Over the past month, we canvassed 118 culture creators about the year in movies, TV, music, books, and various other entertaining miscellany that flitted across their screens. As it turns out, a survey of the last 12 months in culture doubles as a pretty handy survey of what mattered in 2015.Respondents: Paula Abdul, Desiree Akhavan, Kyle Patrick Alvarez, Laurie Anderson, Darren Aronofsky, Sean Baker, Jason Biggs, Andy Borowitz, Leon Bridges, Billy Brown, Ellen Burstyn, Steve Carell, Jonas Carpignano, Josh Charles, Tracee Chimo, Ciara, Bill Clegg, Glenn Close, Ta-Nehisi Coates, Mike Colter, Gerry Conway, Terry Crews, Sloane Crosley, Michael Cudlitz, Rory Culkin, Chris Cuomo, Lea DeLaria, Matt Dillon, Edie Falco, Julian Fellowes, Jack Ferver, Angela Flournoy, Inara George, Kathie Lee Gifford, Kat Graham, Frankie Grande, Ari Graynor, Gael Greene, James Grissom, Lauren Groff, Mariska Hargitay, Todd Haynes, Marielle Heller, Caroline Hirsch, Hozier, Colin Jost, Victoria Justice, Thomas Kail, Elizabeth Karlsen, Ellie Kemper,...
- 12/18/2015
- Vulture
A Love By Any Other Name: Lisecki’s Debut a Modest Comedic Gem
Based on his short film of the same name, director Jonathan Lisecki expands Gayby for his feature debut, a surprisingly well tread concept, into a delightful narrative exploring an all too familiar premise. Employing a plethora of notable film and television stars as reliable reinforcement, there’s nary a dull moment, for better or worse, in a feature that hits all the notes its heterosexual counterpart, Friends With Kids, just couldn’t.
Friends Jenn (Jenn Harris) and Matt (Matthew Wilkas) have been the best of friends since college, and now, both in their thirties, find themselves single and not exactly where they imagined themselves to be. Matt, a comic book aficionado, works in a comic book store where his hours are tooled around avoiding his ex-boyfriend, a frequent fixture there. Jenn, a yoga instructor, despises her boss,...
Based on his short film of the same name, director Jonathan Lisecki expands Gayby for his feature debut, a surprisingly well tread concept, into a delightful narrative exploring an all too familiar premise. Employing a plethora of notable film and television stars as reliable reinforcement, there’s nary a dull moment, for better or worse, in a feature that hits all the notes its heterosexual counterpart, Friends With Kids, just couldn’t.
Friends Jenn (Jenn Harris) and Matt (Matthew Wilkas) have been the best of friends since college, and now, both in their thirties, find themselves single and not exactly where they imagined themselves to be. Matt, a comic book aficionado, works in a comic book store where his hours are tooled around avoiding his ex-boyfriend, a frequent fixture there. Jenn, a yoga instructor, despises her boss,...
- 10/12/2012
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
About ten minutes into the comedy Gayby - in which a gay man and his best ladyfriend decide to procreate in the most dinner-party-convo-demolishing way possible (aka "The Old Fashioned Way") - I laughed out loud. Sure, some gay romcoms are cute, or naughty, or sweet - but laugh-out-loud funny? Pretty rare. So imagine my delight when I found my guard shattered to thousands of glittery bits by the well-placed use of the word "whimsical".
Written and directed by relative newcomer Jonathan Lisecki, Gayby tells the story of two New York City friends who want to be parents, and decide that it's time to use their natural biological complements to do so. Matt (Matthew Wilkas, aka "The Adorable Bastard Lovechild of Dexter and Stifler") works in a comic book store and is still sorting through the rubble of a failed long-term relationship. Jenn (future Gay Icon nominee Jenn Harris) is...
Written and directed by relative newcomer Jonathan Lisecki, Gayby tells the story of two New York City friends who want to be parents, and decide that it's time to use their natural biological complements to do so. Matt (Matthew Wilkas, aka "The Adorable Bastard Lovechild of Dexter and Stifler") works in a comic book store and is still sorting through the rubble of a failed long-term relationship. Jenn (future Gay Icon nominee Jenn Harris) is...
