Movies

Bush “Snuff” Film Premieres in Toronto

September 15, 2006
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Bush “Snuff” Film Premieres in Toronto

James Pinkerton of Tech Central Station went all the way up to Toronto for the city’s annual film festival this year, and he has brought back an excellent article on one of the most vivid manifestations of Bush hatred seen so far, the film The Death of a President. In an article appropriately and only slightly hyperbolically titled "Snuff Cinema," Pinkerton writes: Five years after 9-11, it’s apparent that we all aren’t getting along. And the political left is throwing plenty of mean punches. A case in point is that new Bush snuff movie, "Death of a President." Some might say that "snuff movie" is too strong a term — but how else to describe a movie that clearly revels in the prospect of George W. Bush’s being assassinated? . . . "Death" is a pseudo-documentary that purports to show what happens to America in the year after President George W. Bush is assassinated on October 19, 2007 (stock  market nerds might note that 10/19/07 is the 20th anniversary of the 500-point stock market crash, for whatever symbolism that’s worth). A few points about the movie: First, it has a "big" look. As film-society types would say, "Death" is fluent

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A National Scandal: Brad Pitt, Beloved Sweetheart Angelina Tragically Prevented from Marrying!

September 13, 2006
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A National Scandal: Brad Pitt, Beloved Sweetheart Angelina Tragically Prevented from Marrying!

I am regrettably rather late in mentioning the actor Brad Pitt’s enlightening recent comment regarding why he has not yet married the acclaimed actress Angelina Jolie, a subject which he believes should have an important effect on the nation’s political process. USA Today reports the tragic, earth-shattering news: Brad Pitt, ever the social activist, says he won’t be marrying Angelina Jolie until the restrictions on who can marry whom are dropped. "Angie and I will consider tying the knot when everyone else in the country who wants to be married is legally able," the 42-year-old actor reveals in Esquire magazine’s October issue, on newsstands Sept. 19. I think he’s referring to domestic animals here, but I’m not entirely sure, as he has neglected to provide specifics. In any case, let’s get together and change the laws to Brad’s liking so that he and Angelina can move in together and have kids and whatnot, OK? It’s little enough to ask a country to do, after all, for such an important person.  

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New Film to “Speak Language of Sex” to Mainstream Audiences

September 10, 2006
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Another item for our ongoing Everything Happens in the Omniculture department: Shortbus, a film that is highly sexually explicit but allegedly not salacious according to its director, has received a distribution agreement to appear in mainstream theaters in the United States and elsewhere. It is not clear at this point how widely it will be distributed in the United States. Reuters reports: Three months after John Cameron Mitchell showed his sexually explicit film "Shortbus" out of competition at the Cannes film festival, he said it had attracted distributors in dozens of countries, including the United States, Canada, Japan, France and Singapore. "People are ready for change. There is a thirst for something different," Mitchell told reporters on Friday at the Toronto International Film Festival, where "Shortbus" was set for its North American premiere before an October opening in the United States. Mitchell aims to use sex as a metaphor to tell a story about people looking for solace and searching for something more in their lives in a post-September 11 world. "What pissed me off was that it was … generically identified of as porn," Mitchell said of his film. "We are not trying to do anything salacious here. That

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Action Star Chan to Seek Greater Respect

September 8, 2006
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Action Star Chan to Seek Greater Respect

It’s sad to see wonderfully successful people move away from what they do best, in search of greater approbation than they already have. At the Venice Film Festival yesterday, one of my favorite entertainers, movie action hero Jackie Chan, claimed he was going to work hard for critical respect and to impress audiences instead of merely delighting them. Reuters reports: Tired of his image as all-action hero, Hong Kong film star Jackie Chan said on Friday he wanted to be taken as seriously as Robert DeNiro. In Venice for the premiere of his new film "Rob-B-Hood," the master of the choreographed fight compared how he was greeted by fans gesticulating and shouting wildly, whereas he imagined De Niro commanded something closer to subdued awe. "When they see me, ‘Ah, ah Jackie Chan!"’ the actor told a news conference after the press screening of Rob-B-Hood. "I say, why does nobody say ‘Robert De Niro!’," he added, speaking in English and waving his arms about excitedly. "So I want to change, so that some day they say ‘Wow, Jackie Chan’ and not move again and again. So I want a change," he concluded with a smile, to warm applause from reporters. The

