Julian Barry, Oscar-nominated screenwriter of the 1974 Lenny Bruce biopic “Lenny” starring Dustin Hoffman, has died at the age of 92, his daughter announced to The New York Times.
Born in the Bronx and a graduate of Syracuse, Barry got his start in showbiz on Broadway as an actor and stage manager, most notably in Orson Welles’ 1955 production of Shakespeare’s “King Lear.”
In 1969, Columbia Pictures approached Barry about writing a biopic about the life of stand-up comedian Lenny Bruce, who had died of a morphine overdose three years prior. Bruce accepted, but the project fell through as Columbia fast-tracked other projects.
Not wanting to give up on the script, Barry repurposed it as a stage play and brought it to Broadway in 1971 with “Hair” director Tom O’Horgan and with Cliff Gorman as Lenny Bruce. The play “Lenny” was a success, with Gorman winning a Tony Award for for his performance.
With “Lenny” now on the map,...
Born in the Bronx and a graduate of Syracuse, Barry got his start in showbiz on Broadway as an actor and stage manager, most notably in Orson Welles’ 1955 production of Shakespeare’s “King Lear.”
In 1969, Columbia Pictures approached Barry about writing a biopic about the life of stand-up comedian Lenny Bruce, who had died of a morphine overdose three years prior. Bruce accepted, but the project fell through as Columbia fast-tracked other projects.
Not wanting to give up on the script, Barry repurposed it as a stage play and brought it to Broadway in 1971 with “Hair” director Tom O’Horgan and with Cliff Gorman as Lenny Bruce. The play “Lenny” was a success, with Gorman winning a Tony Award for for his performance.
With “Lenny” now on the map,...
- 7/27/2023
- by Jeremy Fuster
- The Wrap
Julian Barry, whose 1971 Broadway play and 1974 movie, both titled Lenny and telling the story of legendary comic Lenny Bruce, died Tuesday at his home in Beverly Hills. He was 92.
His death was reported to The New York Times by his daughter Julia Barry, who said he died in his sleep and had been under medical care for congestive heart failure and late-stage kidney disease.
Although most widely known for his highly influential Bruce projects, which earned considerable acclaim for the writer and his title stars — Cliff Gorman on stage, Dustin Hoffman on screen — Barry’s career extended to other projects that caught the public’s attention in their day. He wrote Rhinoceros, the 1974 film adaptation of Eugène Ionesco’s play starring Gene Wilder and Zero Mostel, a movie that has grown somewhat in esteem since its initial critical dismissal, and the 1978 Faye Dunaway vehicle Eyes of Laura Mars, which has not.
His death was reported to The New York Times by his daughter Julia Barry, who said he died in his sleep and had been under medical care for congestive heart failure and late-stage kidney disease.
Although most widely known for his highly influential Bruce projects, which earned considerable acclaim for the writer and his title stars — Cliff Gorman on stage, Dustin Hoffman on screen — Barry’s career extended to other projects that caught the public’s attention in their day. He wrote Rhinoceros, the 1974 film adaptation of Eugène Ionesco’s play starring Gene Wilder and Zero Mostel, a movie that has grown somewhat in esteem since its initial critical dismissal, and the 1978 Faye Dunaway vehicle Eyes of Laura Mars, which has not.
- 7/27/2023
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
Jodie Comer has become the 100th performer to win a Tony Award for their Broadway debut for her performance in the play, “Prima Facie.”
She won Best Actress in a Play for portraying Tess, a lawyer who concentrates in providing legal defense for men who are accused of sexual assault but soon has the unthinkable happen to her. She is the 11th person to win the category for her first outing on a Broadway stage. She joins:
SEE2023 Tony Awards: Every winner (and nominee) in all 26 competitive categories
Martita Hunt, “The Madwoman of Chaillot” (1949)
Beryl Reid, “The Killing of Sister George” (1967)
Phyllis Frelich, “Children of a Lesser God” (1980)
Jane Lapotaire, “Piaf” (1981)
Joan Allen, “Burn This” (1988)
Pauline Collins, “Shirley Valentine” (1989)
Janet McTeer, “A Doll’s House” (1997)
Marie Mullen, “The Beauty Queen of Leeane” (1998)
Jennifer Ehle, “The Real Thing” (2000)
Deanna Dunagan, “August: Osage County” (2008)
Below are the Broadway debuts in the seven other...
She won Best Actress in a Play for portraying Tess, a lawyer who concentrates in providing legal defense for men who are accused of sexual assault but soon has the unthinkable happen to her. She is the 11th person to win the category for her first outing on a Broadway stage. She joins:
SEE2023 Tony Awards: Every winner (and nominee) in all 26 competitive categories
Martita Hunt, “The Madwoman of Chaillot” (1949)
Beryl Reid, “The Killing of Sister George” (1967)
Phyllis Frelich, “Children of a Lesser God” (1980)
Jane Lapotaire, “Piaf” (1981)
Joan Allen, “Burn This” (1988)
Pauline Collins, “Shirley Valentine” (1989)
Janet McTeer, “A Doll’s House” (1997)
Marie Mullen, “The Beauty Queen of Leeane” (1998)
Jennifer Ehle, “The Real Thing” (2000)
Deanna Dunagan, “August: Osage County” (2008)
Below are the Broadway debuts in the seven other...
