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There is perhaps no universe in which a true story that combines murder, money and scantily clad men is not going to be at least a little bit interesting, so Hulu’s Welcome to Chippendales has that going for it.
Also in its favor is an apparently generous budget to recreate the tale’s cocaine-fueled 1980s setting, through lavish sets, carefully curated costumes and an all-bangers soundtrack (Abba, Queen, Kiss). Then there’s the undeniably talented cast — led by Kumail Nanjiani — each of whom get the opportunity to show off what they can do with a meaningful gaze, a twitch of the cheek, a trace of hysteria in an otherwise measured voice.
What Welcome to Chippendales lacks, however, is a grander vision to hang all these blessings on. Over eight 45ish minute installments, the miniseries never quite works its way to a distinctive tone or style or perspective,...
There is perhaps no universe in which a true story that combines murder, money and scantily clad men is not going to be at least a little bit interesting, so Hulu’s Welcome to Chippendales has that going for it.
Also in its favor is an apparently generous budget to recreate the tale’s cocaine-fueled 1980s setting, through lavish sets, carefully curated costumes and an all-bangers soundtrack (Abba, Queen, Kiss). Then there’s the undeniably talented cast — led by Kumail Nanjiani — each of whom get the opportunity to show off what they can do with a meaningful gaze, a twitch of the cheek, a trace of hysteria in an otherwise measured voice.
What Welcome to Chippendales lacks, however, is a grander vision to hang all these blessings on. Over eight 45ish minute installments, the miniseries never quite works its way to a distinctive tone or style or perspective,...
- 11/21/2022
- by Angie Han
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Medusa Deluxe (Thomas Hardiman).The lineup for the 75th-anniversary edition of the festival has been announced, including new films by Helena Wittmann, João Pedro Rodrígues, Aleksandr Sokurov and others, alongside retrospectives, tributes, and much more.Piazza GRANDEAlles über Martin Suter. Ausser die Wahrheit. (Everything About Martin Suter. Everything but the Truth.) (André Schäfer)Annie Colère (Blandine Lenoir)Bullet Train (David Leitch)Compartiment tueurs (The Sleeping Car Murder) (Costa-Gavras)Delta (Michele Vannucci)Home of the Brave (Laurie Anderson)Imitation of Life (Douglas Sirk)Last Dance (Delphine Lehericey)Medusa Deluxe (Thomas Hardiman)My Neighbor Adolf (Leon Prudovsky)Paradise Highway (Anna Gutto)Piano Piano (Nicola Prosatore)Printed Rainbow (Gitanjali Rao)Semret (Caterina Mona)Une femme de notre temps (Jean Paul Civeyrac)Vous n'aurez pas ma haine (You Will Not Have My Hate) (Kilian Riedhof)Where the Crawdads Sing (Olivia Newman)Human Flowers of Flesh (Helena Wittmann).Concorso INTERNAZIONALEAriyippu (Declaration) (Mahesh Narayanan)Balıqlara xütbə...
- 7/13/2022
- MUBI
A recent episode of "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds" -- called "The Serene Squall" -- opened with a conversation between T'Pring (Gia Sandhu) and Spock (Ethan Peck) on the lack of sexual passion in their long-distance relationship. T'Pring reveals that, since Spock has been living among humans, she has been reading several human authors said to be experts in sexuality. She namedrops Henry Miller's "Tropic of Cancer," Erica Jong's "Fear of Flying," as well as "The Argonauts" by Maggie Nelson, an extended essay on gender, sexuality, and pregnancy that won a National Book Critics Circle Award in 2015. The writers of "The Serene Squall," Beau...
The post Every Star Trek Episode Title That is Actually a Shakespeare Reference appeared first on /Film.
The post Every Star Trek Episode Title That is Actually a Shakespeare Reference appeared first on /Film.
- 6/23/2022
- by Witney Seibold
- Slash Film
Exclusive: Amazon Studios has stepped up for Deadtown, an Entertainment One and Grey Matter Entertainment script that will be developed for a pilot by Shauna Cross. Deadtown is an adaptation of the Catherynne M. Valente novella The Refrigerator Monologues and the hourlong premise is a blueprint to create an original superhero universe set in the modern era with an underlying theme of female empowerment.
Five recently-dead women meet in Deadtown, a purgatory where they discover that their entire lives were merely in service to the superhero men they happened to cross paths with, resulting in each of their deaths. Or in comic book terms, they were “refrigerated”–frozen out of the story once they provided emotional backstory for the men. Until now. They start to discover their own powers, tell their sides of the narrative, and decide to write their own damn stories. And a group of seemingly ordinary women discover their own true power.
Five recently-dead women meet in Deadtown, a purgatory where they discover that their entire lives were merely in service to the superhero men they happened to cross paths with, resulting in each of their deaths. Or in comic book terms, they were “refrigerated”–frozen out of the story once they provided emotional backstory for the men. Until now. They start to discover their own powers, tell their sides of the narrative, and decide to write their own damn stories. And a group of seemingly ordinary women discover their own true power.
- 12/7/2018
- by Mike Fleming Jr
- Deadline Film + TV
It’s a credit to TV’s greater curiosity and openmindedness that when I beheld the four stars of “Book Club” — actresses ranging in age from 65 to 80 — my thoughts turned to how recently I’d seen them on their respective shows or in headlines about their upcoming series.
The ensemble romantic comedy benefits enormously from Diane Keaton, Jane Fonda and Mary Steenburgen keeping their comedic and dramatic muscles warmed up. None of the women are asked to do anything too strenuous in “Book Club,” but their collective charisma — along with their male co-stars’ — add up to an irresistible charmfest.
The premise of “Book Club” sounds, to be honest, excruciatingly dumb: A quartet of elderly friends are inspired by the “50 Shades of Grey” books to spice up their sex lives. But first-time director Bill Holderman, who penned the script with Erin Simms, smartly adds a pinch of salt to the sweetness...
The ensemble romantic comedy benefits enormously from Diane Keaton, Jane Fonda and Mary Steenburgen keeping their comedic and dramatic muscles warmed up. None of the women are asked to do anything too strenuous in “Book Club,” but their collective charisma — along with their male co-stars’ — add up to an irresistible charmfest.