- 10/10/2012
- by brian
- The Backlot
Title: Gayby Wolfe Releasing Reviewed for Shockya by Harvey Karten Grade: B+ Director: Jonathan Lisecki Screenwriter: Jonathan Lisecki Cast: Jenn Harris, Matthew Wilkas, Mike Doyle, Anna Margaret Hollyman, Jack Ferver, Jonathan Lisecki, Alycia Delmore, Adam Driver, Dulé Hill Screened at: Broadway, NYC, 10/1/12 Opens: October 12, 2012 You won’t see a sitcom like this on “Leave It to Beaver,” one that could divide the gay community into two groups: one faction that might find the movie hilarious and yet another way to convince the straight world that gays are not from Venus with straights from Mars; or an insult feeding into the stereotypes that the straights have about their gay [ Read More ]
The post Gayby Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.
The post Gayby Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.
- 10/2/2012
- by Harvey Karten
- ShockYa
You have one chance to figure out what “Gayby” is about. If you said “gay baby,” ding ding ding, you got it! Or maybe it should be “baby with a gay,” but at any rate, “Gayby” treads the familiar narrative path of the contentious relationship between the single woman and her biological clock. Much like Madonna and Rupert Everett in “The Next Best Thing,” college buds Jen and Matt (Jennifer Harris and Matthew Wilkas, real life college buds, check out their snapshots in the title sequence) decide to make a go of this whole babymaking business (yes, the old fashioned way).
“Gayby” is a slight little comedy, definitely amusing enough while exploring well known territory, and audiences may enjoy the aggressive gay-ness director Jonathan Lisecki has brought to the material, both in his direction and in his performance as Nelson, one of Matt’s BFFs. Matt is a decidedly non-stereotypical gay,...
“Gayby” is a slight little comedy, definitely amusing enough while exploring well known territory, and audiences may enjoy the aggressive gay-ness director Jonathan Lisecki has brought to the material, both in his direction and in his performance as Nelson, one of Matt’s BFFs. Matt is a decidedly non-stereotypical gay,...
- 6/19/2012
- by Katie Walsh
- The Playlist
Sound On Sight will once again be covering the SXSW Film Festival this year, making it our second time attending. 130 feature films will screen at the Austin, Texas fest taking place March 9-17, including 65 World Premieres, 17 North American Premieres and 10 U.S. Premieres. As previously announced, Drew Goddard and Joss Whedon’s The Cabin in the Woods will have the honours of opening the festival, and now they have released the full list of films – and it’s looking pretty amazing. Enjoy!
Narrative Feature Competition
This year’s 8 films were selected from 1,112 submissions. Each film is a World Premiere. Films screening in Narrative Feature Competition are:
Booster
Director/Screenwriter: Matt Ruskin
When Simon’s brother is arrested for armed robbery, he is asked to commit a string of similar crimes in an attempt to get his brother acquitted.
Cast: Nico Stone, Adam DuPaul, Seymour Cassel, Kristin Dougherty, Brian McGrail (World Premiere)
Eden
Director: Megan Griffiths,...
Narrative Feature Competition
This year’s 8 films were selected from 1,112 submissions. Each film is a World Premiere. Films screening in Narrative Feature Competition are:
Booster
Director/Screenwriter: Matt Ruskin
When Simon’s brother is arrested for armed robbery, he is asked to commit a string of similar crimes in an attempt to get his brother acquitted.
Cast: Nico Stone, Adam DuPaul, Seymour Cassel, Kristin Dougherty, Brian McGrail (World Premiere)
Eden
Director: Megan Griffiths,...