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Mozart in the Trenches

September 8, 2006
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Mozart in the Trenches

In our ongoing Everything Happens in the Omniculture department, British filmmaker Kenneth Branagh has made a movie version of the Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart opera The Magic Flute, set in the trenches of World War I. The picture premiered yesterday at the Teatro La Fenice opera house in Venice. Reuters reports: The $27 million production opens with Tamino as a soldier in the trenches and, instead of the snake that almost kills him in the original libretto he is pursued by a trail of mustard gas. Papageno, the bird catcher, becomes the keeper of canaries used during the war to test for gas and the Queen of the Night’s triumphant first appearance is astride a tank. "I was surprised when I first started listening to it (the opera) of the scale of it, the intensity of it, the drama of it," Branagh told reporters after a press screening of "The Magic Flute" at the Venice Film Festival. "It seemed that in the music there was a kind of plea for peace and it evolved into a sense that perhaps this utterly fascinating and appalling situation of the First World War … was something where the music could meet and the one

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Anti-Bush Films Hot at Toronto Festival

September 6, 2006
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Anti-Bush Films Hot at Toronto Festival

The British-made film Death of a President, which uses computer generation to create a vivid depiction of the assassination of President Bush, leads a significant roster of films critical of the president and his policies at this year’s Toronto Film Festival, Reuters reports. The 10-day festival opens Thursday, and in addition to the political issues there will be plent of star power with appearances by Brad Pitt, Sean Penn, Penelope Cruz, Russell Crowe and others. Reuters reports that 352 films from 61 countries will be shown. Festival offerings will certainly reflect the visceral hostility many in the entertainment industry feel toward the current U.S. president. Reuters reports: British-made "Death of a President," . . . is one of a number of films with a decided political focus. The documentary-style film raised hackles last week, as several British newspapers ran photos of the fictional assassination it depicts. The controversy elicited a terse "no comment" from the White House. But it is not the only Toronto entry likely to raise eyebrows in Washington, particularly with U.S. midterm elections looming in November. The festival will premiere the documentary "Dixie Chicks: Shut up and Sing," which focuses on the aftermath and fallout of Dixie

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Hope in Disney’s “Invincible” Film

September 5, 2006
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Hope in Disney’s “Invincible” Film

The Walt Disney movie Invincible won the box office competition again last weekend, bringing in a gross of $15.2 million. The film merits attention. More than just a sports movie, Invincible tells the true-life story of Vince Papale, a 30 year old bartender who made the Philadelphia Eagles in an open tryout that then-new Eagles coach Dick Vermeil meant as mostly a publicity stunt and a way of motivating players. Set during the economically depressed late 1970s among the working class in Rust Belt South Philadelphia, the film presents the theme of hope in several different ways. First, of course, there is Vince’s hope—vague at first but increasingly real—of making the Eagles as a wide receiver and special teams player. (Mark Wahlberg’s portrayal of Vince is very solid and affecting.) Second, there is Vince’s hope of finding a woman who will love him and stay with him through good times and bad. Third, there is the hope of Vince and his working class brethren that they will find permanent work that pays decently. (The film regularly cuts to brief scenes showing union members on strike, in the bar discussing job cuts, and so on.) Fourth is the hope of Eagles

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“Crocodile Hunter” Irwin Killed

September 4, 2006
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“Crocodile Hunter” Irwin Killed

  Famed "Crocodile Hunter" Steve Irwin was killed yesterday when he was stung in the heart by a stingray over which he was swimming in Australia’s Great Barrier Reef for a video shoot. Irwin, 44, apparently frightened the creature by getting to close, bringing on the animal’s self-protective attack. Stingrays have a poisonous, barbed tail which can cause excruciating pain if a person is struck by it, but such attacks are only very rarely fatal. Irwin was struck in the chest, however, and the barb appears to have pierced his heart. It was an extremely rare and strange incident. In his television programs and theatrical movie, Irwin gained great fame for engaging in close contact with crocodiles, poisonous snakes and spiders, and other dangerous creatures. His continual message was that we should respect nature, understand it, and protect animals from abuse and extinction. Irwin frequently had highly dangerous encounters with animals, always warning his TV viewers of what the dangers were but telling us we should not be afraid of nature and should understand it and live in harmony with it. Part of his appeal, however, was the daredevil nature of his exploits, and the number of times he placed

