in New York City, Arthur — generally known as Bea Arthur — first caught critics’ attention with her performance in the 1954 off-Broadway production of The Threepenny Opera. Also onstage, she originated the role of the matchmaker Yente in Fiddler on the Roof in 1964, and two years later won a Tony for Best Featured Actress in a Musical for Mame, in which she plays Mame’s buddy [...]

THE HUNT FOR GOLLUM Trailer

The Hunt for Gollum, a 40-minute film conceived, created and funded by fans of the J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy, will be screened exclusively online on Dailymotion on Sunday, May 3. The film will have a simultaneous premiere at SCI-FI LONDON, the 8th Annual London International Festival of Science Fiction and Fantastic Film, with free tickets available to festivalgoers.
Written, directed, and produced by Chris Bouchard, who was inspired by notes in the appendices from the The Lord of the Rings, The Hunt for Gollum follows Aragorn as he sets out to find the Gollum so as to discover the truth about the Ring.
As quoted in [...]

THE CELLULOID CLOSET, VICTOR/VICTORIA in Chicago

Via David Hudson’s The Daily, who got it via Ed M. Koziarski’s brief piece in The Chicago Reader:
Queer Cinema 101 is a five-week film series showcasing gay-themed films picked by gay film critics. The weekly series kicks off Monday, April 13 at Chicago’s GLBT Center on Halsted and continues through Monday, May 11.
The five films are:

The Celluloid Closet (1995, above, k.d. lang sings "Secret Love"), hosted by Richard Knight Jr., Cinema Writer, Windy City Times, Monday, April 13; round table discussion afterward the screening
Velvet Goldmine (1996), hosted by Hank Sartin, Film section Editor and Critic, Time Out Chicago, screens Monday, April 20
The Killing of Sister George (1968), hosted by Charlie Shoquist, Film Critic, Gay Chicago Magazine [...]

Michelle Pfeiffer in CHERI Trailer

Directed by Stephen Frears and adapted by Christopher Hampton from Colette’s novel, Chéri stars Michelle Pfeiffer as a 1920s French courtesan who teaches a young man (Rupert Friend) the ways of love and sex.
Also in the Chéri cast: Kathy Bates, Felicity Jones, Anita Pallenberg, Frances Tomelty.
Chéri opens in the US on June 26.
Official site.
 
Sacha Baron Cohen in BRUNO Trailer
Carmen Miranda Does "Cai, Cai" in THAT NIGHT IN RIO
Best Actress Oscar Winners – 1927/28-2007
Hattie McDaniel’s Oscar Acceptance Speech

Sacha Baron Cohen in BRÜNO Trailer

Written by Sacha Baron Cohen and directed by Dan Mazer, Brüno stars Cohen as a flamboyant Austrian fashionista who, in his desire to become "the biggest Austrian celebrity since Hitler," decides to launch himself in the United States, adopting an African baby (à la Madonna) in the process while trying to pass for straight.
As a result of several sex scenes, Brüno has been slapped with a NC-17 rating in the US. I don’t believe anyone was surprised. Its distributor, Universal, will now have to trim the sex bits in order to get the mockumentary an R rating. Apparently, one sequence involves anal intercourse, the sort of stuff that drives the MPAA censors wild. That and the other soon-to-be-cut [...]

OTTO; OR, UP WITH DEAD PEOPLE, THE LARAMIE PROJECT Offend

Tina O’Grady, a member of the Ohio Department of Public Safety’s "cultural competency initiative" was scolded by her boss after co-workers complained about an e-mail she had forwarded promoting the gay-themed Out@Wex Film Festival in Columbus.
As per the Columbus Dispatch, O’Grady’s co-workers seemed to be particularly offended by the festival’s description of Bruce LaBruce’s Otto; or, Up With Dead People in its release. Otto is summed up as an "art-porn provocation [that] depicts an explosion of cannibalistic, sodomy-seeking zombies in Berlin."
What exactly in that sentence — art, porn, provocation, explosion, cannibalism, sodomy, zombies, Berlin — offended some of the Ohio Department of Public Safety workers remains unclear.
The judges at the Milan International Lesbian and [...]