- 2/3/2012
- by Ricky
- SoundOnSight
Iggy Pop and Debbie Harry, shot by Bob Gruen in 1977
Rock 'N' Roll Exposed: The Photography of Bob Gruen
screens as part of 24 Beats per Second
SXSW Film has just announced its features lineup for the 2012 edition, running March 9 through 17. We already knew that the Opening Night Film would be Drew Goddard's The Cabin in the Woods. For its Closing Night Film, the festival will host the world premiere of of Emmett Malloy’s documentary Big Easy Express (more below). The lineup, with descriptions from the festival:
Narrative Feature Competition
Booster
Director/Screenwriter: Matt Ruskin. When Simon’s brother is arrested for armed robbery, he is asked to commit a string of similar crimes in an attempt to get his brother acquitted. Cast: Nico Stone, Adam DuPaul, Seymour Cassel, Kristin Dougherty, Brian McGrail. (World Premiere)
Eden
Director: Megan Griffiths, Screenwriters: Richard B. Phillips, Megan Griffiths, Story by: Richard B. Phillips & Chong Kim.
Rock 'N' Roll Exposed: The Photography of Bob Gruen
screens as part of 24 Beats per Second
SXSW Film has just announced its features lineup for the 2012 edition, running March 9 through 17. We already knew that the Opening Night Film would be Drew Goddard's The Cabin in the Woods. For its Closing Night Film, the festival will host the world premiere of of Emmett Malloy’s documentary Big Easy Express (more below). The lineup, with descriptions from the festival:
Narrative Feature Competition
Booster
Director/Screenwriter: Matt Ruskin. When Simon’s brother is arrested for armed robbery, he is asked to commit a string of similar crimes in an attempt to get his brother acquitted. Cast: Nico Stone, Adam DuPaul, Seymour Cassel, Kristin Dougherty, Brian McGrail. (World Premiere)
Eden
Director: Megan Griffiths, Screenwriters: Richard B. Phillips, Megan Griffiths, Story by: Richard B. Phillips & Chong Kim.
- 2/1/2012
- MUBI
With Sundance 2012 Film Festival over, the next big one on the horizon is South by Southwest, which we’ll be heavily covering. The biggest chunk of the line-up has been announced today, which has some great premieres including 21 Jump Street, Tiff and Sundance hit The Raid, Will Ferrell‘s Casa de mi Padre, the documentary Girl Model (which we liked at Tiff), as well as the next from Broken Lizard, The Babymakers. There are many other promising titles included and you can see them all below. Check back for our coverage for the fest, kicking off March 9th.
Narrative Feature Competition
This year’s 8 films were selected from 1,112 submissions. Each film is a World Premiere. Films screening in Narrative Feature Competition are:
Booster
Director/Screenwriter: Matt Ruskin
When Simon’s brother is arrested for armed robbery, he is asked to commit a string of similar crimes in an attempt to get his brother acquitted.
Narrative Feature Competition
This year’s 8 films were selected from 1,112 submissions. Each film is a World Premiere. Films screening in Narrative Feature Competition are:
Booster
Director/Screenwriter: Matt Ruskin
When Simon’s brother is arrested for armed robbery, he is asked to commit a string of similar crimes in an attempt to get his brother acquitted.
- 2/1/2012
- by jpraup@gmail.com (thefilmstage.com)
- The Film Stage
Attendees of South by Southwest 2012 are in for a treat. 130 feature films will screen at the Austin, Texas festival taking place March 9-17. Among them are 65 World Premieres, 17 North American Premieres and 10 U.S. Premieres. The organization already announced [1] Drew Goddard and Joss Whedon's The Cabin in the Woods would open the festival (the movie is phenomenal [2]) and today the majority of the remaining line up has been revealed. One of the highlights is the unbelievably smart and hilarious 21 Jump Street, directed by Phil Lord & Christopher Miller. Both of those are World Premieres. Other highlights include The Hunter, Killer Joe, The Babymakers, frankie goes boom, God Bless America, The Imposter, The Raid, Bernie and Casa de mi Padre just to name a few. After the jump, read descriptions of all the films that have been announced so far. Before I copy and paste the rest of the list, a few minor notes.