The premise of “Book Club” sounds, to be honest, excruciatingly dumb: A quartet of elderly friends are inspired by the “50 Shades of Grey” books to spice up their sex lives. But first-time director Bill Holderman, who penned the script with Erin Simms, smartly adds a pinch of salt to the sweetness...
- 5/16/2018
- by Inkoo Kang
- The Wrap
Fund also supporting adaptation of erotic classic Fear Of Flying.
The Daniel Radcliffe action comedy Guns Akimbo the first screen adaptation of Erica Jong’s 1973 erotic classic Fear Of Flying are the latest projects to be supported by the international co-production fund operated under the auspices of the Bavarian Film & Television Fund (Fff Bayern) as part of a concerted drive to attract large-scale productions to the region.
The Fff subcommittee for international co-productions allocated €2m ($2.2m) apiece at its latest session on Wednesday (5 July) to two Us projects which will be co-produced with Munich-based companies and largely or completely shot on location in Bavaria.
Philipp Kreuzer and Joerg Schulze’s Maze Pictures are partnering Us producers Joe Neurauter and Felipe Marino of La/Munich-based Occupant Entertainment on New Zealand filmmaker Jason Lei Howden’s action comedy Guns Akimbo which already has Daniel Radcliffe attached for the lead role. Principal photography is set to be located completely in Bavaria...
The Daniel Radcliffe action comedy Guns Akimbo the first screen adaptation of Erica Jong’s 1973 erotic classic Fear Of Flying are the latest projects to be supported by the international co-production fund operated under the auspices of the Bavarian Film & Television Fund (Fff Bayern) as part of a concerted drive to attract large-scale productions to the region.
The Fff subcommittee for international co-productions allocated €2m ($2.2m) apiece at its latest session on Wednesday (5 July) to two Us projects which will be co-produced with Munich-based companies and largely or completely shot on location in Bavaria.
Philipp Kreuzer and Joerg Schulze’s Maze Pictures are partnering Us producers Joe Neurauter and Felipe Marino of La/Munich-based Occupant Entertainment on New Zealand filmmaker Jason Lei Howden’s action comedy Guns Akimbo which already has Daniel Radcliffe attached for the lead role. Principal photography is set to be located completely in Bavaria...
- 7/6/2017
- by screen.berlin@googlemail.com (Martin Blaney)
- ScreenDaily
Girls is the novel that Hannah Horvath was born to write and yet most likely never will.
The arrival of the sixth and final season of HBO’s landmark series is bound to provoke such thoughts for anyone who loves the show.
A further example: Seinfeld, with its diamond surface and happy cynicism, was the New York comedy about nothing. Girls, with both its often melancholy insight and its messiness, is the New York comedy about everything.
Also: No series has ever dramatized, with such humor and irony, the ability of a young (or youngish) mind to adapt to unwelcome,...
The arrival of the sixth and final season of HBO’s landmark series is bound to provoke such thoughts for anyone who loves the show.
A further example: Seinfeld, with its diamond surface and happy cynicism, was the New York comedy about nothing. Girls, with both its often melancholy insight and its messiness, is the New York comedy about everything.
Also: No series has ever dramatized, with such humor and irony, the ability of a young (or youngish) mind to adapt to unwelcome,...
- 2/12/2017
- by Tom Gliatto
- PEOPLE.com
In its third season, TV Land’s “Younger” is much like its leading lady and proving to be more relevant than ever.
On the rom-com series, 40-something Liza Miller (Sutton Foster) goes to extreme measures — masquerading as a millennial in order to land an assistant’s position at a prestigious publishing firm after her divorce — to bypass the rampant ageism she finds in the job market.
Read More: Darren Star on How TV Changed From ‘90210’ to ‘Younger’
Recently, California passed an anti-ageism law that requires Hollywood industry sites like IMDb.com to remove an actor’s age upon request. In an interview with IndieWire, executive producer Darren Star (“Sex and the City,” “Melrose Place”) weighed in on the new law, which would’ve been helpful to someone looking for a second chance like Liza.
“When I see actors you don’t ask them about their age, you’re looking at them for a character,...
On the rom-com series, 40-something Liza Miller (Sutton Foster) goes to extreme measures — masquerading as a millennial in order to land an assistant’s position at a prestigious publishing firm after her divorce — to bypass the rampant ageism she finds in the job market.
Read More: Darren Star on How TV Changed From ‘90210’ to ‘Younger’
Recently, California passed an anti-ageism law that requires Hollywood industry sites like IMDb.com to remove an actor’s age upon request. In an interview with IndieWire, executive producer Darren Star (“Sex and the City,” “Melrose Place”) weighed in on the new law, which would’ve been helpful to someone looking for a second chance like Liza.
“When I see actors you don’t ask them about their age, you’re looking at them for a character,...
- 9/28/2016
- by Hanh Nguyen
- Indiewire
You've seen the basic story of Selfie before—it's the modern-day My Fair Lady. Karen Gillan plays an updated, self-absorbed, Instagram-obsessed Eliza while John Cho serves as the titular Henry. Along with Selfie, fall's TV lineup has seen a surge in the rom-com sitcom, including NBC's A to Z and ABC's other romantic endeavor, Manhattan Love Story. It would seem love is in the air... just not about Selfie. EW's Esther Zuckerman and Kat Ward discuss whether the show can be saved from itself. Esther: I will admit that on first watch—perhaps because of my extremely low expectations—I...
- 10/1/2014
- by EW staff
- EW - Inside TV
Each week within this column we strive to pair the latest in theatrical releases to worthwhile titles currently available on Netflix Instant Watch. This week we offer alternatives to Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chip-Wrecked, and Corman’s World: Exploits of a Hollywood Rebel.
This weekend a trio of song-singing chipmunks will do box office battle with a charming super sleuth and the ultimate Hollywood rebel. But if the weather outside’s too frightful for you to venture out, enjoy these selected streaming adventures that feature beguiling gumshoes, screwball siblings and brilliant and bizarre showbiz docs — all from the comfort of your couch!
