It's not a secret that Hollywood has a really sordid history with the way transgender characters have been presented on film. While bigoted pundits like to pretend that trans people and trans representation in entertainment is somehow a new concept, films like "Myra Breckinridge" were shocking and subverting audience expectations over half a century ago. Unlike the transgender media of our current era that often put cis men like Jared Leto, Eddie Redmayne, and Jeffrey Tambor in drag, "Myra Breckinridge" instead chose to cast Raquel Welch, an international sex symbol at the time, in the titular role.
The film was an adaptation of Gore Vidal's controversial book of the same name, a title that was equal parts bestseller and banned text. It's one of the earliest known novels to feature a protagonist who has undergone gender affirmation surgery and dissects themes of feminism, gender performance, America's unhealthy relationship with toxic masculinity,...
The film was an adaptation of Gore Vidal's controversial book of the same name, a title that was equal parts bestseller and banned text. It's one of the earliest known novels to feature a protagonist who has undergone gender affirmation surgery and dissects themes of feminism, gender performance, America's unhealthy relationship with toxic masculinity,...
- 2/16/2023
- by BJ Colangelo
- Slash Film
Raquel Welch, the movie star and model Playboy declared "the most desirable woman of the 1970s," has died at the age of 82. According to her manager, Steve Sauer, (via CNN) Welch passed away after a "brief illness."
Welch was a much-buzzed-about Hollywood ingenue throughout the early 1960s before attaining international stardom in 1966's sci-fi classic "Fantastic Voyage" and the prehistoric Hammer flick "One Million Years B.C." While the latter movie did little to enhance her reputation as an actor, the sight of Welch in a two-piece deerskin bikini made her the pin-up heir to Marilyn Monroe.
Welch's physical beauty was undeniable, and she embraced her sex symbol status. But the Latina performer, who adopted her first husband's last name to avoid the kind of typecasting that drove Rita Moreno from Hollywood at the height of her popularity, knew she was more than just a pretty face, and proved it time and again throughout her career.
Welch was a much-buzzed-about Hollywood ingenue throughout the early 1960s before attaining international stardom in 1966's sci-fi classic "Fantastic Voyage" and the prehistoric Hammer flick "One Million Years B.C." While the latter movie did little to enhance her reputation as an actor, the sight of Welch in a two-piece deerskin bikini made her the pin-up heir to Marilyn Monroe.
Welch's physical beauty was undeniable, and she embraced her sex symbol status. But the Latina performer, who adopted her first husband's last name to avoid the kind of typecasting that drove Rita Moreno from Hollywood at the height of her popularity, knew she was more than just a pretty face, and proved it time and again throughout her career.
- 2/15/2023
- by Jeremy Smith
- Slash Film
This 2011 theatrical remake of John le Carré’s spy classic is a happy surprise — it’s every bit as distinctive and accomplished as the famed Alec Guinness TV miniseries. Swedish director Tomas Alfredson and the writers know how to tell a story — at just over two hours it’s neither bloated nor curtailed. Gary Oldman immediately makes the brilliant George Smiley his own — he’s younger but just as quiet and secretive. Oldman is surrounded by distinctive talent, an ensemble that serves the story: John Hurt, Colin Firth, Toby Jones, Ciarán Hinds, Benedict Cumberbatch, Mark Strong, Tom Hardy. It’s a delight for mystery-spy fans whether or not they’re familiar with the John le Carré-George Smiley universe.
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
2011 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 128 min. / Street Date February 22, 2022 / available through Kino Lorber / 39.95
Starring: Gary Oldman, Tom Hardy, John Hurt, Colin Firth, Toby Jones,...
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
2011 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 128 min. / Street Date February 22, 2022 / available through Kino Lorber / 39.95
Starring: Gary Oldman, Tom Hardy, John Hurt, Colin Firth, Toby Jones,...
- 4/19/2022
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Director, producer and screenwriter Michael Laughlin, whose credits include Two-Lane Blacktop, Town & Country and Strange Behavior, died on October 20th at the age of 82.
Laughlin succumbed to complications related to Covid-19 and passed in his residence in Honolulu, Hawaii.
Michael Stoddard Laughlin was born in 1938 and brought up in Minonk, Illinois. Laughlin played basketball at Stanford University, later graduating from Principia College in 1960.