- 2/1/2012
- by Germain Lussier
- Slash Film
Because Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s The Bitter Tears of Petra Van Kant is one of my favorites by the late German director, I’m reprinting here this email from Ira Sachs, whose IFC Center Queer/Art/Film series is screening the film tonight at 8:00 Pm. It’s being presented by choreographer Jack Ferver, who has written a fantastic intro to the film.
Dear Friends of Queer/Art/Film,
“That little girl’s finger is worth more than the lot of you.”
For this month’s August screening, we’re thrilled to finally be able to present a film by the visionary gay German filmmaker Rainer Werner Fassbinder, especially one as rich and rewarding as the queer classic The Bitter Tears of Petra Von Kant. Featuring the astonishing Margit Carstensen as a lesbian fashion designer who manipulates her assistant, daughter, mother, and lover– it’s beloved by our guest presenter,...
Dear Friends of Queer/Art/Film,
“That little girl’s finger is worth more than the lot of you.”
For this month’s August screening, we’re thrilled to finally be able to present a film by the visionary gay German filmmaker Rainer Werner Fassbinder, especially one as rich and rewarding as the queer classic The Bitter Tears of Petra Von Kant. Featuring the astonishing Margit Carstensen as a lesbian fashion designer who manipulates her assistant, daughter, mother, and lover– it’s beloved by our guest presenter,...
- 8/12/2011
- by Scott Macaulay
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
As John Hurt reprises his role as the flamboyant raconteur and gay icon, Quentin Crisp, in An Englishman in New York, Ben Walters traces the writer's legacy in the Big Apple
"I don't believe in abroad," John Hurt's Quentin Crisp says towards the end of The Naked Civil Servant, the 1975 Thames Television drama that made Hurt a star and Crisp an icon. Before long, Crisp would revise his opinion: after his new-found fame led to him performing in New York in 1978, he fell in love with the city and, forsaking his self-appointed status as one of the stately homos of England, relocated there in 1981, aged 72. He would remain one of its most celebrated resident aliens for the remaining 18 years of his life.
Now that period is the subject of its own ITV film, An Englishman in New York, which takes its title from the song Sting wrote about Crisp.
"I don't believe in abroad," John Hurt's Quentin Crisp says towards the end of The Naked Civil Servant, the 1975 Thames Television drama that made Hurt a star and Crisp an icon. Before long, Crisp would revise his opinion: after his new-found fame led to him performing in New York in 1978, he fell in love with the city and, forsaking his self-appointed status as one of the stately homos of England, relocated there in 1981, aged 72. He would remain one of its most celebrated resident aliens for the remaining 18 years of his life.
Now that period is the subject of its own ITV film, An Englishman in New York, which takes its title from the song Sting wrote about Crisp.
- 12/9/2009
- by Ben Walters
- The Guardian - Film News
Jack Ferver presents an evening of desire and humiliation, combining two of his most hilarious and erotic works. I Am Trying To Hear Myself concerns the elusive quality of romance and the disappointment of viewing one's current life through the idealization of one's past. Ferver will also show an excerpt of the new piece he is working on, Vandam Goodbar, about the humorous, disturbing, and unfortunate violent excursions that can happen in the restless search for a connection.
- 7/21/2009
- BroadwayWorld.com
Who knew? Then again, it makes perfect sense.
Director Michael Corrente's previous films, including "Federal Hill" and "American Buffalo", have dug into the grit of blue-collar environments to understand the rites and rituals of male camaraderie. And the Farrelly brothers' wacky comedies are, at their very core, studies of intellectually challenged, lower-class males who triumph against all odds in the pursuit of outrageous goals.
So perhaps it should surprise no one that "Outside Providence" -- Corrente's film that he wrote and produced with the Farrellys based on Peter Farrelly's first novel -- is such a pleasure. The Miramax release could become a sleeper hit, but this will require careful marketing. Any promotion exploiting the Farrelly brothers might bring in the wrong crowd or at least disappoint those expecting "Dumb & Dumber II."