- 6/12/2023
- by Charles Bright
- Gold Derby
Myles Frost became the latest addition to the list of people who have taken home a Tony Award for their Broadway debut. His win makes him the 98th member of this particular winners’ club.
Frost, who won Best Actor in a Musical for playing Michael Jackson in “Mj,” is the 13th person to win that category for their first time stepping into a character on a Broadway stage. He joins:
Ezio Pinza, “South Pacific” (1950)
Robert Alda, “Guys and Dolls” (1951)
Robert Lindsay, “Me and My Girl” (1987)
Brent Carver, “Kiss of the Spider Woman” (1993)
Alan Cumming, “Cabaret” (1998)
Hugh Jackman, “The Boy From Oz” (2004)
John Lloyd Young, “Jersey Boys” (2006)
Paulo Szot, “South Pacific” (2008)
David Álvarez, Trent Kowalik and Kiril Kulish (joint nomination), “Billy Elliot” (2009)
Douglas Hodge, “La Cage aux Folles” (2010)
See 2022 Tony Awards: Every winner (and nominee) in all 26 categories
Below are the Broadway debuts in the seven other acting categories that have...
Frost, who won Best Actor in a Musical for playing Michael Jackson in “Mj,” is the 13th person to win that category for their first time stepping into a character on a Broadway stage. He joins:
Ezio Pinza, “South Pacific” (1950)
Robert Alda, “Guys and Dolls” (1951)
Robert Lindsay, “Me and My Girl” (1987)
Brent Carver, “Kiss of the Spider Woman” (1993)
Alan Cumming, “Cabaret” (1998)
Hugh Jackman, “The Boy From Oz” (2004)
John Lloyd Young, “Jersey Boys” (2006)
Paulo Szot, “South Pacific” (2008)
David Álvarez, Trent Kowalik and Kiril Kulish (joint nomination), “Billy Elliot” (2009)
Douglas Hodge, “La Cage aux Folles” (2010)
See 2022 Tony Awards: Every winner (and nominee) in all 26 categories
Below are the Broadway debuts in the seven other acting categories that have...
- 6/13/2022
- by Charles Bright
- Gold Derby
72 544x376 Normal 0 false false false En-us X-none X-none
By Fred Blosser
“Rosebud” (1975), Otto Preminger’s next-to-last film, has been released by Kino Lorber Studio Classics in a 2K Blu-ray restoration. In the political thriller, a terrorist cell kidnaps five teenaged girls from a luxury yacht, the “Rosebud” of the title. The kidnappers are members of Black September, an extremist Palestinian faction -- a reference that would have been better known by audiences then than now. Their reasons for seizing the young women become clearer as they open communications with the girls’ parents, an international power elite of politicians, industrialists, and financiers. Sending along a film of the five young women on the deck of the commandeered yacht, nude and shivering, the terrorists dictate that it be televised as a prelude to a series of demands that will demean Israel and it allies on the global stage. If the demands aren...
By Fred Blosser
“Rosebud” (1975), Otto Preminger’s next-to-last film, has been released by Kino Lorber Studio Classics in a 2K Blu-ray restoration. In the political thriller, a terrorist cell kidnaps five teenaged girls from a luxury yacht, the “Rosebud” of the title. The kidnappers are members of Black September, an extremist Palestinian faction -- a reference that would have been better known by audiences then than now. Their reasons for seizing the young women become clearer as they open communications with the girls’ parents, an international power elite of politicians, industrialists, and financiers. Sending along a film of the five young women on the deck of the commandeered yacht, nude and shivering, the terrorists dictate that it be televised as a prelude to a series of demands that will demean Israel and it allies on the global stage. If the demands aren...
- 4/21/2021
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
Illustration by Jeff CashvanMovie-lovers!We are thrilled to debut a collaboration between Mubi’s Notebook and The Deuce Film Series, our monthly event at Nitehawk Williamsburg that excavates the facts and fantasies of cinema's most infamous block in the world: 42nd Street between 7th and 8th Avenues. For each screening, my co-hosts and I pick a flick that we think embodies the era of all-night moviegoing down the “Glittering Gulch,” and present the theater at which it premiered. We think our little variety act is delicious fun... call us bawdy bon vivants.Back in 2015, we had the wonderful chance to thread and project the only known 35mm print in existence of Robert Butler’s Night of the Juggler (1980)—a memorable evening and a memorable film. Hence, we decided that this is the perfect title to get the ball rolling… Also at our monthly shindig: our 'famous' raffle, the grand prize...
- 3/23/2021
- MUBI
Surely the gayest out cast ever to be assembled in one room for a Netflix movie is in “The Boys in the Band,” Joe Mantello’s new vision of the iconoclastic Mart Crowley play about the tortured lives of gay men in 1960s New York. While reviews have been strong — including from IndieWire — not all critics have been kind to the film. That includes TheWrap’s Alonso Duralde, who took issue with the casting of Latinx actor Robin de Jesús in the role of Emory, the flamboyant interior director played by white actor Cliff Gorman in the original 1968 Off-Broadway play and in William Friedkin’s 1970 movie version.