Shortly after, he moved to London where he started his career as a film producer. He worked on projects like The Whispers and 1968’s Joanna directed by Michael Sarne. Laughlin married French actress Leslie Caron during his time in Europe. They divorced in 1980.
In the ’70s, Laughlin helped produce the Monte Hellman-directed cult classic Two-Lane Blacktop, starring James Taylor. In 2012, the Library of Congress selected the film for preservation in the United States National Film Registry as being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.”
Other credits include 1981’s Strange Behaviors,...
Laughlin succumbed to complications related to Covid-19 and passed in his residence in Honolulu, Hawaii.
Michael Stoddard Laughlin was born in 1938 and brought up in Minonk, Illinois. Laughlin played basketball at Stanford University, later graduating from Principia College in 1960.
Shortly after, he moved to London where he started his career as a film producer. He worked on projects like The Whispers and 1968’s Joanna directed by Michael Sarne. Laughlin married French actress Leslie Caron during his time in Europe. They divorced in 1980.
In the ’70s, Laughlin helped produce the Monte Hellman-directed cult classic Two-Lane Blacktop, starring James Taylor. In 2012, the Library of Congress selected the film for preservation in the United States National Film Registry as being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.”
Other credits include 1981’s Strange Behaviors,...
- 11/1/2021
- by Brandon Choe
- Deadline Film + TV
Michael Laughlin, a filmmaker and producer whose credits included the likes of 1971’s “Two-Lane Blacktop” and 1981’s “Strange Behavior,” died on Oct. 20 from complications related to Covid-19. He was 82 years old.
Laughlin’s death was confirmed to Variety by his friend Brooke Nasser. He died in Honolulu, Hawaii, where had been living for many years.
Laughlin was born and raised in Illinois. He was recruited to play basketball at Stanford University and graduated from Principia College in 1960.
After moving to London, Laughlin began a career as a film producer, working on projects such as Bryan Forbes’ 1967 thriller “The Whispers” and the 1968 feature “Joanna,” director Michael Sarne’s precursor to “Myra Breckinridge.” He met and married French actress and ballerina Leslie Caron during his time abroad. The two separated in 1975.
During the 1970s, Laughlin helped bring eight independent features to fruition, including the Monte Hellman-directed cult classic “Two-Lane Blacktop.” Interviews...
Laughlin’s death was confirmed to Variety by his friend Brooke Nasser. He died in Honolulu, Hawaii, where had been living for many years.
Laughlin was born and raised in Illinois. He was recruited to play basketball at Stanford University and graduated from Principia College in 1960.
After moving to London, Laughlin began a career as a film producer, working on projects such as Bryan Forbes’ 1967 thriller “The Whispers” and the 1968 feature “Joanna,” director Michael Sarne’s precursor to “Myra Breckinridge.” He met and married French actress and ballerina Leslie Caron during his time abroad. The two separated in 1975.
During the 1970s, Laughlin helped bring eight independent features to fruition, including the Monte Hellman-directed cult classic “Two-Lane Blacktop.” Interviews...
- 10/31/2021
- by J. Kim Murphy
- Variety Film + TV
There weren’t many other figures of old Hollywood like Mae West, a bold comic performer who was at least 50 years head of her time in terms of her material and command of her career.
She was born August 17, probably in 1893, though accounts differ. Variety covered her vaudeville appearances starting in 1911, describing her as a “cyclonic young singer” in shows like “Big Gaiety Review.” In 1912, Variety tried to discreetly describe her specialty act in Philadelphia, which was called “A Muscle Dance in a Sitting Position.” The PR stated: “It is all in the way she does it, and her way is all her own.”
That doesn’t provide a lot of clues, but the phrase “her way is all her own” sums up her style and her work. West took charge of her life and career. She challenged taboos by dealing with sex in a comic tone, when America’s...
She was born August 17, probably in 1893, though accounts differ. Variety covered her vaudeville appearances starting in 1911, describing her as a “cyclonic young singer” in shows like “Big Gaiety Review.” In 1912, Variety tried to discreetly describe her specialty act in Philadelphia, which was called “A Muscle Dance in a Sitting Position.” The PR stated: “It is all in the way she does it, and her way is all her own.”
That doesn’t provide a lot of clues, but the phrase “her way is all her own” sums up her style and her work. West took charge of her life and career. She challenged taboos by dealing with sex in a comic tone, when America’s...