Not that the film lacks for jokes about excessive drug taking, gross practical jokes, a three-legged dog and a youth whose dad calls him "Dildo". But at its heart, this comedy is an affecting and sometimes sentimental coming-of-age tale about a slacker, 1970s style, from Pawtucket, R.I., who is thrust into a tony prep school.
Shawn Hatosy is outstanding as Tim Dunphy, a 17-year-old who is often his own worst enemy. Like the pals he hangs out with in Pawtucket, Tim has smoked enough dope and downed enough booze in his young life to have killed more than a few brain cells.
His latest scrape with the law forces his old man -- played by a disheveled Alec Baldwin -- to pack him off to Cornwall Academy. There he runs afoul of the dorm master (Timothy Crowe), surrounds himself with a new group of druggies and boozers and, astonishingly, wins the heart of Jane Weston (Amy Smart), the coolest girl in the school.
Corrente lets the audience empathize with Tim but not always sympathize. Many of his scrapes are entirely avoidable, and the upper-class milieu doesn't have the positive effect on him it should. Indeed, it's his blossoming romance with Jane that finally makes him discover the value of study.
Nothing in "Outside Providence" hasn't been examined in countless coming-of-age movies. But Rhode Island locales make much of this feel fresh, and the character work by a mostly young cast, aided by a couple of old Hollywood pros, invigorate the familiar story.
Hatosy's astute performance is winningly supported by Baldwin as Old Man Dunphy and Tony Bone as Tim Younger,'s wheelchair-using brother. (Tim explains his brother's damaged body as being the result of a touch football game where his brother fell off the roof, a line that perfectly captures the pain behind many of the film's laughs.)
Among many in the outstanding cast are Jon Abrahams as the aptly named Drugs Delaney; Jack Ferver as Tim's roomie, who struggles against the memory of ego-deflating hazing; Gabriel Mann as a mendacious upper-class student; and George Wendt as Old Man Dunphy's card-playing pal who has his own secret life.
The various plot threads, including revelations about the death of Tim's mother, all get tied up a bit too neatly in the end. The film suffers from some nostalgic gloss in which the laughs are funnier and the bad things are much less sad than they probably were.
The nostalgia gets reinforced by a lively soundtrack of 1970s hits such as "Band on the Run", "Take It Easy" and "Won't Get Fooled Again".
But realism is not what Corrente and the Farrellys, all native Rhode Islanders, are after. Rather, they are comically contemplating a past that abounded with youthful opportunities, some seized and others lost forever.
OUTSIDE PROVIDENCE
Miramax Films
Eagle Beach Prods.
Producers: Michael Corrente, Peter Farrelly, Bobby Farrelly
Director: Michael Corrente
Writers: Peter Farrelly, Michael Corrente, Bobby Farrelly
Based on the novel by: Peter Farrelly
Executive producers: Bob Weinstein, Harvey Weinstein, Billy Heinzerling
Director of photography: Richard Crudo
Production designer: Chad Detwiller
Music: Sheldon Mirowitz
Music supervision: Peter Afterman
Costume designer: Annie Dunn
Editor: Kate Sanford
Color/stereo
Cast:
Tim Dunphy: Shawn Hatosy
Old Man Dunphy: Alec Baldwin
Jane Weston: Amy Smart
Joey: George Wendt
Jackie Dunphy: Tony Bone
Mousey: Jonathan Brandis
Drugs Delaney: Jon Abrahams
Mr. Funderburk: Timothy Crowe
Irving Waltham: Jack Ferver
Jack Wheeler: Gabriel Mann
Running time -- 95 minutes
MPAA rating: R...
Director Michael Corrente's previous films, including "Federal Hill" and "American Buffalo", have dug into the grit of blue-collar environments to understand the rites and rituals of male camaraderie. And the Farrelly brothers' wacky comedies are, at their very core, studies of intellectually challenged, lower-class males who triumph against all odds in the pursuit of outrageous goals.
