The other night, not unlike Monday nights a-many in the past, I found myself glued to the television, sucked in by a vortex commonly known as Intervention, the television series. Have you watched it? It’s a show about addiction. Beware, you’re liable to become addicted. (And I don’t feel very good about my problem, either, and I think I need help. Where’s my TV show for that?) Watching, I couldn’t help but think about a fewcolleagues I know in the NY documentary community who’ve begun to direct Intervention. Is this, could this be, is it anything near … documentary?
Well, documentary is a slippery term, as you know, already. Many filmmakers prefer “non fiction film.” Or just plain and simple, “movies.” The Intervention folk wouldn’t dare – they call their thing … a television series. A reality television series.
Jerry Lewis is not everyone’s favorite comedian. His abrasive laugh, nasally voice and loud, hammy impressions either rub you the wrong way or send you to the floor laughing. But love him or hate him, Jerry Lewis was a pioneer of physical comedy and also directed his most famous films. During an eight year streak he directed and starred in THE BELLBOY (1960), THE LADIES MAN (1961), THE ERRAND BOY (1961), THE NUTTY PROFESSOR (1963), THE PATSY (1964), THE FAMILY JEWELS (1965), THREE ON A COUCH (1966) AND THE BIG MOUTH (1967).
Starting November 12th, The Anthology Film Archives “addresses one of the questions that has challenged thinkers throughout the ages: could the French have gotten Jerry Lewis right?”
In a world of manufactured pop stars and even politicians getting better looking it is hard to believe that sometime not too long ago there were actors, singers, and celebrities, who, how should I say this, were a bit on the ugly side. Simon Doonan is someone who knows both beauty and ugly. As the creative director of Barneys he is day in and day out surrounded by beauty: models, fashion folks, fabulous people. Yet his personal style is quirky and at times, dare I say, ugly. His decorating tastes, prints, color, garish items, could also be described by the U.
There are a lot of top ten lists for “scariest movie of all time,” but from box office hits to oddball cult classics, there are some movies that turn up again and again. You’ll notice a few favorites are missing, namely HALLOWEEN (1978), which has great 70s kitsch value and hands down more naked boobs than any movie on this list, but as a movie, it’s really not all the frightening, right? And no, I didn’t forget THE EXORCIST (1973) either, but buckets of green puke are more gross than scary. You’ll notice, too, that there aren’t a lot of new scary movies, and that’s not because I don’t like them, but I think we should let them stand the test of time a bit before we start putting them on all-time lists.
10. WAIT UNTIL DARK (1967)
This oft-forgotten gem stars Audrey Hepburn as a blind woman terrorized by Alan Arkin and his gang of thugs who think she has a doll full of heroin. Bet you never thought a refrigerator light would save your life.
9. NOSFERATU (1922)
Greatest vampire movie of all time? Michael Myers stole all Nosferatu’s best moves in HALLOWEEN (the white face, the lurking) but the original is still the bone-chilling best.
The annual UK FrightFest is serious about scary movies. So serious they screen them all year long. But if you’re like me then you need Halloween as an impetus to indulge in all things poltergeist, zombie, monster and mutant. Fortunately, FrightFest is good for that too. All night long on Halloween, from 7pm to 7am, FrightFest will take you from goofy slasher to downright freaky with flicks like JENNIFER’S BODY, PARANORMAL ACTIVITY and winner of most promising title, WRONG TURN 3.
And as a reminder that scary can be funny too, FrightFest founders Adam Green and Joe Lynch bring you the festival teaser, “American Douchebags in London, Part 1.”
The gays love their cult classics. In film we’ve worshipped John Waters, BABY JANE, SHOWGIRLS, and GLITTER. TV: Absolutely Fabulous and The Comeback. Sometimes the television and films we embrace become mainstream hits. Sometimes, the straight world ignores them completely.
Peter Greenaway, famously known for his film THE COOK, THE THIEF, HIS WIFE, AND HER LOVER has a new film at the Film Forum this week – REMBRANDT’S J’ACCUSE. The pseudo-documentary follows Greenaway, acting as a kind of art history forensic expert, as he dissects Rembrandt’s painting “The Night Watch.” He catalogues 33 mysteries of the painting, unearthing evidence that Rembrandt intended for it to be an accusation of murder and that this act in fact provoked Rembrandt’s ultimate downfall and death. Greenaway’s “talking head” appears in a little box within the frame, speaking with a Hitchcock-like authoritarian tone and uses facts, supposition, and a little false logic to make his case. In his precise and slight absurdist way, he rebukes both mainstream cinema and the history of art, and one can’t help but get the impression that Greenaway is just having so much fun…
DJ Mayhem and MC Mouthmaster Murf, the duo behind the band The Anomolies have gained some fame and the adoration of nerdcore hip hop and action film fanboys alike in the past for their epic rap summarizations of classic blockbuster movies such PREDATOR and ROBOCOP. They’re back brilliantly again and this time apply their lyricism skills to “Arnie” and TERMINATOR 2.
Sundance Channel recently sat down for an interview with Karin Diann Williams & Stuart Hynson Culpepper, creators of THE CAPTIVE. Watch THE CAPTIVE now at Sundance Channel Digital Shorts.
What was the inspiration for The Captive?
Karin: Believe it or not, we started with just the idea that we wanted to make a web series. We had an inkling that the microseries was about to find its audience and really explode as a popular form.
Stuart: We saw all the activity blossoming on YouTube and sites like it and knew a huge audience was there and they were wanting something beyond the user-generated content, something thoughtful and well produced. So we took the plunge. Part of the idea for the themes and action in The Captive came from studying the kind of person we thought were going to engage: someone fairly tech literate and independent in their thinking.
The Onion is rather hit-or-miss these days. But the above video really made me laugh. And as a gay guy, who was once an effeminate little boy, it also resonated. All over this great land of ours on Saturday night moms and dads will try to butch up their girlish sons. It’s part of growing up gay in the USA and also why we see so many grown gay men, myself included, dressing up as princesses and stewardess and nurses in adulthood. It’s what we always wanted.
“Return to the Hundred Acre Wood” by David Benedictus is the first authorized sequel to A.A. Milne’s Winnie the Pooh tales and many commented on Benedictus’ introduction of a new character, the otter “Lottie.” Some are not a fan. I haven’t looked at it so can’t say whether this is a positive addition or yet another cynical attempt at cashing in on a popular franchsie. What I do know is that this old televised Russian version of Winnie the Pooh or “Vinnie Puh” is spectacular. Finally, all that Russian I took in high school is coming in handy!