Carmen Miranda Does “Cai, Cai” in THAT NIGHT IN RIO

The more I see Carmen Miranda, the more I find her one of the greatest artists of the 20th century. In this clip from Fox’s 1941 musical comedy That Night in Rio, Miranda sings and shakes to the rhythms of Roberto Martins‘ "Cai, Cai."
Now, what the heck is she singing?
Cai, cai, cai, cai
Eu não vou te levantar
Cai, cai, cai, cai
Quem mandou escorregar?
Fall, fall, fall, fall
I’m not going to help you get up
Fall, fall, fall, fall
Whoever told you to slip?
That’s why songs should usually be left untranslated…
Also in the That Night in Rio cast: Alice Faye, Don Ameche, S.Z. Sakall, J. Carrol Naish, Curt Bois, and the Bando da Lua.
Clip posted by esmiscrino.
 
Vivien Leigh on Turner Classic Movies
Carole Lombard on [...]

HAPPY HOLIDAYS: Q&A with Filmmaker James C. Ferguson

I’m always happy when a filmmaker is inspired by Woody Allen — as opposed to, say, Quentin Tarantino or Zack Snyder.
Case in point: First-timer James C. Ferguson (right, in blue), whose Happy Holidays (written by Ferguson and Tom Misuraca) is a three-way character study about old school friends who are reunited at their Connecticut hometown for a brief period right before Christmas. During that time, deeply buried emotions burst to the surface, old secrets are revealed, and one character ends up suffering a nervous breakdown. Old buddies can do that to you.
Shot in black in white during the course of two weeks, Happy Holidays features Paul Hungerford as Patrick Donovan, an openly gay man and avowed [...]

Jennifer Jones

Jennifer Jones, one of my all-time favorite performers, turned 90 yesterday, March 2.
The name doesn’t ring a sonorous bell? Well, it should.
Jennifer Jones, the sensitive, darkly beautiful actress who won an Academy Award (and the very first best actress Golden Globe) for the 1943 box-office sensation The Song of Bernadette.
Jennifer Jones, who starred in Since You Went Away (1944), Love Letters (1945), Duel in the Sun (1946), Portrait of Jennie (1948), Carrie (1952), Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing (1955), A Farewell to Arms (1957), and Tender Is the Night (1961).
Jennifer Jones, the unlucky woman who falls off the elevator in The Towering Inferno (1974) and who happened to be Gone with the Wind producer David O. [...]

THE HOT ROCK/COPS AND ROBBERS: Donald E. Westlake Tribute at the Aero

The American Cinematheque will present a memorial tribute to writer Donald E. Westlake, who died last December, with a screening of two films based on his novels, The Hot Rock and Cops and Robbers, on Thursday, March 12, at 7:30 pm at the Aero Theatre in Santa Monica.
I haven’t seen Cops and Robbers, but I remember finding the caper comedy The Hot Rock quite enjoyable. Directed by Peter Yates from an Academy Award-nominated screenplay by William Goldman, The Hot Rock stars Robert Redford and George Segal as jewel thieves attempting — and generally failing at — the perfect heist.
Clip: Annie7676.
Schedule/info from the American Cinematheque:
Thursday, March 12 – 7:30 PM
THE HOT ROCK, 1972, 20th Century Fox, [...]

Best Actress Oscar Winners 1927/28-2007

Clip posted by andbor17.

2008: Kate Winslet, The Reader
2007: Marion Cotillard, La Vie en Rose
2006: Helen Mirren, The Queen
2005: Reese Witherspoon, Walk the Line
2004: Hilary Swank, Million Dollar Baby
2003: Charlize Theron, Monster
2002: Nicole Kidman, The Hours
2001: Halle Berry, Monster’s Ball
2000: Julia Roberts, Erin Brockovich
1999: Hilary Swank, Boys Don’t Cry
1998: Gwyneth Paltrow, Shakespeare In Love
1997: Helen Hunt, As Good As It Gets
1996: Frances McDormand, Fargo
1995: Susan Sarandon, Dead Man Walking
1994: Jessica Lange, Blue Sky
1993: Holly Hunter, The Piano
1992: Emma Thompson, Howards End
1991: Jodie Foster, The Silence Of The Lambs
1990: Kathy Bates, Misery
1989: Jessica Tandy, Driving Miss Daisy
1988: Jodie Foster, The Accused
1987: Cher, Moonstruck
1986: Marlee Matlin, Children Of A Lesser God
1985: Geraldine Page, The Trip To Bountiful
1984: Sally Field, Places In The Heart
1983: [...]

Hattie McDaniel’s Oscar Acceptance Speech

Clip posted by moonflower0924.