The to sequel Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes has the dapper detective (Robert Downey Jr.) and his devoted Watson (Jude Law) chasing down Holmes’ malevolent nemesis Moriarty (Jared Harris). Noomi Rapace and Rachel McAdams co-star.
Screen Sherlocks through the ages:
Sherlock Holmes: Dressed to Kill (1946) Basil Rathbone,...
This weekend a trio of song-singing chipmunks will do box office battle with a charming super sleuth and the ultimate Hollywood rebel. But if the weather outside’s too frightful for you to venture out, enjoy these selected streaming adventures that feature beguiling gumshoes, screwball siblings and brilliant and bizarre showbiz docs — all from the comfort of your couch!
The to sequel Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes has the dapper detective (Robert Downey Jr.) and his devoted Watson (Jude Law) chasing down Holmes’ malevolent nemesis Moriarty (Jared Harris). Noomi Rapace and Rachel McAdams co-star.
Screen Sherlocks through the ages:
Sherlock Holmes: Dressed to Kill (1946) Basil Rathbone,...
- 12/15/2011
- by jpraup@gmail.com (thefilmstage.com)
- The Film Stage
Gifted by the author's widow, the resource includes a great deal of music writing, as well as new literary gems
A greatly expanded slang lexicon for the delinquent droogs of the novel A Clockwork Orange has been unearthed in a vast archive of the work and life of Anthony Burgess held in Manchester, alongside the libretto and score of an unseen opera about Leon Trotsky, and the script for an unmade TV series about Attila the Hun.
In preparation for next year's 50th anniversary of his notorious novel, one of the most controversial modern works in the English language, the small team at the International Anthony Burgess Foundation have been working to organise and catalogue hundreds of papers, letters and original compositions, ready for an influx of international visitors.
The extraordinary resource, which has been left to the foundation by Burgess's widow Liana, is newly housed in a renovated building...
A greatly expanded slang lexicon for the delinquent droogs of the novel A Clockwork Orange has been unearthed in a vast archive of the work and life of Anthony Burgess held in Manchester, alongside the libretto and score of an unseen opera about Leon Trotsky, and the script for an unmade TV series about Attila the Hun.
In preparation for next year's 50th anniversary of his notorious novel, one of the most controversial modern works in the English language, the small team at the International Anthony Burgess Foundation have been working to organise and catalogue hundreds of papers, letters and original compositions, ready for an influx of international visitors.
The extraordinary resource, which has been left to the foundation by Burgess's widow Liana, is newly housed in a renovated building...
- 11/20/2011
- by Vanessa Thorpe
- The Guardian - Film News
HollywoodNews.com: You’ll read a lot about Sue Mengers today. In the 1960s and 70s she was a force to be reckoned with in Hollywood. A super agent before there were any, Mengers guided the careers of Barbra Streisand and so many A list names. In Julia Phillips‘ infamous memoir, “You’ll Never Eat Lunch in this Town Again,” Mengers figures largely in the failure of Phillips to make Erica Jong‘s “Fear of Flying” into a movie with Goldie Hawn. But Mengers also figures largely in a lot of movies that were made, like Peter Bogdanovich‘s classics “Paper Moon” and “What’s Up Doc?” as well as the remake of “A Star is Born” with Streisand and Kris Kristofferson, among others.
Mengers’ clients included Cher, Michael Caine, Ali McGraw, Gene Hackman, Faye Dunaway, Bob Fosse, Peter Bogdanovich, Tatum O’Neal, Ryan O’Neal, Candice Bergen, Ann-Margret, Burt Reynolds and Cybill Shepherd.
Mengers’ clients included Cher, Michael Caine, Ali McGraw, Gene Hackman, Faye Dunaway, Bob Fosse, Peter Bogdanovich, Tatum O’Neal, Ryan O’Neal, Candice Bergen, Ann-Margret, Burt Reynolds and Cybill Shepherd.
- 10/17/2011
- by Roger Friedman
- Hollywoodnews.com
Actor Alec Baldwin is set to hit the airwaves with a new radio venture.
The funnyman has previously announced his desire to leave hit comedy show 30 Rock after his contract expires this season, and now Baldwin has chosen to pick up a career with the New York Public Radio as he prepares for his departure.
Baldwin will interview a slew of celebrities and public figures, including Michael Douglas, comedian Chris Rock, author Erica Jong and Republican strategist Ed Rollins, and the segments will be made available to listeners via an online podcast each week, beginning on 24 October.
The funnyman has previously announced his desire to leave hit comedy show 30 Rock after his contract expires this season, and now Baldwin has chosen to pick up a career with the New York Public Radio as he prepares for his departure.
Baldwin will interview a slew of celebrities and public figures, including Michael Douglas, comedian Chris Rock, author Erica Jong and Republican strategist Ed Rollins, and the segments will be made available to listeners via an online podcast each week, beginning on 24 October.
- 10/14/2011
- WENN
New York — Alec Baldwin is preparing for life after "30 Rock," working with New York public radio on an interview show that will be available via podcast starting Oct. 24.
The first interview posted will be with actor Michael Douglas, who talks about watching "Glee" with his young daughter. Other interviews to follow will be with Republican campaign strategist Ed Rollins, reality-show celebrity Kris Kardashian Jenner, comic Chris Rock, actress Kathleen Turner, author Erica Jong and veteran talk-show host Dick Cavett, station Wnyc said Thursday.
Baldwin said that he's been exploring other things to do, knowing that his small-screen life as crazed corporate executive Jack Donaghy is heading toward its end.
Baldwin has won Emmys for his comic portrayal of a TV network boss. He said he likes to use his spare time to satisfy the need to do other things.
His mixture of guests on the radio show will take in several fields,...
The first interview posted will be with actor Michael Douglas, who talks about watching "Glee" with his young daughter. Other interviews to follow will be with Republican campaign strategist Ed Rollins, reality-show celebrity Kris Kardashian Jenner, comic Chris Rock, actress Kathleen Turner, author Erica Jong and veteran talk-show host Dick Cavett, station Wnyc said Thursday.