In a guest column also for TheWrap, the film’s co-writer and producer Ned Martel fired back at Duralde’s criticisms, including the charge that Emory’s “racist put-downs” of his friend Bernard, who is Black, lose their charge when coming from a...
In a guest column also for TheWrap, the film’s co-writer and producer Ned Martel fired back at Duralde’s criticisms, including the charge that Emory’s “racist put-downs” of his friend Bernard, who is Black, lose their charge when coming from a...
- 10/12/2020
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Indiewire
Talk about a film whose time has come … Paul Mazursky’s ode to womanly liberation takes a sensible, gentle approach. Yes, the husband was a total jerk, and so is the first man Jill Clayburgh’s Erica turns to in need. What’s more important is the feeling of empowerment on the personal intimate level: it’s okay for a woman to have personal priorities; it’s okay to decline commitment to the whims and wishes of a male companion. Forty-two years later, the premise holds — especially the film’s emphasis on social support from one’s friends.
An Unmarried Woman
Blu-ray
The Criterion Collection 1032
1978 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 124 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date June 9, 2020 / 39.95
Starring: Jill Clayburgh, Alan Bates, Michael Murphy, Cliff Gorman, Pat Quinn, Kelly Bishop, Lisa Lucas, Linda Miller.
Cinematography: Arthur J. Ornitz
Film Editor: Stuart H. Pappé
Original Music: Bill Conti
Produced by Paul Mazursky,...
An Unmarried Woman
Blu-ray
The Criterion Collection 1032
1978 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 124 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date June 9, 2020 / 39.95
Starring: Jill Clayburgh, Alan Bates, Michael Murphy, Cliff Gorman, Pat Quinn, Kelly Bishop, Lisa Lucas, Linda Miller.
Cinematography: Arthur J. Ornitz
Film Editor: Stuart H. Pappé
Original Music: Bill Conti
Produced by Paul Mazursky,...
- 6/9/2020
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Among the performers who got Emmy recognition for Amazon’s “The Marvelous Mrs. Masiel,” after not getting in for the first season, is Luke Kirby. Kirby scores his first Emmy nomination for Best Comedy Guest Actor for his portrayal of iconic comedian, Lenny Bruce, in the show’s Season 2 finale, “All Alone.”
SEEEmmy episode analysis: Rufus Sewell (‘The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel’) charms as stubbornly drunk artist in ‘Look, She Made a Hat’
After being booted offstage for talking about her friend’s pregnancy in her act, Midge (Rachel Brosnahan) goes to grab a drink at a bar and discovers Lenny, who is already drunk. As Midge details her struggles in the business, Lenny describes his own issues including having a warrant out for his arrest in Chicago and that he’s broke from all the legal fees he’s incurred. They both express their deep frustrations with the limitations that are placed on them.
SEEEmmy episode analysis: Rufus Sewell (‘The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel’) charms as stubbornly drunk artist in ‘Look, She Made a Hat’
After being booted offstage for talking about her friend’s pregnancy in her act, Midge (Rachel Brosnahan) goes to grab a drink at a bar and discovers Lenny, who is already drunk. As Midge details her struggles in the business, Lenny describes his own issues including having a warrant out for his arrest in Chicago and that he’s broke from all the legal fees he’s incurred. They both express their deep frustrations with the limitations that are placed on them.
- 9/5/2019
- by Charles Bright
- Gold Derby
For only the third time this decade, none of the acting winners at this year’s Tony Awards did so for their Broadway debut. This is the 21st time that this has happened over the 73-year history of these top theater honors. Most of the winners were actually on the opposite end of the spectrum, winning for the first time after years of Broadway experience and several nominations to their name including André De Shields, Celia Keenan-Bolger and Stephanie J. Block. Check out the complete list of winners here.
The previous instances of Broadway debuts being shut out at the Tonys were in: 1948, 1952, 1953, 1956, 1959, 1960, 1970, 1971, 1974, 1976, 1978, 1982, 1990, 1991, 1994, 2001-2003, 2012 and 2017.
Below, you can see the names of all 96 people who have won Tonys for their debut on the Great White Way.
SEE2019 Tony Awards: Best Musical ‘Hadestown’ sweeps with 8 wins, ‘The Ferryman’ takes Best Play
Best Actor In A Play: 16 winners
Paul Scofield, “A Man for All Seasons” (1962)
Cliff Gorman,...
The previous instances of Broadway debuts being shut out at the Tonys were in: 1948, 1952, 1953, 1956, 1959, 1960, 1970, 1971, 1974, 1976, 1978, 1982, 1990, 1991, 1994, 2001-2003, 2012 and 2017.
Below, you can see the names of all 96 people who have won Tonys for their debut on the Great White Way.
SEE2019 Tony Awards: Best Musical ‘Hadestown’ sweeps with 8 wins, ‘The Ferryman’ takes Best Play
Best Actor In A Play: 16 winners
Paul Scofield, “A Man for All Seasons” (1962)
Cliff Gorman,...
- 6/10/2019
- by Charles Bright
- Gold Derby
Emmy-winning television mastermind Ryan Murphy recently announced that he is set to turn one of this year’s potential Tony contenders, “The Boys in the Band,” into a movie for Netflix. The stage production (which Murphy produced) ran a successful limited run on Broadway last summer. As the nominations announcement approaches, what could this mean for its chances in Best Play Revival?