- 8/17/2021
- by Tim Gray
- Variety Film + TV
Giler was also a screenwriter on films including ‘Alien3’ and ‘The Money Pit’.
David Giler, a producer and writer on the Alien franchise, has died aged 77. He had been suffering from cancer and died at his home in Bangkok on December 19.
Walter Hill, his long-time producing partner with whom he co-wrote the story for Aliens and screenplay for Alien3, said: “If you knew David, you knew he was special.
“The magic of his personality is hard to describe: funny, angry, extremely knowledgeable, extremely well read; it was my privilege to write and produce with him, and more importantly, to have...
David Giler, a producer and writer on the Alien franchise, has died aged 77. He had been suffering from cancer and died at his home in Bangkok on December 19.
Walter Hill, his long-time producing partner with whom he co-wrote the story for Aliens and screenplay for Alien3, said: “If you knew David, you knew he was special.
“The magic of his personality is hard to describe: funny, angry, extremely knowledgeable, extremely well read; it was my privilege to write and produce with him, and more importantly, to have...
- 12/22/2020
- by Michael Rosser
- ScreenDaily
David Giler, a writer, producer or both on some of the most high-profile films of the 1970s and ’80s, from the controversial Myra Breckinridge to the immensely popular Alien franchise, died of cancer Dec. 19 at his home in Bangkok. He was 77.
His death was announced by spokesman Jeff Sanderson.
“If you knew David, you knew he was special,” said director Walter Hill, his longtime writing and producing partner. “The magic of his personality is hard to describe: funny, angry, extremely knowledgeable, extremely well read; it was my privilege to write and produce with him, and more importantly, to have his close and deep friendship for nearly 50 years.”
Giler’s screenwriting credits include The Parallax View (1974), Fun With Dick And Jane (1977) and The Money Pit (1986). He has writing or story credits for both Aliens (1986) and Aliens 3 (1992), and was a producer of the original Alien (1979) and its seven sequels, up to 2017’s...
His death was announced by spokesman Jeff Sanderson.
“If you knew David, you knew he was special,” said director Walter Hill, his longtime writing and producing partner. “The magic of his personality is hard to describe: funny, angry, extremely knowledgeable, extremely well read; it was my privilege to write and produce with him, and more importantly, to have his close and deep friendship for nearly 50 years.”
Giler’s screenwriting credits include The Parallax View (1974), Fun With Dick And Jane (1977) and The Money Pit (1986). He has writing or story credits for both Aliens (1986) and Aliens 3 (1992), and was a producer of the original Alien (1979) and its seven sequels, up to 2017’s...
- 12/21/2020
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
Pictures like Midnight Cowboy pulled everyone my age group into the movies, while the entire older generation likely stopped going to movies altogether. John Schlesinger’s masterpiece can boast a number of firsts, and deserves the high praise it receives from every angle — this was the epitome of progressive filmmaking circa 1969.
Midnight Cowboy
Blu-ray
The Criterion Collection 925
1969 / Color / 1:85 widescreen/ 113 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date May 29, 2018 / 39.95
Starring: Dustin Hoffman, Jon Voight, Sylvia Miles, John McGiver, Brenda Vaccaro, Barnard Hughes, Ruth White, Jennifer Salt, Anthony Holland, Bob Balaban, Viva, Ultra Violet, Taylor Mead, Paul Morrissey, Pat Ast, Marlene Clark, Sandy Duncan, M. Emmet Walsh.
Cinematography: Adam Holender
Film Editor: Hugh A. Robertson
Production Design: John Robert Lloyd
Original Music: John Barry
Written by Waldo Salt, based on the novel by James Leo Herlihy
Produced by Jerome Hellman, Kenneth Utt
Directed by John Schlesigner
Midnight Cowboy is perhaps the...
Midnight Cowboy
Blu-ray
The Criterion Collection 925
1969 / Color / 1:85 widescreen/ 113 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date May 29, 2018 / 39.95
Starring: Dustin Hoffman, Jon Voight, Sylvia Miles, John McGiver, Brenda Vaccaro, Barnard Hughes, Ruth White, Jennifer Salt, Anthony Holland, Bob Balaban, Viva, Ultra Violet, Taylor Mead, Paul Morrissey, Pat Ast, Marlene Clark, Sandy Duncan, M. Emmet Walsh.