Hattie McDaniel is generally remembered as the first black performer to win an Oscar. I invariably remember her as one of the best performers of the studio era, Oscar or no, black or white or blue or rainbow-colored.
McDaniel steals the show at the dinner table, while doing her best (but failing both miserably and hilariously) to come across as a "fancy people’s" maid in Alice Adams; she nearly runs away with the 1936 version of Show Boat; and is one of the most memorable elements in Gone with the Wind, for which she won one of the most well-deserved Oscars in Academy history — especially considering that she was competing against Olivia de Havilland, a young, pretty, [...]

Oscar 2009: Hugh Jackman, Beyonce, Zac Efron, Dominic Coooper Musical Clip

Clip posted by haroldsaid.

Hugh Jackman, Beyonce Knowles, Zac Efron, Vanessa Hudgens, Amanda Seyfried, Dominic Cooper perform songs from West Side Story, Grease, and Mamma Mia!, among others, in a post-camp number that makes the musical finale from Hello, Dolly! look subdued in comparison.
"The musical is back!" Jackman shouts at the end. Sure, but instead of On the Town, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, Cabaret, or Hair, you have High School Musical 3.
 
Oscar 2009: Dustin Lance Black’s Acceptance Speech
Sean Penn’s Oscar Acceptance Speech
Oscar 2009: Penélope Cruz’s Acceptance Speech

Oscar 2009 Buzz: Kate Winslet Breaks Bette Davis’ Record, Title Sequence Design Oscar?

Clip posted by MovieTitleSequences.

Emily Oberman and Bonnie Siegler in the New York Times (by way of David Hudson’s The Daily)
"There’s an Oscar for pretty much every aspect of filmmaking, except one: the title sequences. Titles, though, have always played a significant part in motion pictures. They may have started out as simple black-and-white cards. But in the days before sound, they already did more than identify key players: they communicated dialogue and advanced plot. And as filmmaking evolved, so did title design. Titles have become wonderful bridges from reality into the cinematic world and back out again. At their very best, they are themselves innovative, emotional experiences, microcosms of their movies."
*** Oberman [...]

Top Ten Biggest Oscar Snubs – Nominations #3

3

Clip posted by inovavox.

City of God (2002)
Volver (2006)
4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days (2007)
Gomorrah (2008)

I’ve always had a personal grudge against the Academy’s rules & regulations for their Best Foreign Language Film category. I know I’m not the only one.
Time and again, deserving films aren’t nominated not because Academy voters have different tastes than yours truly, but because they don’t even have the chance to watch the potential contenders; they are not allowed, for instance, to watch movies on DVD or video — unlike Oscar voters for most other categories.
Compounding matters, films fall by the wayside because they don’t meet some arcane criterion or other. For instance, in December 1994 Richard Corliss [...]

Berlin Film Festival 2009 Winners

Clip posted by DerOgraf.
South American cinema — once again — performed quite well at the Berlin Film Festival, which came to a close on Sunday, Feb. 15.
The Golden Bear for best picture went to La Teta Asustada / The Milk of Sorrow (the Spanish title would actually translate as "The Frightened Tit"), the first Peruvian production — actually a Spanish-Peruvian-Chilean co-production, made with the assistance of the Berlinale’s own World Cinema Fund — in the festival’s main competition.

Clip posted by lahigueranet.
Directed by Claudia Llosa (niece of writer Mario Vargas Llosa), The Milk of Sorrow tells the story of a young housemaid (Magaly Solier) born as a result of her mother’s rape during the years the [...]

Berlinale 2009: Kate Winslet, Tom Tykwer

Clip posted by itn
Kate Winslet on her The Reader character (via Agence France Presse):
"I had to make her a human being. I had to make her a woman who was capable of great love and affection and warmth as well as the vulnerability and the shame that she feels. And she also had to be a woman who had at least some level of courage, certainly when she starts serving her prison sentence."
…
"Quite a lot has been made of the love scenes and made of David [Kross]’s age and he’s 18, he’s a young man, he’s extremely professional and he’s absolutely brilliant in the film. For me, it was all about making sure [...]