“The Boys in the Band” centers on a group of gay men who gather in an NYC apartment for a friend’s birthday party. After the drinks are poured and the music is turned up the fault lines beneath their friendships are exposed, as well as the self-inflicted heartache that threatens their solidarity. When Mart Crowley’s play originally premiered Off-Broadway in 1968, it helped spark a revolution by putting gay men’s lives onstage unapologetically and without judgement in a world that was not yet willing to fully accept them.
“The Boys in the Band” centers on a group of gay men who gather in an NYC apartment for a friend’s birthday party. After the drinks are poured and the music is turned up the fault lines beneath their friendships are exposed, as well as the self-inflicted heartache that threatens their solidarity. When Mart Crowley’s play originally premiered Off-Broadway in 1968, it helped spark a revolution by putting gay men’s lives onstage unapologetically and without judgement in a world that was not yet willing to fully accept them.
- 4/29/2019
- by Jeffrey Kare
- Gold Derby
Ari’el Stachel became the latest person to take home a Tony Award for their Broadway debut. This victory puts him in a freshman club that now has 96 members. Watch him discuss his victory in the Tonys press room in the video above.
Stachel, who won Best Featured Actor in a Musical for playing Haled in “The Band’s Visit,” is the ninth person to claim that particular honor for his first Broadway outing. He joins:
Harry Belafonte, “John Murray Anderson’s Almanac” (1954)
Sydney Chaplin, “Bells are Ringing” (1957)
Frankie Michaels, “Mame” (1966)
Wilson Jermaine Heredia, “Rent” (1996)
Dan Fogler, “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” (2005)
Levi Kreis, “Million Dollar Quartet” (2010)
John Larroquette, “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying” (2011)
Daveed Diggs, “Hamilton” (2016)
Sign UPfor Gold Derby’s free newsletter with latest predictions
Below are the Broadway debuts in the seven other acting categories that claimed Tony Awards.
Best Actor In A Play: 16 winners
Paul Scofield,...
Stachel, who won Best Featured Actor in a Musical for playing Haled in “The Band’s Visit,” is the ninth person to claim that particular honor for his first Broadway outing. He joins:
Harry Belafonte, “John Murray Anderson’s Almanac” (1954)
Sydney Chaplin, “Bells are Ringing” (1957)
Frankie Michaels, “Mame” (1966)
Wilson Jermaine Heredia, “Rent” (1996)
Dan Fogler, “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” (2005)
Levi Kreis, “Million Dollar Quartet” (2010)
John Larroquette, “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying” (2011)
Daveed Diggs, “Hamilton” (2016)
Sign UPfor Gold Derby’s free newsletter with latest predictions
Below are the Broadway debuts in the seven other acting categories that claimed Tony Awards.
Best Actor In A Play: 16 winners
Paul Scofield,...
- 6/11/2018
- by Charles Bright
- Gold Derby
Review by Mark Longden
The Boys In The Band screens Wednesday, Mar. 29 at 9:00pm at the .Zack (3224 Locust St., St. Louis, Mo 63103) as part of this year’s QFest St. Louis. Ticket information can be found Here
As well as new movies, St Louis’ wonderful Qfest (now in its tenth year) also shows classics of queer cinema that blazed a trail and inspire all sorts of different reactions today. “The Boys In The Band”, an off-Broadway play that was transplanted with the entirety of its cast to the screen, is one such. A review from a revival in 1999 said that, even at the time of its release, it had “the stain of Uncle Tomism”, and it’s been called a minstrel show. But it’s much more than that.
Despite occasionally wonderful direction from William Friedkin (who made “The French Connection” the next year) , its origins as a stage play are very evident,...
The Boys In The Band screens Wednesday, Mar. 29 at 9:00pm at the .Zack (3224 Locust St., St. Louis, Mo 63103) as part of this year’s QFest St. Louis. Ticket information can be found Here
As well as new movies, St Louis’ wonderful Qfest (now in its tenth year) also shows classics of queer cinema that blazed a trail and inspire all sorts of different reactions today. “The Boys In The Band”, an off-Broadway play that was transplanted with the entirety of its cast to the screen, is one such. A review from a revival in 1999 said that, even at the time of its release, it had “the stain of Uncle Tomism”, and it’s been called a minstrel show. But it’s much more than that.
Despite occasionally wonderful direction from William Friedkin (who made “The French Connection” the next year) , its origins as a stage play are very evident,...
- 3/27/2017
- by Movie Geeks
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Three performers -- Alex Sharp, Richard McCabe and Ruthie Ann Miles -- won Tony Awards for their Broadway debut. These victories put them in a freshman club that now has 90 members. -Break- Sharp, who won for his portrayal of socially awkward genius Christopher Boone in "Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time," is the fifteenth Best Actor (Play) champ to take home the trophy for his first time on Broadway. He joins: Paul Scofield for "A Man for All Seasons" (1962); Cliff Gorman for "Lenny" (1972); John Kani and Winston Ntshona (joint nomination) for "Sizwe Banzi is Dead/The Island" (1975); Tom Conti for "Whose Life is it Anyway?" (1979); Harvey Fierstein for "Torch Song Trilogy" (1983); Jeremy Irons for "The Real Thing" (1984); Ralph Fiennes for "Hamlet" (1995); Stephen Dillane for "The Real Thing" (2000); Jefferson Mays for "I Am My Own W..."...