Cinematography: Adam Holender
Film Editor: Hugh A. Robertson
Production Design: John Robert Lloyd
Original Music: John Barry
Written by Waldo Salt, based on the novel by James Leo Herlihy
Produced by Jerome Hellman, Kenneth Utt
Directed by John Schlesigner
Midnight Cowboy is perhaps the...
- 5/26/2018
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
No, not a blind Sherlock Holmes, but a blind Van Johnson, who directs his butler, his girlfriend Vera Miles and the London police to thwart a crime based on something he overheard in a bar. Henry Hathaway directs a complicated murder mystery that plays like a combo of Rear Window and Wait Until Dark, with a cranky Van Johnson as the central character.
23 Paces to Baker Street
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1956 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 103 min. / Street Date February 21, 2017 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring: Van Johnson, Vera Miles, Cecil Parker, Patricia Laffan, Maurice Denham, Estelle Winwood, Liam Redmond, Isobel Elsom, Martin Benson, Queenie Leonard.
Cinematography: Milton Krasner
Film Editor: James B. Clark
Original Music: Leigh Harline
Written by Nigel Balchin from the novel Warrant for X by Philip MacDonald
Produced by Henry Ephron
Directed by Henry Hathaway
In the 1950s the murder mystery thriller came of age, as creakier older formulas...
23 Paces to Baker Street
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1956 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 103 min. / Street Date February 21, 2017 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring: Van Johnson, Vera Miles, Cecil Parker, Patricia Laffan, Maurice Denham, Estelle Winwood, Liam Redmond, Isobel Elsom, Martin Benson, Queenie Leonard.
Cinematography: Milton Krasner
Film Editor: James B. Clark
Original Music: Leigh Harline
Written by Nigel Balchin from the novel Warrant for X by Philip MacDonald
Produced by Henry Ephron
Directed by Henry Hathaway
In the 1950s the murder mystery thriller came of age, as creakier older formulas...
- 3/25/2017
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Shelley Winters, Christopher Jones and Diane Varsi star in American-International's most successful 'youth rebellion' epic -- a political sci-fi satire about a rock star whose opportunistic political movement overthrows the government and puts everyone over 35 into concentration camps... to be force-fed LSD. Wild in the Streets Blu-ray Olive Films 1968 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 97 min. / Street Date August 16, 2016 / available through the Olive Films website / 29.98 Starring Shelley Winters, Christopher Jones, Diane Varsi, Hal Holbrook, Millie Perkins, Richard Pryor, Bert Freed, Kevin Coughlin, Larry Bishop, Michael Margotta, Ed Begley, May Ishihara. Cinematography Richard Moore Film Editor Fred Feitshans Jr., Eve Newman Original Music Les Baxter Written by Robert Thom from his short story "The Day it All Happened, Baby" Produced by Burt Topper Directed by Barry Shear
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
Back around 1965 - 1966 we endured this stupid buzzword concept called The Generation Gap, a notion that there was a natural divide between old people and their kids.
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
Back around 1965 - 1966 we endured this stupid buzzword concept called The Generation Gap, a notion that there was a natural divide between old people and their kids.
- 8/22/2016
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
This is my film review and it Freaks Me Out! Girlie-art legend Russ Meyer and then- tyro critic Roger Ebert fashion the most garish, vulgar and absurd satire of wild Hollywood that they can think of, a camp vision of joy straight from the dizzy imagination of a breast-obsessed glamour photographer. All your favorites are here -- Erica Gavin, Dolly Read, Marcia McBroom, Cynthia Meyers, Edy Williams. Beyond the Valley of the Dolls + The Seven Minutes Region B Blu-ray + Pal DVD Arrow Video (UK) 1970 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 109 min. / Street Date January 18, 2016 / Available from Amazon UK £17.99 Starring Dolly Read, Cynthia Meyers, Marcia McBroom, Erica Gavin, John Lazar, Michael Blodgett, David Gurian, Edy Williams, Phyllis Davis, Harrison Page, Duncan McLeod, Charles Napier, Haji, Pam Grier, Coleman Francis, The Strawberry Alarm Clock. Cinematography Fred J. Koenecamp Editors Dann Cahn, Dick Wormell Original Music Stu Phillips Written by Roger Ebert, Russ Meyer Produced and...
- 1/26/2016
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
“Well, the end of another busy day. I can’t wait till I get back to bed. If that don’t work I’ll try to sleep!”