Baldwin said that he's been exploring other things to do, knowing that his small-screen life as crazed corporate executive Jack Donaghy is heading toward its end.
Baldwin has won Emmys for his comic portrayal of a TV network boss. He said he likes to use his spare time to satisfy the need to do other things.
His mixture of guests on the radio show will take in several fields,...
- 10/13/2011
- by AP
- Huffington Post
Alec Baldwin is preparing for life after 30 Rock, working with New York public radio on an interview show that will be available via podcast starting Oct. 24. The first interview posted will be with actor Michael Douglas, who talks about watching Glee with his young daughter. Other interviews to follow will be with Republican campaign strategist Ed Rollins, reality-show celebrity Kris Kardashian Jenner, comic Chris Rock, actress Kathleen Turner, author Erica Jong and veteran talk-show host Dick Cavett, station Wnyc said Thursday.
Baldwin said that he’s been exploring other things to do, knowing that his small-screen life as crazed corporate...
Baldwin said that he’s been exploring other things to do, knowing that his small-screen life as crazed corporate...
- 10/13/2011
- by Associated Press
- EW - Inside TV
Christain Als Erica Jong
When Erica Jong published her first novel, “Fear of Flying,” almost 40 years ago, critics called it a watershed moment in the sexual revolution.
Today, Jong says that revolution has come and gone, and a new generation of female writers don’t always acknowledge the work of the women that came before them.
“They think of the sexual revolution as their parents’ revolution,” Jong, 69, said.
Jong has just released a new book titled “Sugar In My Bowl:...
When Erica Jong published her first novel, “Fear of Flying,” almost 40 years ago, critics called it a watershed moment in the sexual revolution.
Today, Jong says that revolution has come and gone, and a new generation of female writers don’t always acknowledge the work of the women that came before them.
“They think of the sexual revolution as their parents’ revolution,” Jong, 69, said.
Jong has just released a new book titled “Sugar In My Bowl:...
- 6/20/2011
- by Nick Andersen
- Speakeasy/Wall Street Journal
Getty Diane Keaton
BookExpo America, the largest trade book fair in North America, gets under way today in New York. Publishers, booksellers, librarians, agents, authors, and readers will gather at the Javits Center for four days of new release promotions, author autograph sessions, rights negotiations, industry panels, and parties.
Jeffrey Eugenides, Anne Enright, Charles Frazier, Erica Jong, Dave Barry, Mo Willems, and Katherine Paterson will appear at book signings or special events. Also: Diane Keaton, Julianne Moore, Jane Lynch, Roger Ebert,...
BookExpo America, the largest trade book fair in North America, gets under way today in New York. Publishers, booksellers, librarians, agents, authors, and readers will gather at the Javits Center for four days of new release promotions, author autograph sessions, rights negotiations, industry panels, and parties.
Jeffrey Eugenides, Anne Enright, Charles Frazier, Erica Jong, Dave Barry, Mo Willems, and Katherine Paterson will appear at book signings or special events. Also: Diane Keaton, Julianne Moore, Jane Lynch, Roger Ebert,...
- 5/23/2011
- by Barbara Chai
- Speakeasy/Wall Street Journal
Even as a CNN political talk show host, the specter of scandal haunts Eliot Spitzer. Oscar winning Alex Gibney seized the moment to document the fallen governor who many believe might have been president. At the movie's premier last week, the filmmaker addressed a screening room at the Tribeca Grand Hotel packed with a who's who of documentary filmmakers, Barbara Kopple, Chris Hegedus, D. A. Pennebaker, Albert Maysles, Kate Davis, as well as writers Erica Jong and others mesmerized by the epic dimension of the Spitzer story. Mostly people wanted to know how Gibney got his interview subjects to talk, and were surprised to learn how very eager they were to do so, especially such enemies as Joe Bruno and Aig's Hank Greenberg. When Gibney unspooled this work-in-progress at the Tribeca Film Festival last spring, Client 9 was a working...
- 10/31/2010
- by Regina Weinreich
- Huffington Post
First a publishing sensation, now a Hollywood film, Elizabeth Gilbert's spiritual journey has plenty of followers. But does enlightenment come at a price?
Last week, Julia Roberts appeared on Us television to advertise her latest film, an adaptation of Elizabeth Gilbert's travel memoir, Eat Pray Love. Roberts, who while shooting the film in India became a Hindu, described it in terms of her character's spiritual journey and "the gambut" of emotions she runs, from divorce and despair to new love and happiness. It's an exciting gambut for the studio, too, which to promote the film's release yesterday in the Us (it is out in the UK next month) is offering three Eat Pray Love fragrances in conjunction with Fresh, and tie-in chakra beads from an Los Angeles-based jeweller.
Spiritual journeys are a basic requirement of good story telling, as marketing campaigns are of Hollywood films, so it is churlish get...
Last week, Julia Roberts appeared on Us television to advertise her latest film, an adaptation of Elizabeth Gilbert's travel memoir, Eat Pray Love. Roberts, who while shooting the film in India became a Hindu, described it in terms of her character's spiritual journey and "the gambut" of emotions she runs, from divorce and despair to new love and happiness. It's an exciting gambut for the studio, too, which to promote the film's release yesterday in the Us (it is out in the UK next month) is offering three Eat Pray Love fragrances in conjunction with Fresh, and tie-in chakra beads from an Los Angeles-based jeweller.
Spiritual journeys are a basic requirement of good story telling, as marketing campaigns are of Hollywood films, so it is churlish get...
- 8/13/2010
- by Emma Brockes
- The Guardian - Film News
In her latest unauthorized celebrity biography, Kitty Kelley takes on Oprah Winfrey, and aims to shed some light on a woman who is hugely famous and powerful but who Kelley says keeps much of her real self hidden from view. "There are so many secrets in her life," Kelley, 68, said Monday on NBC's Today show. "Secrets about her relationship, secrets within her family." Kelley was unable to talk to Winfrey, 56, for the book but scoured countless interviews the talk-show queen has given through the years, and also quotes friends, family members and employees - some on the record, others not...
- 4/12/2010
- by Tim Nudd
- PEOPLE.com
Sundance Channel's 2010-11 lineup will include more Brick City, some fashionable new reality shows and the network's first foray into scripted programming.