- 6/8/2015
- Gold Derby
Lenny Bruce: Dustin Hoffman in the 1974 Bob Fosse movie. Lenny Bruce movie review: Polemical stand-up comedian merited less timid biopic (Oscar Movie Series) Bob Fosse's 1974 biopic Lenny has two chief assets: the ever relevant free speech issues it raises and the riveting presence of Valerie Perrine. The film itself, however, is only sporadically thought-provoking or emotionally gripping; in fact, Lenny is a major artistic letdown, considering all the talent involved and the fertile material at hand. After all, much more should have come out of a joint effort between director Fosse, fresh off his Academy Award win for Cabaret; playwright-screenwriter Julian Barry, whose stage version of Lenny earned Cliff Gorman a Tony Award; two-time Best Actor Oscar nominee Dustin Hoffman (The Graduate, Midnight Cowboy); and cinematographer Bruce Surtees (Play Misty for Me, Blume in Love). Their larger-than-life subject? Lenny Bruce, the stand-up comedian who became one of the...
- 6/5/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Bryan Cranston and Sophie Okonedo won Tony Awards for their Broadway debut. These victories put them in a freshman club that now has 87 members. -Break- Bryan Cranston on adding a Tony Award to his mantel in press room (Video) Cranston, who won for his portrayal of Lyndon Johnson in "All the Way" is the fourteenth Best Actor (Play) champ to take home the trophy for his first-time on Broadway. He joins: Paul Scofield for "A Man for All Seasons" (1962); Cliff Gorman for "Lenny" (1972); John Kani and Winston Ntshona (joint nomination) for "Sizwe Banzi is Dead/The Island" (1975); Tom Conti for "Whose Life is it Anyway?" (1979); Harvey Fierstein for "Torch Song Trilogy" (1983); Jeremy Irons for "The Real Thing" (1984); Ralph Fiennes for "Hamlet" (1995); Stephen Dillane for "The Real Thing" (2000); Jefferson Mays for "I Am My Own Wife" (2004); Ri...
- 6/10/2014
- Gold Derby
In 1973, William Friedkin directed The Exorcist and frightened a generation, creating a horror movie classic. Three years earlier, before The French Connection launched Friedkin onto the A-list, he directed The Boys in the Band, an adaptation of an off-Broadway play about a group of gay men at a birthday party. The Boys in the Band is at least as much a horror movie as The Exorcist. Instead of demonic possession, the terror comes from the characters’ palpable hatred for themselves and each other, thinly disguised as friendship. The villain is homosexuality itself and society’s reaction to it, which slowly turn these men into delusional, self-pitying, hateful monsters.
I’m really struggling to figure out what Friedkin and screenwriter (and the original playwright) Mart Crowley wanted audiences to feel about these characters. The only two emotions I can muster up are pity and disgust. Based on the play’s astonishing...
I’m really struggling to figure out what Friedkin and screenwriter (and the original playwright) Mart Crowley wanted audiences to feel about these characters. The only two emotions I can muster up are pity and disgust. Based on the play’s astonishing...
- 5/23/2014
- by Bryan Rucker
- SoundOnSight
One of the many reasons "Prometheus" was eagerly anticipated by so many was the director's track record in the sci-fi genre. Ridley Scott had only made two science fiction pictures before this year's blockbuster, and both are considered classics (and arguably his best two films). The first was 1979's "Alien," the direct inspiration for "Prometheus." And the second? 1982's "Blade Runner," the noirish mystery adaptation of Philip K. Dick's novel "Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep," which has been one of the most talked about and influential science fiction films of all time, particularly in terms of its grim look at Los Angeles in 2019.
The film, which follows Harrison Ford's "blade runner" Deckard as he's tasked with tracking down four murderous "replicants" (life-like robots) who've escaped from an off-world colony and are hiding out on Earth, wasn't a success when it first arrived, partly thanks to the tumultuous,...
The film, which follows Harrison Ford's "blade runner" Deckard as he's tasked with tracking down four murderous "replicants" (life-like robots) who've escaped from an off-world colony and are hiding out on Earth, wasn't a success when it first arrived, partly thanks to the tumultuous,...
- 6/25/2012
- by Oliver Lyttelton
- The Playlist
The Boys in the Band
Can I make a confession? I didn't want to watch or review Making the Boys, the new documentary about the landmark 1968 play and 1970 film The Boys in the Band that opens in limited release in March.
Yes, yes, I know how important the movie is in gay entertainment history (which is why I put it as number one on my list of the most important gay movies of all time, even as I also put it on another list of my least favorite gay movies).
But it's also probably the most discussed gay movie of all time. As Making the Boys points out, it was hailed upon its first staging, then condemned by gays in the post-Stonewall era, then "rediscovered" in the 1990s. At every point in modern gay history, it's been there in the background, cited as an example of post-Stonewall "truth," or as...
Can I make a confession? I didn't want to watch or review Making the Boys, the new documentary about the landmark 1968 play and 1970 film The Boys in the Band that opens in limited release in March.
Yes, yes, I know how important the movie is in gay entertainment history (which is why I put it as number one on my list of the most important gay movies of all time, even as I also put it on another list of my least favorite gay movies).