Myra Breckinridge screens Wednesday night December 2nd at Schlafly Bottleworks at 8pm
You never know what’s brewing at Webster University’s Strange Brew Film series, and there’s nothing stranger than this month’s entry, Myra Breckinridge. Gore Vidal’s 1968 satirical novel Myra Breckinridge was considered un-filmable to begin with. That’s probably true. There’s no way that this story about a sex change operation could have ever become a classic mainstream movie. But the 1970 film version is not all that bad, In fact, thanks mostly to some really clever casting (bringing Mae West into the film was a stroke of genius and a young Farrah Fawcett is quite a sight) and a wonderful, bitingly funny and dead-on performance by a young Raquel Welch,...
Myra Breckinridge screens Wednesday night December 2nd at Schlafly Bottleworks at 8pm
You never know what’s brewing at Webster University’s Strange Brew Film series, and there’s nothing stranger than this month’s entry, Myra Breckinridge. Gore Vidal’s 1968 satirical novel Myra Breckinridge was considered un-filmable to begin with. That’s probably true. There’s no way that this story about a sex change operation could have ever become a classic mainstream movie. But the 1970 film version is not all that bad, In fact, thanks mostly to some really clever casting (bringing Mae West into the film was a stroke of genius and a young Farrah Fawcett is quite a sight) and a wonderful, bitingly funny and dead-on performance by a young Raquel Welch,...
- 11/26/2015
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Lukasz Palkowski’s Gods was the big winner at this year’s annual showcase of Polish cinema at the Gdynia Film Festival which ended with a gala awards ceremony at the weekend.
Gods (Bogowie), based on the life of Zbigniew Religa who performed the first successful heart transplant in Poland in the 1980s, received the Grand Prix Golden Lions for best film as well as individual awards in the categories of screenplay, make-up, production design and actor in a leading role for Tomasz Kot.
In addition, Gods received the award of the Polish Film Festivals and Reviews Abroad as well as the Journalists’ Award, Elle magazine’s Star of the Stars award for lead actor Kot and Radio Gdansk’s Golden Claquer Award for the longest applauded film at a screening in the Musical Theatre for the Main Competition.
Palkowski made his feature directorial debut in 2007 with Reserve, which won three prize at the festival in Gdynia...
Gods (Bogowie), based on the life of Zbigniew Religa who performed the first successful heart transplant in Poland in the 1980s, received the Grand Prix Golden Lions for best film as well as individual awards in the categories of screenplay, make-up, production design and actor in a leading role for Tomasz Kot.
In addition, Gods received the award of the Polish Film Festivals and Reviews Abroad as well as the Journalists’ Award, Elle magazine’s Star of the Stars award for lead actor Kot and Radio Gdansk’s Golden Claquer Award for the longest applauded film at a screening in the Musical Theatre for the Main Competition.
Palkowski made his feature directorial debut in 2007 with Reserve, which won three prize at the festival in Gdynia...
- 9/22/2014
- by screen.berlin@googlemail.com (Martin Blaney)
- ScreenDaily
Wheeler Winston Dixon’s Cinema at the Margins is an enlightening collection of essays and interviews. Wearing his encyclopedic knowledge lightly, Dixon shares his expert insights and research in an eloquent, eminently readable style. I chose to review his new book because its reference to the ‘margins’ held the enticing promise of new discoveries, and a brief survey of its table of contents confirmed that, alongside well-known and much-loved names, there were also unfamiliar ones. The volume covers an early film by Peter Bogdanovich, the horror movies of Lucio Fulci, American 1930s and 40s science fiction serials, the TV series Dragnet, the brief career of Argentine director Fabián Bielinsky and the long one of Hollywood director Sam Newfield, Robert Bresson’s Les Dames du Bois de Boulogne (1945), U.S. 1960s experimental cinema, Dixon’s own meditation on the shift to digital, and interviews with music video director Dale “Rage” Resteghini,...
- 3/17/2014
- by Alison Frank
- The Moving Arts Journal
With the words, "I never play over twenty-eight," Mae West supposedly ruled herself out of consideration for the role of Norma Desmond in Billy Wilder's Sunset Blvd. It's hard to work out why she was considered, since she had no associating with silent cinema, but perhaps at that stage the character was pre-Code rather than pre-sound. At any rate, Gloria Swanson took the role and enjoyed a renaissance, in the process obscuring the fact that she had enjoyed some brief success in early talkies (including one co-written by Wilder).