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Glenn Ford and the American Character

August 31, 2006
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Glenn Ford and the American Character

Actor Glenn Ford died yesterday at the age of 90 after a long career in the movies and television. Perhaps best known to modern audiences as Clark Kent’s father in Richard Donner’s Superman—The Movie, Ford made a solid career as a leading man despite a near-complete lack of charisma and magnetism. Ford’s stolid, mature persona contrasted greatly with those of popular contemporaries such as Marlon Brando, Montgomery Clift, and James Dean who valued a high degree of explicit emotional expression. Ford could show passion when called upon, as in the suspense film Ransom (remade in 1996 as a Mel Gibson vehicle) and the drama The Blackboard Jungle, but even in those cases his stoicism is what we remember most vividly. Ford’s characters often had serious flaws—such as stubbornness, irresponsibility, jealousy, and lack of intelligence—and these flaws led to interesting moral complexities in his best films. In both his virtues and his flaws, Ford represented a strong strain of the American character—the adventurousness, the uncompromising striving for rectitude, and the relentless and often disorganized pursuit of what is right and good in life. Ford’s best films and most memorable performances admirably reflect this complex set of attributes: classic crime dramas such

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Baby Poop Art

August 30, 2006
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In our ongoing Everything Happens in the Omniculture department, E! Online reports that a bronze sculpture purporting to be the first solid poop from Tom and Katie Cruise’s daughter, Suri, goes on display today at a Brooklyn, NY, art musuem. Yes, but is it Art? Short answer: No.  Of course, the museum makes a nice excuse for it, as E! reports: "It’s partially a statement on modern media that ‘celebrity poop’ has more entertainment value than health, famine or other critical issues facing society and governments today," the Capla crew said in a statement, "and also the absurdity of the media coverage on Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes’ new baby, Suri Cruise, which has reached stellar proportions, eclipsing far more notable events with more substance." Yes, a comment on modern media. Thanks for that. Without a sculpture of baby poop, we would never have known that the modern media are superficial—and that modern museums are so much better.   

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Hong Kong Entertainers Protest Invasions of Privacy

August 29, 2006
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Hong Kong Entertainers Protest Invasions of Privacy

A protest movement in Hong Kong (led by one of my favorite entertainment figures, Jackie Chan), sheds light on some interesting differences between America’s wide-open Omniculture and other, politically different places, and also on a conflict endemic to modern societies and which will surely become increasingly thorny.   AP reports: Jackie Chan and fellow stars marched silently Tuesday to Hong Kong’s government headquarters, protesting against a gossip magazine that featured a cover photo of a pop singer changing backstage. The celebrities, wearing black T-shirts, handed over a petition denouncing the photos that were secretly taken of Hong Kong pop singer Gillian Chung, part of the popular female duo Twins. The stars urged the government to tighten laws governing racy publications. Chung was shown adjusting her bra backstage after a concert in Malaysia’s Genting Highlands. It appeared on the cover of the current issue of Easy Finder weekly. That is what’s considered racy over there, in terms of open publication at least. And in great contrast to America’s entertainment community, which perpetually worries that the nation is sliding down a slippery slope to imminent federal censorship of entertainment (an entirely absurd notion), the Hong Kong entertainers and members of the public

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Tom Cruises to New Partners

August 29, 2006
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Tom Cruises to New Partners

Actor and film producer Tom Cruise has quickly found funding for his production company, which Paramount Pictures jettisoned last week. Reuters reports: Heralding the start of an unusual entrepreneurial relationship, Tom Cruise and his producing partner said Monday they have joined forces with a new investment partnership that will fund the duo’s production endeavors for the next two years. The announcement comes less than a week after Viacom Inc. and its Paramount Pictures unit publicly revealed they had ended negotiations to renew the studio’s 14-year deal with Cruise/Wagner Prods., which Cruise runs with Paula Wagner. In comments unprecedented for their bluntness, Viacom chairman Sumner Redstone said last Tuesday that Cruise had committed "creative suicide." Wagner quickly countered that C/W was not planning to renew anyway, and planned to seek other options, including a deal with hedge funds to provide about $100 million in financing. The company will produce a variety of types of films, some starring Cruise. The option for a long-term arrangement will be settled after the two-year contract is concluded. The Reuters report points out that the agreement sets up a new model for actors’ production companies in light of recent changes in Hollywood’s economic situation, and that

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