But it's also probably the most discussed gay movie of all time. As Making the Boys points out, it was hailed upon its first staging, then condemned by gays in the post-Stonewall era, then "rediscovered" in the 1990s. At every point in modern gay history, it's been there in the background, cited as an example of post-Stonewall "truth," or as...
- 2/22/2011
- by Brent Hartinger
- The Backlot
Oscar-winning director William Friedkin.
In July of 1997, I conducted the first of two lengthy interviews with director William Friedkin, regarded by many as the "enfant terrible" of the so-called "Easy Riders and Raging Bulls" generation of filmmakers who, for one brief, shining moment, seemed to reinvent American cinema in the late '60s thru the late '70s. Meeting Friedkin was something of a milestone for me at the time: I was still in my 20s, had been writing for Venice Magazine less than a year, and "Billy," as he likes people to call him, was the first person I interviewed who was one of my childhood heroes--a filmmaker whose one-sheets hung on my bedroom walls when I was growing up.
Below are the two interviews, conducted a decade apart from one another, and posted in reverse chronology. In both, Billy reveals a cunning intellect, a sometimes abrasive personal style,...
In July of 1997, I conducted the first of two lengthy interviews with director William Friedkin, regarded by many as the "enfant terrible" of the so-called "Easy Riders and Raging Bulls" generation of filmmakers who, for one brief, shining moment, seemed to reinvent American cinema in the late '60s thru the late '70s. Meeting Friedkin was something of a milestone for me at the time: I was still in my 20s, had been writing for Venice Magazine less than a year, and "Billy," as he likes people to call him, was the first person I interviewed who was one of my childhood heroes--a filmmaker whose one-sheets hung on my bedroom walls when I was growing up.
Below are the two interviews, conducted a decade apart from one another, and posted in reverse chronology. In both, Billy reveals a cunning intellect, a sometimes abrasive personal style,...
- 2/24/2010
- by The Hollywood Interview.com
- The Hollywood Interview
Have a question about gay male entertainment? Ask the Monkey! (Please include your city and state and/or country.)
A Note from the Flying Monkey: Of the many emails I receive every week for my column, some are so good that they simply can’t be answered in just a few words. So from time to time, the editors have decided to let me out of the “cage” of that regular column, in a feature we’re calling Monkey Uncaged! (What I didn’t tell the editors, of course, is that now they’ve let me out of my cage, do they really think I’m ever going back inside again?! Editor’s Note: Monkey no listen to his editor, Monkey no get fed.)
Q: I just watched a movie that had several references to old movies that are very popular in gay culture, and that made me think of...
A Note from the Flying Monkey: Of the many emails I receive every week for my column, some are so good that they simply can’t be answered in just a few words. So from time to time, the editors have decided to let me out of the “cage” of that regular column, in a feature we’re calling Monkey Uncaged! (What I didn’t tell the editors, of course, is that now they’ve let me out of my cage, do they really think I’m ever going back inside again?! Editor’s Note: Monkey no listen to his editor, Monkey no get fed.)
Q: I just watched a movie that had several references to old movies that are very popular in gay culture, and that made me think of...
- 8/12/2009
- by Brent Hartinger
- The Backlot
I Heart Camp! No, Not The Kind With Tents!
I have no taste. That's the general consensus from my friends, who are by turns bewitched, bothered, and bewildered by my obsession with camp, especially when it comes to films and 80's pop culture. Things came to a head last week when I invited some of them to a special screening in my house of the 2006 remake of The Wicker Man. For those unfamiliar with it, here's a clip of some the movie's greatest scenes. Enjoy!
"How'd it get burned? How'd it get burned? How did the Bees in my eyes get Burned?
There is absolutely nothing better than Nic Cage at his most spastic. The Wicker Man had Nic in full looney-tunes mode, along with the most unintentionally hilarious script to come along in many a moon. Plus it also had the great Ellen Burstyn looking like Braveheart's crazy grandma.
I have no taste. That's the general consensus from my friends, who are by turns bewitched, bothered, and bewildered by my obsession with camp, especially when it comes to films and 80's pop culture. Things came to a head last week when I invited some of them to a special screening in my house of the 2006 remake of The Wicker Man. For those unfamiliar with it, here's a clip of some the movie's greatest scenes. Enjoy!
"How'd it get burned? How'd it get burned? How did the Bees in my eyes get Burned?
There is absolutely nothing better than Nic Cage at his most spastic. The Wicker Man had Nic in full looney-tunes mode, along with the most unintentionally hilarious script to come along in many a moon. Plus it also had the great Ellen Burstyn looking like Braveheart's crazy grandma.
- 3/13/2009
- by michael
- The Backlot
John Leguizamo, Rosie Perez, Marisa Tomei and the late Justin Pierce, all of whom appeared in New York indie filmmaker Seth Svi Rosenfeld's promising first film, "A Brother's Kiss", released three years ago by First Look, are fully submerged in the Upper West Side Hoi Polloi of the well-intentioned drama "King of the Jungle".
Showcased recently at Outfest and screening Saturday as part of the L.A. Latino fest at the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood, writer-director Rosenfeld's "Jungle" is as deadly serious but more accomplished than the downbeat "Kiss". Although the market for such fare currently is uninspiring, the cast and merits of this project should garner it limited exposure beyond the festival circuit.