Maybe West just seemed like someone who wouldn't be shy about playing love scenes with a younger man. Much, much younger. She got her chance to prove this in Myra Breckinridge (1970), at the age of at least seventy-six. It's a moronic adaptation of Gore Vidal, directed by a British actor whose big idea was to make the whole thing a dream sequence.
Maybe West just seemed like someone who wouldn't be shy about playing love scenes with a younger man. Much, much younger. She got her chance to prove this in Myra Breckinridge (1970), at the age of at least seventy-six. It's a moronic adaptation of Gore Vidal, directed by a British actor whose big idea was to make the whole thing a dream sequence.
- 2/14/2013
- by David Cairns
- MUBI
"Zero Dark Thirty" was going to be a divisive movie if only because of its subject matter, but one aspect of the film can definitely be agreed upon: Jessica Chastain gives a fantastic turn as main character Maya. She's almost guaranteed an Oscar nomination for Best Actress and already earned herself a Golden Globe nod, and it would be a surprise if she didn't walk away with both wins.
Even if she doesn't take home any major awards, Chastain's Maya is still one of the most interesting characters to be introduced this past year. Based on the CIA operative who led the team that killed Osama bin Laden -- and deliverer of one of the best lines of the year -- Chastain didn't have an easy job bringing Maya to life.
"I had three months before we started shooting that I went to 'school' for it I guess," she reveals.
Even if she doesn't take home any major awards, Chastain's Maya is still one of the most interesting characters to be introduced this past year. Based on the CIA operative who led the team that killed Osama bin Laden -- and deliverer of one of the best lines of the year -- Chastain didn't have an easy job bringing Maya to life.
"I had three months before we started shooting that I went to 'school' for it I guess," she reveals.
- 1/4/2013
- by editorial@zap2it.com
- Pop2it
Zero Dark Thirty reunites filmmaker Kathryn Bigelow and screenwriter Mark Boal, who collaborated on the Best Picture winner The Hurt Locker. This time around, the duo chronicles the decade-long manhunt to find Osama Bin Laden, a manhunt which came to an end with the terrorist’s death on May 2nd, 2011. Though it begins its theatrical release this Friday, the movie has already won several prestigious awards including Best Film from Boston Society of Film Critics, the New York Film Critics Circle and the National Board of Review.
Recently, Bigelow, Boal and Chastain attended a press day for the film in Los Angeles, where they spoke about making the film, how involved the Pentagon was, what kind of research went into it, how the film’s look and tone was created and much, much more.
Check it out below.
We Got This Covered: So much of this movie is based on...
Recently, Bigelow, Boal and Chastain attended a press day for the film in Los Angeles, where they spoke about making the film, how involved the Pentagon was, what kind of research went into it, how the film’s look and tone was created and much, much more.
Check it out below.
We Got This Covered: So much of this movie is based on...
- 12/19/2012
- by Ben Kenber
- We Got This Covered
Former CIA agent exposed in 2003 praises emergence of heroine 'whose most important weapon is her intellect'
The heroine of Kathryn Bigelow's controversial new movie Zero Dark Thirty stands out for her weapon of choice when helping to run down Osama bin Laden – a quick and ruthless mind.
Unlike other female spies portrayed in Us popular culture, "Maya" – who is closely based on a real-life and unidentified CIA operative – does not use sex to seduce her enemies or, like Angelina Jolie characters, attempt to prove she can kick ass harder than men. Instead, it is Maya's drive, ferocious determination and keen intellect that bags the most wanted man on the planet.
It is a portrayal that has struck a chord with someone who should know: the high-profile former CIA agent Valerie Plame. "In popular culture, female agents are usually either highly sexualised or hugely physical – it is either using a sequinned dress or a gun.
The heroine of Kathryn Bigelow's controversial new movie Zero Dark Thirty stands out for her weapon of choice when helping to run down Osama bin Laden – a quick and ruthless mind.
Unlike other female spies portrayed in Us popular culture, "Maya" – who is closely based on a real-life and unidentified CIA operative – does not use sex to seduce her enemies or, like Angelina Jolie characters, attempt to prove she can kick ass harder than men. Instead, it is Maya's drive, ferocious determination and keen intellect that bags the most wanted man on the planet.
It is a portrayal that has struck a chord with someone who should know: the high-profile former CIA agent Valerie Plame. "In popular culture, female agents are usually either highly sexualised or hugely physical – it is either using a sequinned dress or a gun.