Carlos, a three-part miniseries about terrorist Carlos the Jackal, will kick off Sundance's slate of scripted series this fall. Edgar Ramirez (Che, Domino) stars as Carlos, who's currently serving a life sentence for the killings of two French agents and their informant in 1975.
See photos from Brick City
Other scripted series in development include Triple Crossing, a crime drama set in South America; The Clinic, a suspense thriller set in the near future; Fear of Flying, based on Erica Jong's novel; and Shutterbabe, which chronicles ...
Read More >...
Carlos, a three-part miniseries about terrorist Carlos the Jackal, will kick off Sundance's slate of scripted series this fall. Edgar Ramirez (Che, Domino) stars as Carlos, who's currently serving a life sentence for the killings of two French agents and their informant in 1975.
See photos from Brick City
Other scripted series in development include Triple Crossing, a crime drama set in South America; The Clinic, a suspense thriller set in the near future; Fear of Flying, based on Erica Jong's novel; and Shutterbabe, which chronicles ...
Read More >...
- 2/9/2010
- by Joyce Eng
- TVGuide - Breaking News
How Sex In the City's Carrie Bradshaw did as much to shift the culture around certain women's issues as real-life female groundbreakers
She's not a brass-knuckled political figure, a Birkenstock-wearing Amazon or a breaker of corporate glass ceilings; she's just a sassy single girl in New York City. So why am I so sure that Carrie Bradshaw – the charming, ever-hopeful star of the longrunning HBO series and hit film, all based on Candace Bushnell's New York Observer column – is an icon and did as much to shift the culture around certain women's issues as real-life feminist groundbreakers?
I have written before about how radical it was that the narrative of Sex and the City centred not around a couple – let alone the traditional formula of hero-plus-beautiful-secondary-love-interest. Rather, the core of the tale was always the life-sustaining friendship among four women, as the men in their lives came and went.
She's not a brass-knuckled political figure, a Birkenstock-wearing Amazon or a breaker of corporate glass ceilings; she's just a sassy single girl in New York City. So why am I so sure that Carrie Bradshaw – the charming, ever-hopeful star of the longrunning HBO series and hit film, all based on Candace Bushnell's New York Observer column – is an icon and did as much to shift the culture around certain women's issues as real-life feminist groundbreakers?
I have written before about how radical it was that the narrative of Sex and the City centred not around a couple – let alone the traditional formula of hero-plus-beautiful-secondary-love-interest. Rather, the core of the tale was always the life-sustaining friendship among four women, as the men in their lives came and went.
- 12/22/2009
- by Naomi Wolf
- The Guardian - Film News
The talent sipping cocktails at Gloria Steinem's brownstone duplex last Tuesday was through the roof. Without emphasizing the evening's feminist thrust, the gathering, to celebrate Bright Star director Jane Campion, evoked the tradition of Gertrude Stein's early 20th century Paris salons: novelists Erica Jong, Meg Wolitzer, Caryn James, and Susannah Moore whose book In the Cut had been filmed by Campion were among the mostly female crowd, as was filmmaker Nancy Savoca, actor Sarah Jones, former news anchor and president of The Women's Media Center, Carol Jenkins, Planned Parenthood president Cecile Richards. Jeanne Berney of Apparition, Bright Star's distributor, hosted. The energy was palpable. In an interesting twist, men were in the kitchen, and serving the yummy hors d'oeuvres. Is it PC to mention that? Yes, we are still mired in this paradox: we want to be honoring excellent work, fine...
- 12/12/2009
- by Regina Weinreich
- Huffington Post
'I feel personally that a word has never been written or uttered that should not be published," free-speech hero Barney Rosset says in "Obscene," a compelling documentary about him directed by neophytes Neil Ortenberg and Daniel O'Connor.
As publisher of Evergreen magazine and owner of Grove Press in the 1960s, Rosset introduced Americans to such writers as Samuel Beckett, Jean Genet, Malcolm X and Harold Pinter.
Perhaps more importantly, he sued...
As publisher of Evergreen magazine and owner of Grove Press in the 1960s, Rosset introduced Americans to such writers as Samuel Beckett, Jean Genet, Malcolm X and Harold Pinter.
Perhaps more importantly, he sued...
- 9/26/2008
- by By V.A. MUSETTO
- NYPost.com
By Neil Pedley
If the old maxim "What I really want to do is direct" still holds true, this week's releases confirm that the filmmaking game is more open than ever. Anyone can have a crack at it; actors, teachers, digital artists, preachers. Perhaps you should have a go yourself. Hell, if Paul W.S. Anderson can get work doing it...
"The Amazing Truth About Queen Raquela"
Offering up the most unlikely fairytale you're ever likely to see, Icelandic filmmaker Olaf de Fleur Johannesson draws on his documentary background with this endearing low-budget, semi-improvised Cinderella story. As a young Filipino lady-boy, the spunky, pre-op sex worker Raquela longs to be the belle of the ball as she trawls the Internet looking for love. When an American suitor pledges to be her Prince Charming and proposes a meeting in France, Raquela departs for her long-awaited date with destiny under the glittering Paris skyline.
If the old maxim "What I really want to do is direct" still holds true, this week's releases confirm that the filmmaking game is more open than ever. Anyone can have a crack at it; actors, teachers, digital artists, preachers. Perhaps you should have a go yourself. Hell, if Paul W.S. Anderson can get work doing it...
"The Amazing Truth About Queen Raquela"
Offering up the most unlikely fairytale you're ever likely to see, Icelandic filmmaker Olaf de Fleur Johannesson draws on his documentary background with this endearing low-budget, semi-improvised Cinderella story. As a young Filipino lady-boy, the spunky, pre-op sex worker Raquela longs to be the belle of the ball as she trawls the Internet looking for love. When an American suitor pledges to be her Prince Charming and proposes a meeting in France, Raquela departs for her long-awaited date with destiny under the glittering Paris skyline.