So perhaps it should surprise no one that "Outside Providence" -- Corrente's film that he wrote and produced with the Farrellys based on Peter Farrelly's first novel -- is such a pleasure. The Miramax release could become a sleeper hit, but this will require careful marketing. Any promotion exploiting the Farrelly brothers might bring in the wrong crowd or at least disappoint those expecting "Dumb & Dumber II."
Not that the film lacks for jokes about excessive drug taking, gross practical jokes, a three-legged dog and a youth whose dad calls him "Dildo". But at its heart, this comedy is an affecting and sometimes sentimental coming-of-age tale about a slacker, 1970s style, from Pawtucket, R.I., who is thrust into a tony prep school.
Shawn Hatosy is outstanding as Tim Dunphy, a 17-year-old who is often his own worst enemy. Like the pals he hangs out with in Pawtucket, Tim has smoked enough dope and downed enough booze in his young life to have killed more than a few brain cells.
His latest scrape with the law forces his old man -- played by a disheveled Alec Baldwin -- to pack him off to Cornwall Academy. There he runs afoul of the dorm master (Timothy Crowe), surrounds himself with a new group of druggies and boozers and, astonishingly, wins the heart of Jane Weston (Amy Smart), the coolest girl in the school.
Corrente lets the audience empathize with Tim but not always sympathize. Many of his scrapes are entirely avoidable, and the upper-class milieu doesn't have the positive effect on him it should. Indeed, it's his blossoming romance with Jane that finally makes him discover the value of study.
Nothing in "Outside Providence" hasn't been examined in countless coming-of-age movies. But Rhode Island locales make much of this feel fresh, and the character work by a mostly young cast, aided by a couple of old Hollywood pros, invigorate the familiar story.
Hatosy's astute performance is winningly supported by Baldwin as Old Man Dunphy and Tony Bone as Tim Younger,'s wheelchair-using brother. (Tim explains his brother's damaged body as being the result of a touch football game where his brother fell off the roof, a line that perfectly captures the pain behind many of the film's laughs.)
Among many in the outstanding cast are Jon Abrahams as the aptly named Drugs Delaney; Jack Ferver as Tim's roomie, who struggles against the memory of ego-deflating hazing; Gabriel Mann as a mendacious upper-class student; and George Wendt as Old Man Dunphy's card-playing pal who has his own secret life.
The various plot threads, including revelations about the death of Tim's mother, all get tied up a bit too neatly in the end. The film suffers from some nostalgic gloss in which the laughs are funnier and the bad things are much less sad than they probably were.
The nostalgia gets reinforced by a lively soundtrack of 1970s hits such as "Band on the Run", "Take It Easy" and "Won't Get Fooled Again".
But realism is not what Corrente and the Farrellys, all native Rhode Islanders, are after. Rather, they are comically contemplating a past that abounded with youthful opportunities, some seized and others lost forever.
OUTSIDE PROVIDENCE
Miramax Films
Eagle Beach Prods.
Producers: Michael Corrente, Peter Farrelly, Bobby Farrelly
Director: Michael Corrente
Writers: Peter Farrelly, Michael Corrente, Bobby Farrelly
Based on the novel by: Peter Farrelly
Executive producers: Bob Weinstein, Harvey Weinstein, Billy Heinzerling
Director of photography: Richard Crudo
Production designer: Chad Detwiller
Music: Sheldon Mirowitz
Music supervision: Peter Afterman
Costume designer: Annie Dunn
Editor: Kate Sanford
Color/stereo
Cast:
Tim Dunphy: Shawn Hatosy
Old Man Dunphy: Alec Baldwin
Jane Weston: Amy Smart
Joey: George Wendt
Jackie Dunphy: Tony Bone
Mousey: Jonathan Brandis
Drugs Delaney: Jon Abrahams
Mr. Funderburk: Timothy Crowe
Irving Waltham: Jack Ferver
Jack Wheeler: Gabriel Mann
Running time -- 95 minutes
MPAA rating: R...
- 8/30/1999
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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