- 12/17/2012
- by Paul Harris
- The Guardian - Film News
"Zero Dark Thirty," the epic new film about the decade-long quest to bring down Osama bin Laden, is a movie of such unfathomable complexity that it's hard to imagine anyone having the wherewithal or skill to corral this thing into a workable narrative. That task fell to the Oscar-winning duo behind Iraq War thriller "The Hurt Locker," writer Mark Boal and director Kathryn Bigelow. Bigelow and Boal were able to synthesize a seemingly bottomless amount of data into a taut, rollicking, nearly three-hour real-life piece of masterful suspense filmmaking. We were lucky enough to get to sit down with Boal and Bigelow, who talked about what it was like wrangling the research into a narrative, the movie's "chapter headings," how Bigelow might be a serial killer and whether or not Area 51 was really involved in the hunt for Osama bin Laden. What made you delve into this immediately after "Hurt Locker?...
- 12/12/2012
- by Drew Taylor
- Moviefone
Joanna follows a 17 year old girl (Genevieve Waite) who comes to London and falls into the swinging cosmopolitan of the big city; before associating herself with some high-rollers via her connections to the art world. Indulging in random holidays abroad - courtesy of her newfound friend Lord Sanderson (Donald Sutherland) - and casual sex, courtesy of the rest of her male friends. However, when Joanna eventually falls in love with Gordon (Calvin Lockhart), her life begins to catch up with her, causing her endless trouble and problems. Michael Sarne displays the changing attitudes to love and sex in the 1960’s through the eyes of a promiscuous young art student, all the while highlighting issues with racism, drugs and sexual politics.
For me, the stand out performance has to go to Donald Sutherland, who role as the dying Lord Sanderson is nothing short of masterful. He is philosophical, eccentric and charming in equal parts,...
For me, the stand out performance has to go to Donald Sutherland, who role as the dying Lord Sanderson is nothing short of masterful. He is philosophical, eccentric and charming in equal parts,...
- 5/17/2011
- Shadowlocked
Normal 0 false false false En-us X-none X-none
By Matthew Field
BFI Flipside was launched in May 2009 with a mission to expose the hidden history of British cinema by releasing restored prints on DVD and Blu-ray of British films that have slipped through the cracks of time. Now on its 17th release the label has released everything from exploitation documentaries about the seedy sixties (London In The Raw) to B-movies featuring Oliver Reed (The Party's Over), Shirley Anne Field (Lunch Hour), Klaus Kinski (The Pleasure Girls) and Withnail & I director Bruce Robinson (Private Road). If it's weird, British and forgotten, then it's Flipside.
Developed from its popular monthly screening slot at BFI Southbank, the Flipside titles are newly mastered to High Definition from original film elements, and are presented with rare and fascinating special features - including previously unavailable short films, documentaries and archival interviews, many of which are preserved in the BFI National Archive.
By Matthew Field
BFI Flipside was launched in May 2009 with a mission to expose the hidden history of British cinema by releasing restored prints on DVD and Blu-ray of British films that have slipped through the cracks of time. Now on its 17th release the label has released everything from exploitation documentaries about the seedy sixties (London In The Raw) to B-movies featuring Oliver Reed (The Party's Over), Shirley Anne Field (Lunch Hour), Klaus Kinski (The Pleasure Girls) and Withnail & I director Bruce Robinson (Private Road). If it's weird, British and forgotten, then it's Flipside.
Developed from its popular monthly screening slot at BFI Southbank, the Flipside titles are newly mastered to High Definition from original film elements, and are presented with rare and fascinating special features - including previously unavailable short films, documentaries and archival interviews, many of which are preserved in the BFI National Archive.
- 5/10/2011
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
It was colourful, it made the city look beautiful, and included plenty of sex – Mike Sarne's film about one girl's lovelife in the capital defines the swinging 60s better than any other
No matter what you accomplish in life, a novelty hit casts a long shadow. David Bowie manages to get through most days without people shouting "laughing gnome" at him, but Mike Sarne is certainly best remembered for his No 1 single, Come Outside, a record that also introduced us to his (vinyl only) girlfriend, Wendy Richard. History is less quick to recall that he became a photographer of note, dated Brigitte Bardot and directed a film that competed for the Palme d'Or at Cannes.