- 9/22/2008
- by Neil Pedley
- ifc.com
Their romance in Titanic was one for the record books. Now Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio are getting to canoodle once again in Revolutionary Road. The above pic is part of the poster for the film, which has popped up over at USA Today. The guy died too quickly last time, and thus we never got to see what the future had in store for Jack and Rose. So now we get Frank and April -- a young, successful couple in the '50s, who move to France and watch things crumble. Man, it's so much more hopeful when they die young. Now this whole ordeal could be sending Winslet right into the world of Erica Jong and Fear of Flying.
Yay! After waiting months for that elusive deal to finalize, The Hollywood Reporter posts that Oscilloscope Pictures has picked up Kurt Kuenne's Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son about His Father.
Yay! After waiting months for that elusive deal to finalize, The Hollywood Reporter posts that Oscilloscope Pictures has picked up Kurt Kuenne's Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son about His Father.
- 9/19/2008
- by Monika Bartyzel
- Cinematical
Kate Winslet has emerged as the favourite to play married poet Isadora Wing in a new movie adaptation of Erica Jong's controversial novel Fear Of Flying.
Director Diane English, who has adapted the 1973 bestseller for the big screen, has revealed the Titanic star is the only actress currently reading the script for the movie.
She says, "I would love to see Kate Winslet in that role."
Jong hit the headlines with the novel because it chronicles a married woman's attempts to live out her sexual fantasies.
Director Diane English, who has adapted the 1973 bestseller for the big screen, has revealed the Titanic star is the only actress currently reading the script for the movie.
She says, "I would love to see Kate Winslet in that role."
Jong hit the headlines with the novel because it chronicles a married woman's attempts to live out her sexual fantasies.
- 9/12/2008
- WENN
Obscene, the chronicle of a publisher's fight to print the works of Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, Malcolm X, Che Guevara and others, has been picked up for worldwide distribution by Arthouse Films.
Neil Ortenberg and Daniel O'Connor's docu looks at Barney Rosset, the publisher of Grove Press and Evergreen Review who waged repeated U.S. court battles over freedom of the press. Interviews and footage with Amiri Baraka, Jim Carroll, Al Goldstein (no relation to the author), Erica Jong, Ray Manzarek, John Sayles, Gore Vidal, John Waters, Lenny Bruce and William S. Burroughs are featured.
Obscene, produced by the directors' New York-based Double O Film Prods., examines Rossett's public fights and personal demons. The soundtrack includes music by Bob Dylan, the Doors, Patti Smith, Warren Zevon, X and Ella Fitzgerald. Arthouse plans a 2008 theatrical and DVD release.
The deal was negotiated by Arthouse's David Koh and Curiously Bright Entertainment's Lilly Bright with Josh Braun of Submarine Entertainment on behalf of Ortenberg and O'Connor.
Neil Ortenberg and Daniel O'Connor's docu looks at Barney Rosset, the publisher of Grove Press and Evergreen Review who waged repeated U.S. court battles over freedom of the press. Interviews and footage with Amiri Baraka, Jim Carroll, Al Goldstein (no relation to the author), Erica Jong, Ray Manzarek, John Sayles, Gore Vidal, John Waters, Lenny Bruce and William S. Burroughs are featured.
Obscene, produced by the directors' New York-based Double O Film Prods., examines Rossett's public fights and personal demons. The soundtrack includes music by Bob Dylan, the Doors, Patti Smith, Warren Zevon, X and Ella Fitzgerald. Arthouse plans a 2008 theatrical and DVD release.
The deal was negotiated by Arthouse's David Koh and Curiously Bright Entertainment's Lilly Bright with Josh Braun of Submarine Entertainment on behalf of Ortenberg and O'Connor.
- 11/7/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
PARK CITY -- Deep Throat is still the most successful indie film ever made, a $25,000 porn flick released in 1972 that may have grossed -- no one was really counting -- $600 million. So what better place to premiere Inside Deep Throat, a film by Sundance veterans Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato (The Eyes of Tammy Faye), than here at the king of indie fests?
The docu turns out to be an often provocative and perceptive look at the history of the porn business in America, the cultural wars the movie fed into and the lives of some who worked on the film.
Since forces on the right are currently galvanized for a renewed attack on civil liberties and freedom of expression, Inside Deep Throat is making a timely appearance. The film, which Universal will release nationally Feb. 11, looks like another documentary boxoffice winner.
When asked about the landmark film he made more than 30 years ago, director Gerard Damiano (a.k.a. Jerry Gerard) admits, "No, I don't think it's a very good movie." Which has to be the most irrelevant fact one can state about Deep Throat.
A poorly shot, absurd sex comedy constructed around its star's remarkable ability at fellatio, the movie opened in Times Square at the height of the war being waged by the counterculture and sexual liberation movements against a belligerent establishment. While Erica Jong's comment that suddenly sex was out of the closet may be overstating things, the movie certainly marked the first time grandmothers stood in line to watch porn and talk show hosts and The New York Times could make references to a sex act, then considered illicit in some states, which few had any trouble understanding.
The movie traces several themes emanating from this cultural phenomenon. First there are the damaged lives of the film's stars, Linda Lovelace and Harry Reems, an assistant camera drafted into the male starring role while on location in Florida. Then there is the growth of porn, which many filmmakers and artists saw as having artistic as well as commercial potential if it could cross over into the mainstream. That never happened.
The film also navigates through the legal and political battles this film and others faced including a presidential commission's investigation into pornography and society, which was roundly ignored by the government when the commission reached the "wrong" conclusions.
For the most part, Bailey and Barbato succeed in weaving together these various themes, thanks to smart editing by William Grayburn and Jeremy Simmons. Linda Lovelace, who disowned the film in a memoir that claimed she shot it under duress, later seemed to embrace her former image in a sexy magazine layout. She died in an auto accident in 2002 dead broke, according to her sister.
Reems suffered federal prosecution. While he prevailed, this sent his life into a downward spiral of alcoholism. Thankfully, he has recovered and lives here in Park City, where he has a real estate license.