A movie seemingly eager to take on controversial issues and show underrepresented people, "Jungle" centers on Leguizamo's gutsy portrayal of "mildly retarded" Seymour, who lives in an apartment with his politically active Latina mother, Mona (Julie Carmen). With a low IQ and the social skills of a child, friendly and adventuresome Seymour is easy to please and easy to frustrate.
One is pleased and sometimes frustrated to see the film so boldly paint the world around Seymour. Mona is a hothead with a lesbian girlfriend (Perez), and they are heavily involved in protesting police violence against minorities. At one such nighttime neighborhood rally, a cop is mysteriously gunned down, and Seymour is fatefully there to see the blood flow.
Seymour's unlikable father, Jack (Cliff Gorman), avoids his Knicks-loving son, but a rough outburst of violence from an unexpected source forever alters their worlds, and the two come together as a consequence. When Mona is shot dead by a sociopathic goon (Pierce) who resides with a stark femme fatale of a mother (Annabella Sciorra), Seymour is understandably fearful and seeks out street buddy Francis (Michael Rapaport), but there's not much he or anyone can really do to change a toxic world.
In one hellacious sequence at the police station, certainly a medium-mild condemnation of "New York's finest", Perez's distraught character is treated antagonistically by the cops, including a snappy detective (Tomei).
With fragments of memories confusing him constantly, punctuated with moments of clarity, Seymour is not about to avenge his mother. But in the climax, he does get a gun to cause alarm, and he gets to dribble and shoot at Madison Square Garden in an earlier episode (filmed during a real March 1999 NBA game).
In the retelling, "Jungle" is not airtight by a long shot, nor particularly memorable, but the multitalented Leguizamo suits up and plays his difficult character without a hitch. Carmen, Gorman and Perez are all excellent, while Sciorra and Pierce's freaky scenes together are confusingly cut short.
KING OF THE JUNGLE
Bombo Sports & Entertainment
Director-screenwriter: Seth Svi Rosenfeld
Producers: Bob Potter, Scott Macaulay,
Robin O'Hara
Director of photography: Fortunato Procopio
Production designer: Deana Sydney
Editors: Katherine Sanford, Andy Keir
Costume designer: Richard Owings
Casting: Sheila Jaffe, Georgianne Walken
Color/stereo
Cast:
Seymour: John Leguizamo
Mona: Julie Carmen
Jack: Cliff Gorman
Joanne: Rosie Perez
Francis: Michael Rapaport
Detective Costello: Marisa Tomei
Li'l Mafia: Justin Pierce
Mermaid: Annabella Sciorra
Running time - 86 minutes
No MPAA rating...
Showcased recently at Outfest and screening Saturday as part of the L.A. Latino fest at the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood, writer-director Rosenfeld's "Jungle" is as deadly serious but more accomplished than the downbeat "Kiss". Although the market for such fare currently is uninspiring, the cast and merits of this project should garner it limited exposure beyond the festival circuit.
A movie seemingly eager to take on controversial issues and show underrepresented people, "Jungle" centers on Leguizamo's gutsy portrayal of "mildly retarded" Seymour, who lives in an apartment with his politically active Latina mother, Mona (Julie Carmen). With a low IQ and the social skills of a child, friendly and adventuresome Seymour is easy to please and easy to frustrate.
One is pleased and sometimes frustrated to see the film so boldly paint the world around Seymour. Mona is a hothead with a lesbian girlfriend (Perez), and they are heavily involved in protesting police violence against minorities. At one such nighttime neighborhood rally, a cop is mysteriously gunned down, and Seymour is fatefully there to see the blood flow.
Seymour's unlikable father, Jack (Cliff Gorman), avoids his Knicks-loving son, but a rough outburst of violence from an unexpected source forever alters their worlds, and the two come together as a consequence. When Mona is shot dead by a sociopathic goon (Pierce) who resides with a stark femme fatale of a mother (Annabella Sciorra), Seymour is understandably fearful and seeks out street buddy Francis (Michael Rapaport), but there's not much he or anyone can really do to change a toxic world.
In one hellacious sequence at the police station, certainly a medium-mild condemnation of "New York's finest", Perez's distraught character is treated antagonistically by the cops, including a snappy detective (Tomei).
With fragments of memories confusing him constantly, punctuated with moments of clarity, Seymour is not about to avenge his mother. But in the climax, he does get a gun to cause alarm, and he gets to dribble and shoot at Madison Square Garden in an earlier episode (filmed during a real March 1999 NBA game).
In the retelling, "Jungle" is not airtight by a long shot, nor particularly memorable, but the multitalented Leguizamo suits up and plays his difficult character without a hitch. Carmen, Gorman and Perez are all excellent, while Sciorra and Pierce's freaky scenes together are confusingly cut short.