That film, Joanna, may be the ultimate swinging London film: it's colourful, makes the city look beautiful, includes plenty of sex and is even fairly believable. "I pitched it as the female Alfie," recalls Sarne,...
No matter what you accomplish in life, a novelty hit casts a long shadow. David Bowie manages to get through most days without people shouting "laughing gnome" at him, but Mike Sarne is certainly best remembered for his No 1 single, Come Outside, a record that also introduced us to his (vinyl only) girlfriend, Wendy Richard. History is less quick to recall that he became a photographer of note, dated Brigitte Bardot and directed a film that competed for the Palme d'Or at Cannes.
That film, Joanna, may be the ultimate swinging London film: it's colourful, makes the city look beautiful, includes plenty of sex and is even fairly believable. "I pitched it as the female Alfie," recalls Sarne,...
- 4/21/2011
- by Bob Stanley
- The Guardian - Film News
Episode Number: 7029 (February 28, 2011)
Guests: Michael Scheuer
Segments: Anonymous Hacks The Colbert Report, Tip/Wag – Joe Reed & Levi’s Ex-Girlfriend Jeans, Art Stephen Up Challenge – Phillips de Pury Auction
Videos: Monday, February 28, 2011
Did anyone else catch the Charlie Sheen reference in the intro to the show? Luckily for me the hubby sent me a link to one of the many, many Sheen mashups out there or I wouldn’t have caught it. I’m so out of the pop culture loop.
I don’t know why, but the thought of Stephen getting online and looking at bits about himself and the Anonymous controversy makes me smile. “Pwned? Don’t make me Lol. Omg, u r making me woot and squee, Tumblr please, #youvegogtmaildotorg!” The thought of Stephen taunting Anonymous both amuses and slightly scares me. I’m curious as to what Anonymous thinks of their hat tips. At any rate, Anonymous...
Guests: Michael Scheuer
Segments: Anonymous Hacks The Colbert Report, Tip/Wag – Joe Reed & Levi’s Ex-Girlfriend Jeans, Art Stephen Up Challenge – Phillips de Pury Auction
Videos: Monday, February 28, 2011
Did anyone else catch the Charlie Sheen reference in the intro to the show? Luckily for me the hubby sent me a link to one of the many, many Sheen mashups out there or I wouldn’t have caught it. I’m so out of the pop culture loop.
I don’t know why, but the thought of Stephen getting online and looking at bits about himself and the Anonymous controversy makes me smile. “Pwned? Don’t make me Lol. Omg, u r making me woot and squee, Tumblr please, #youvegogtmaildotorg!” The thought of Stephen taunting Anonymous both amuses and slightly scares me. I’m curious as to what Anonymous thinks of their hat tips. At any rate, Anonymous...
- 3/1/2011
- by DB
- No Fact Zone
The big entertainment news this weekend that didn't relate to the Oscars, clothing, or James Franco doing his best impression of a Lay's Baked potato chip was that Charlie Sheen has finally accomplished what we all thought was impossible; production has been halted on "Two and a Half Men." I'm sure you've all seen or heard the rant itself, or seen quotes from it placed on photos of adorable kittens which makes everything seem funnier and less like it came from the mouth of an unbalanced man who has probably burned through at least one septum with his coke usage. I'm thrilled because it always baffled me that a country that got up in arms over whether Lea Michele's shirt exposed too much of her sternum on the cover of Cosmo didn't say a word about a known drug abusing, hooker frequenting, girlfriend punching public relations disaster like Mr.
- 2/28/2011
- by Intern Rusty
From the opening sequences, in which crackpot mental-hospital patient Moni Moshonov holds a skull aloft and quotes extensively from Hamlet while a catatonic soldier slumps against a tree in the background, Forgiveness feels like a high-concept stage play, the kind of well-meant but pretentious project where grand themes are worked out in a claustrophobic setting among a small cast. While Israeli-born director Udi Aloni (Local Angel) opens up the settings to include location shooting in New York City and Israel, and operates with a complicated timeline, he never shakes that feeling of a small, crowded stage. Itay Tiran plays the son of Auschwitz survivor Michael Sarne, whose meek mixed guilt and pride in his heritage drives Tiran to a defiantly single-minded Zionism: He picks a fight at a Middle East peace rally, gets the star of David tattooed on his chest, moves to Israel to enlist in the army,...
- 9/11/2008
- by Tasha Robinson
- avclub.com
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