For interviews, the filmmakers astutely cast a wide net, bringing before their cameras people not always connected to the film yet with insight into the issues it raised. These talking heads include Norman Mailer, Helen Gurley Brown, Susan Brownmiller, Alan Dershowitz, Camille Paglia, Gore Vidal and Reems' zealous prosecutor, Larry Parrish. A narration delivered by Dennis Hopper is unobtrusive, appearing only when necessary.
The salient point here is that Deep Throat can be seen as one of the first battles of the culture wars that still divide this nation. The choice of interviewees tilt the viewpoint heavily in favor of freedom of expression, yet both sides conclude that damage has been done and the wars are far from over.
There seems to be no middle ground on this issue, just as there never was any intersection between mainstream and porn. Movies such as Last Tango in Paris and, more recently, 9 Songs hint at the possibilities. But when an actor such as Reems can be hauled into court for accepting a movie role, little wonder those possibilities remain unexplored.
INSIDE DEEP THROAT
Universal Pictures
An Imagine Entertainment in association with HBO Documentary Films presentation of a Brian Grazer Production in association with World of Wonder
Credits:
Writers/directors: Fenton Bailey, Randy Barbato
Producer: Brian Grazer, Fenton Bailey, Randy Barbato
Co-producer: Mona Card
Executive producer: Kim Roth
Directors of photography: David Kempner, Teodoro Maniaci
Editors: William Grayburn, Jeremy Simmons
Music: David Steinberg
MPAA rating: NC-17
Running time -- 88 minutes...
The docu turns out to be an often provocative and perceptive look at the history of the porn business in America, the cultural wars the movie fed into and the lives of some who worked on the film.
Since forces on the right are currently galvanized for a renewed attack on civil liberties and freedom of expression, Inside Deep Throat is making a timely appearance. The film, which Universal will release nationally Feb. 11, looks like another documentary boxoffice winner.
When asked about the landmark film he made more than 30 years ago, director Gerard Damiano (a.k.a. Jerry Gerard) admits, "No, I don't think it's a very good movie." Which has to be the most irrelevant fact one can state about Deep Throat.
A poorly shot, absurd sex comedy constructed around its star's remarkable ability at fellatio, the movie opened in Times Square at the height of the war being waged by the counterculture and sexual liberation movements against a belligerent establishment. While Erica Jong's comment that suddenly sex was out of the closet may be overstating things, the movie certainly marked the first time grandmothers stood in line to watch porn and talk show hosts and The New York Times could make references to a sex act, then considered illicit in some states, which few had any trouble understanding.
The movie traces several themes emanating from this cultural phenomenon. First there are the damaged lives of the film's stars, Linda Lovelace and Harry Reems, an assistant camera drafted into the male starring role while on location in Florida. Then there is the growth of porn, which many filmmakers and artists saw as having artistic as well as commercial potential if it could cross over into the mainstream. That never happened.
The film also navigates through the legal and political battles this film and others faced including a presidential commission's investigation into pornography and society, which was roundly ignored by the government when the commission reached the "wrong" conclusions.
For the most part, Bailey and Barbato succeed in weaving together these various themes, thanks to smart editing by William Grayburn and Jeremy Simmons. Linda Lovelace, who disowned the film in a memoir that claimed she shot it under duress, later seemed to embrace her former image in a sexy magazine layout. She died in an auto accident in 2002 dead broke, according to her sister.
Reems suffered federal prosecution. While he prevailed, this sent his life into a downward spiral of alcoholism. Thankfully, he has recovered and lives here in Park City, where he has a real estate license.
For interviews, the filmmakers astutely cast a wide net, bringing before their cameras people not always connected to the film yet with insight into the issues it raised. These talking heads include Norman Mailer, Helen Gurley Brown, Susan Brownmiller, Alan Dershowitz, Camille Paglia, Gore Vidal and Reems' zealous prosecutor, Larry Parrish. A narration delivered by Dennis Hopper is unobtrusive, appearing only when necessary.
The salient point here is that Deep Throat can be seen as one of the first battles of the culture wars that still divide this nation. The choice of interviewees tilt the viewpoint heavily in favor of freedom of expression, yet both sides conclude that damage has been done and the wars are far from over.
There seems to be no middle ground on this issue, just as there never was any intersection between mainstream and porn. Movies such as Last Tango in Paris and, more recently, 9 Songs hint at the possibilities. But when an actor such as Reems can be hauled into court for accepting a movie role, little wonder those possibilities remain unexplored.
INSIDE DEEP THROAT
Universal Pictures
An Imagine Entertainment in association with HBO Documentary Films presentation of a Brian Grazer Production in association with World of Wonder
Credits:
Writers/directors: Fenton Bailey, Randy Barbato
Producer: Brian Grazer, Fenton Bailey, Randy Barbato
Co-producer: Mona Card
Executive producer: Kim Roth
Directors of photography: David Kempner, Teodoro Maniaci
Editors: William Grayburn, Jeremy Simmons
Music: David Steinberg
MPAA rating: NC-17
Running time -- 88 minutes...
PARK CITY -- Deep Throat is still the most successful indie film ever made, a $25,000 porn flick released in 1972 that may have grossed -- no one was really counting -- $600 million. So what better place to premiere Inside Deep Throat, a film by Sundance veterans Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato (The Eyes of Tammy Faye), than here at the king of indie fests?
The docu turns out to be an often provocative and perceptive look at the history of the porn business in America, the cultural wars the movie fed into and the lives of some who worked on the film.
Since forces on the right are currently galvanized for a renewed attack on civil liberties and freedom of expression, Inside Deep Throat is making a timely appearance. The film, which Universal will release nationally Feb. 11, looks like another documentary boxoffice winner.
When asked about the landmark film he made more than 30 years ago, director Gerard Damiano (a.k.a. Jerry Gerard) admits, "No, I don't think it's a very good movie." Which has to be the most irrelevant fact one can state about Deep Throat.
A poorly shot, absurd sex comedy constructed around its star's remarkable ability at fellatio, the movie opened in Times Square at the height of the war being waged by the counterculture and sexual liberation movements against a belligerent establishment. While Erica Jong's comment that suddenly sex was out of the closet may be overstating things, the movie certainly marked the first time grandmothers stood in line to watch porn and talk show hosts and The New York Times could make references to a sex act, then considered illicit in some states, which few had any trouble understanding.