Christian Bale Flipping Out on TERMINATOR SALVATION Set Videos

Clip posted by revolucian

Clip posted by oAngrySalado

Clip posted by jedibff
I’ve had friends in the mountains of Papua New Guinea and in some impenetrable spot in the Amazon jungle e-mail me about Christian Bale’s expletive-filled blowup on the Terminator Salvation set last July. (That was around the time the actor was arrested for allegedly assaulting his mother and sister in London.)
For those who have spent the day somewhere in Orion, let me briefly explain what happened:
Suddenly, last f#$%ing summer, Bale had a f#*ing scene ruined by director of photography Shane Hurlbut (nominated for an American Society of Cinematographers award in 1998 for the TV movie The Rat Pack), who walked within Bale’s f$#*ing field of vision throwing him off [...]

…AROUND: Q&A with David Spaltro

David Spaltro’s …Around is appropriately subtitled, "Embrace the Fall." For "falling" — both emotionally and financially — is what happens to the film’s protagonist, whose hurdles are based on writer-director Spaltro’s own experiences while studying film at the School of Visual Arts in New York City.
…Around follows the travails of Doyle (Rob Evans — a better-looking and more naturalistic James Stewart type), a young film student from a highly dysfunctional family who suddenly finds himself without the means to pay for a place to live in pricey New York. As a result, home becomes where Penn Station is.
Curiously, the film’s chief concern is not Doyle’s struggle to come out of poverty or to succeed in film [...]

AMERICAN PRIMITIVE Trailer

Directed by Gwen Wynne, and co-written by Wynne and Mary Beth Fielder, American Primitive is set in early 1970s Cape Cod, where two young women (Daniele Savre and Skye McCole Bartusiak) living with their father (Tate Donovan) and his business partner (Adam Pascal) struggle to come to terms with a secret — dad’s relationship with his partner goes beyond business dealings — that may destroy their unconventional family.

Also in the American Primitive cast: veteran Susan Anspach (best known for Five Easy Pieces, but whose best performance thus far is probably her mom-on-the-brink in the bizarre 1981 comedy Montenegro), Josh Peck, James Sikking, Anne Ramsay, Johanna Braddy, Corey Sevier, Stacey Dash, Jordan Claire Greene, John Savage, and Jason [...]

Paul Rudd, Jason Segel in I LOVE YOU, MAN Trailer

Written and directed by John Hamburg (who wrote both Meet the Parents and the godawful Meet the Fockers), I Love You, Man stars Paul Rudd (ouch!) as Peter Klaven, a guy with no male friends who must find a best man for his wedding.
Peter ends up bonding with a gross-out type played by Jason Segel, which makes it understandably difficult for his fiancée (Rashida Jones) — especially if the guys don’t wear condoms when they’re together. Well, okay, for better or for worse it’s not that kind of bonding.
Anyhow, in the trailer above there are jokes about dog shit and man fart, which makes I Love You, Man a highly likely family-pleasing box-office hit come next spring. Hopefully this movie [...]

Next Page →

Recently Posted

• Chicago Lesbian & Gay Film Festival 2009
• AFI FEST 2009: THE LAST STATION, AFTER.LIFE
• AFI FEST 2009 Awards
• AFI FEST 2009: POLICE, ADJECTIVE; TO DIE LIKE A MAN
• Grace Kelly: TO CATCH A THIEF, THE SWAN
• Grace Kelly on TCM
• AFI FEST 2009: A SINGLE MAN, THE SINGULARITY
• AFI FEST 2009: THE ROAD, EASIER WITH PRACTICE
• Academy Awards $450,000 to US Film Festivals
• Oscar-Winning Filmmakers Mark Jonathan Harris, Tracy Seretean at Academy Screening

Most Popular Tags

2008 Oscar Academy Awards Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Animation Best Films Books Box Office Brokeback Mountain Censorship Classic Movies Daniel Day-Lewis Documentaries DVDs Film Awards Film Festivals Film Reviews Gay Film Festivals Gay Interest Gay Movies Heath Ledger Helen Mirren Interviews London Film Festival London Film Festival 2009 Los Angeles Screenings Martin Scorsese Meryl Streep New York Screenings No Country for Old Men Oscar Movies Photos Political Movies Politics Sex Shorts Silent Films Slumdog Millionaire Sundance Film Festival Trailers Turner Classic Movies


Related Posts

TOKYO SONATA, I LOVE YOU, MAN BuzzKNOWING Tops Box OfficeSXSW 2009: I LOVE YOU, MANZac Efron’s 17 AGAIN at the Top of the Box OfficeFAST & FURIOUS Races to the Top of the Box OfficeHANNAH MONTANA Tops Box Office