KING OF THE JUNGLE
Bombo Sports & Entertainment
Director-screenwriter: Seth Svi Rosenfeld
Producers: Bob Potter, Scott Macaulay,
Robin O'Hara
Director of photography: Fortunato Procopio
Production designer: Deana Sydney
Editors: Katherine Sanford, Andy Keir
Costume designer: Richard Owings
Casting: Sheila Jaffe, Georgianne Walken
Color/stereo
Cast:
Seymour: John Leguizamo
Mona: Julie Carmen
Jack: Cliff Gorman
Joanne: Rosie Perez
Francis: Michael Rapaport
Detective Costello: Marisa Tomei
Li'l Mafia: Justin Pierce
Mermaid: Annabella Sciorra
Running time - 86 minutes
No MPAA rating...
- 7/20/2000
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
A killer for hire whose big clients are cartoon-watching Mafiosi who can't pay the rent on time, the deadly serious lead character in Jim Jarmusch's moderately successful competition entry is an enigma who doesn't have a line of dialogue until 45 minutes into the film. What is provided in the way of illuminating the character's mindset are excerpts from a book about Samurai warriors who possess an uncompromising sense of loyalty, and daily are so prepared to die they already consider themselves "dead."
Much funnier and less consequential than the Indie filmmaker's loved and loathed western "Dead Man", "Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai" has commercial promise. It is a satisfactorily provoking and offbeat take on the otherwise tired hitman genre until the violence starts escalating in the final act. Overall, the most glaring deficiency is the lack of a significant payoff in the peculiar destiny of the title character, played splendidly by Forest Whitaker.
Jarmusch is a strong director and adeptly steers clear of a conventional narrative in "Ghost Dog", but the results are somewhat mixed when it comes to the cast of characters, particularly the aforementioned gangsters led by Henry Silva. John Tormey stands out as Louie, the "master" who once saved the life of rooftop-dwelling Ghost Dog and communicates with him via messenger pigeons. Apart from Cliff Gorman's spirited turn, the rest of the thugs are shallow caricatures whose denseness grows tiresome.
The simple story finds Ghost Dog on the outs with his employers when they hire him to whack a "made man" and then seek in-house retribution. But the shadowy, nearly friendless assassin is not one to be caught unprepared. Although his vows forbid him to question or harm his master, when he knows he's a target, the efficient killer goes after the other mobsters. Unfortunately, Jarmusch includes a few too many jokey killings that sour the conclusion.
French-speaking Isaach De Bankole ("Night on Earth") is a welcome addition as an Ice Cream vendor who oddly communicates perfectly with the English-only Ghost Dog. Camille Winbush is also memorable as a little girl that the lead discusses books with and who seems destined also to adopt the "ancient ways" in a changing world.
GHOST DOG: THE WAY OF THE SAMURAI
JVC, BAC Films, Le Sudio Canal Plus present
In association with Pandora Film and ARD/Degeto Film
A Plywood production
Writer-director:Jim Jarmusch
Producer:Richard Guay, Jim Jarmusch
Director of photography:Robby Muller
Production designer:Ted Berner
Editor:Jay Rabinowitz
Music:RZA
Costume designer:John Dunn
Color/stereo
Cast:
Ghost Dog:Forest Whitaker
Louie:John Tormey
Ray Vargo:Henry Silva
Raymond:Isaach De Bankole
Pearline:Camille Winbush
Running time -- 116 minutes...
Much funnier and less consequential than the Indie filmmaker's loved and loathed western "Dead Man", "Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai" has commercial promise. It is a satisfactorily provoking and offbeat take on the otherwise tired hitman genre until the violence starts escalating in the final act. Overall, the most glaring deficiency is the lack of a significant payoff in the peculiar destiny of the title character, played splendidly by Forest Whitaker.
Jarmusch is a strong director and adeptly steers clear of a conventional narrative in "Ghost Dog", but the results are somewhat mixed when it comes to the cast of characters, particularly the aforementioned gangsters led by Henry Silva. John Tormey stands out as Louie, the "master" who once saved the life of rooftop-dwelling Ghost Dog and communicates with him via messenger pigeons. Apart from Cliff Gorman's spirited turn, the rest of the thugs are shallow caricatures whose denseness grows tiresome.
The simple story finds Ghost Dog on the outs with his employers when they hire him to whack a "made man" and then seek in-house retribution. But the shadowy, nearly friendless assassin is not one to be caught unprepared. Although his vows forbid him to question or harm his master, when he knows he's a target, the efficient killer goes after the other mobsters. Unfortunately, Jarmusch includes a few too many jokey killings that sour the conclusion.
French-speaking Isaach De Bankole ("Night on Earth") is a welcome addition as an Ice Cream vendor who oddly communicates perfectly with the English-only Ghost Dog. Camille Winbush is also memorable as a little girl that the lead discusses books with and who seems destined also to adopt the "ancient ways" in a changing world.
GHOST DOG: THE WAY OF THE SAMURAI
JVC, BAC Films, Le Sudio Canal Plus present
In association with Pandora Film and ARD/Degeto Film
A Plywood production
Writer-director:Jim Jarmusch
Producer:Richard Guay, Jim Jarmusch
Director of photography:Robby Muller
Production designer:Ted Berner
Editor:Jay Rabinowitz
Music:RZA
Costume designer:John Dunn
Color/stereo
Cast:
Ghost Dog:Forest Whitaker
Louie:John Tormey
Ray Vargo:Henry Silva
Raymond:Isaach De Bankole
Pearline:Camille Winbush
Running time -- 116 minutes...
- 5/20/1999
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.