The movie traces several themes emanating from this cultural phenomenon. First there are the damaged lives of the film's stars, Linda Lovelace and Harry Reems, an assistant camera drafted into the male starring role while on location in Florida. Then there is the growth of porn, which many filmmakers and artists saw as having artistic as well as commercial potential if it could cross over into the mainstream. That never happened.
The film also navigates through the legal and political battles this film and others faced including a presidential commission's investigation into pornography and society, which was roundly ignored by the government when the commission reached the "wrong" conclusions.
For the most part, Bailey and Barbato succeed in weaving together these various themes, thanks to smart editing by William Grayburn and Jeremy Simmons. Linda Lovelace, who disowned the film in a memoir that claimed she shot it under duress, later seemed to embrace her former image in a sexy magazine layout. She died in an auto accident in 2002 dead broke, according to her sister.
Reems suffered federal prosecution. While he prevailed, this sent his life into a downward spiral of alcoholism. Thankfully, he has recovered and lives here in Park City, where he has a real estate license.
For interviews, the filmmakers astutely cast a wide net, bringing before their cameras people not always connected to the film yet with insight into the issues it raised. These talking heads include Norman Mailer, Helen Gurley Brown, Susan Brownmiller, Alan Dershowitz, Camille Paglia, Gore Vidal and Reems' zealous prosecutor, Larry Parrish. A narration delivered by Dennis Hopper is unobtrusive, appearing only when necessary.
The salient point here is that Deep Throat can be seen as one of the first battles of the culture wars that still divide this nation. The choice of interviewees tilt the viewpoint heavily in favor of freedom of expression, yet both sides conclude that damage has been done and the wars are far from over.
There seems to be no middle ground on this issue, just as there never was any intersection between mainstream and porn. Movies such as Last Tango in Paris and, more recently, 9 Songs hint at the possibilities. But when an actor such as Reems can be hauled into court for accepting a movie role, little wonder those possibilities remain unexplored.
INSIDE DEEP THROAT
Universal Pictures
An Imagine Entertainment in association with HBO Documentary Films presentation of a Brian Grazer Production in association with World of Wonder
Credits:
Writers/directors: Fenton Bailey, Randy Barbato
Producer: Brian Grazer, Fenton Bailey, Randy Barbato
Co-producer: Mona Card
Executive producer: Kim Roth
Directors of photography: David Kempner, Teodoro Maniaci
Editors: William Grayburn, Jeremy Simmons
Music: David Steinberg
MPAA rating: NC-17
Running time -- 88 minutes...
The docu turns out to be an often provocative and perceptive look at the history of the porn business in America, the cultural wars the movie fed into and the lives of some who worked on the film.
Since forces on the right are currently galvanized for a renewed attack on civil liberties and freedom of expression, Inside Deep Throat is making a timely appearance. The film, which Universal will release nationally Feb. 11, looks like another documentary boxoffice winner.
When asked about the landmark film he made more than 30 years ago, director Gerard Damiano (a.k.a. Jerry Gerard) admits, "No, I don't think it's a very good movie." Which has to be the most irrelevant fact one can state about Deep Throat.
A poorly shot, absurd sex comedy constructed around its star's remarkable ability at fellatio, the movie opened in Times Square at the height of the war being waged by the counterculture and sexual liberation movements against a belligerent establishment. While Erica Jong's comment that suddenly sex was out of the closet may be overstating things, the movie certainly marked the first time grandmothers stood in line to watch porn and talk show hosts and The New York Times could make references to a sex act, then considered illicit in some states, which few had any trouble understanding.
The movie traces several themes emanating from this cultural phenomenon. First there are the damaged lives of the film's stars, Linda Lovelace and Harry Reems, an assistant camera drafted into the male starring role while on location in Florida. Then there is the growth of porn, which many filmmakers and artists saw as having artistic as well as commercial potential if it could cross over into the mainstream. That never happened.
The film also navigates through the legal and political battles this film and others faced including a presidential commission's investigation into pornography and society, which was roundly ignored by the government when the commission reached the "wrong" conclusions.
For the most part, Bailey and Barbato succeed in weaving together these various themes, thanks to smart editing by William Grayburn and Jeremy Simmons. Linda Lovelace, who disowned the film in a memoir that claimed she shot it under duress, later seemed to embrace her former image in a sexy magazine layout. She died in an auto accident in 2002 dead broke, according to her sister.
Reems suffered federal prosecution. While he prevailed, this sent his life into a downward spiral of alcoholism. Thankfully, he has recovered and lives here in Park City, where he has a real estate license.
For interviews, the filmmakers astutely cast a wide net, bringing before their cameras people not always connected to the film yet with insight into the issues it raised. These talking heads include Norman Mailer, Helen Gurley Brown, Susan Brownmiller, Alan Dershowitz, Camille Paglia, Gore Vidal and Reems' zealous prosecutor, Larry Parrish. A narration delivered by Dennis Hopper is unobtrusive, appearing only when necessary.
The salient point here is that Deep Throat can be seen as one of the first battles of the culture wars that still divide this nation. The choice of interviewees tilt the viewpoint heavily in favor of freedom of expression, yet both sides conclude that damage has been done and the wars are far from over.
There seems to be no middle ground on this issue, just as there never was any intersection between mainstream and porn. Movies such as Last Tango in Paris and, more recently, 9 Songs hint at the possibilities. But when an actor such as Reems can be hauled into court for accepting a movie role, little wonder those possibilities remain unexplored.
INSIDE DEEP THROAT
Universal Pictures
An Imagine Entertainment in association with HBO Documentary Films presentation of a Brian Grazer Production in association with World of Wonder
Credits:
Writers/directors: Fenton Bailey, Randy Barbato
Producer: Brian Grazer, Fenton Bailey, Randy Barbato
Co-producer: Mona Card
Executive producer: Kim Roth
Directors of photography: David Kempner, Teodoro Maniaci
Editors: William Grayburn, Jeremy Simmons
Music: David Steinberg
MPAA rating: NC-17
Running time -- 88 minutes...
- 1/24/2005
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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