If you looked to the 1980s for representation of the HIV/AIDS epidemic on mainstream screens anywhere, you’d be staring into a void.
Hollywood, much like the reigning political administration of the time, ignored the crisis as it grew that decade — and certainly did not know what to do with it once ignorance was no longer an option. It wasn’t until Rock Hudson, once a glimmering fawned-upon pillar of quote-unquote masculinity, collapsed in the summer of 1985 and died that fall from AIDS complications that the film industry was finally forced to respond at all.
That same year, just a few months before Hudson’s death, porn-director-turned-activist filmmaker Arthur J. Bressan Jr. released the first narrative theatrical feature devoted to the gay plague that the likes of Reagan and Thatcher otherwise preferred to keep far away from legislation and policy.
Bressan died two years later from his own complications from AIDS,...
Hollywood, much like the reigning political administration of the time, ignored the crisis as it grew that decade — and certainly did not know what to do with it once ignorance was no longer an option. It wasn’t until Rock Hudson, once a glimmering fawned-upon pillar of quote-unquote masculinity, collapsed in the summer of 1985 and died that fall from AIDS complications that the film industry was finally forced to respond at all.
That same year, just a few months before Hudson’s death, porn-director-turned-activist filmmaker Arthur J. Bressan Jr. released the first narrative theatrical feature devoted to the gay plague that the likes of Reagan and Thatcher otherwise preferred to keep far away from legislation and policy.
Bressan died two years later from his own complications from AIDS,...
- 8/16/2023
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Indiewire
Broadway and film star Joel Grey and John Kander, composer of Cabaret, Chicago and more, will receive the 2023 Special Tony Awards for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre.
Grey was the original Amos Hart in the 1996 Chicago and the original Emcee in Cabaret on Broadway, for which he won a Tony Award. He later received an Academy Award, Golden Globe and BAFTA for his performance in the film adaptation. Kander, who co-wrote those legendary musicals with the late lyricist Fred Ebb, is currently represented on Broadway with the musical New York, New York.
“We are immensely thrilled to honor two legends in their own rights. John Kander has composed the soundtrack to all of our lives – meeting us in every decade – creating unforgettable scores for Cabaret, Chicago, Kiss of the Spider Woman, and his current Broadway hit New York, New York,” said Charlotte St. Martin, president of the Broadway League.
“As a legendary actor and director,...
Grey was the original Amos Hart in the 1996 Chicago and the original Emcee in Cabaret on Broadway, for which he won a Tony Award. He later received an Academy Award, Golden Globe and BAFTA for his performance in the film adaptation. Kander, who co-wrote those legendary musicals with the late lyricist Fred Ebb, is currently represented on Broadway with the musical New York, New York.
“We are immensely thrilled to honor two legends in their own rights. John Kander has composed the soundtrack to all of our lives – meeting us in every decade – creating unforgettable scores for Cabaret, Chicago, Kiss of the Spider Woman, and his current Broadway hit New York, New York,” said Charlotte St. Martin, president of the Broadway League.
“As a legendary actor and director,...
- 5/3/2023
- by Caitlin Huston
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Who knew when the year began that a sequel to a 36-year-old movie starring its 60-year-old actor who headlined the original would be the box office champ so far this year? But “Top Gun: Maverick” starring Tom Cruise, which was released Aug. 23 on digital formats while still flying high in theaters is not only the No. 1 film of the year with a staggering haul of 683.4 million domestically and 720 million overseas. And the acclaimed film didn’t even play in China or Russia. “Top Gun: Maverick” is also the biggest film of Cruise’s career which began in 1981 with Franco Zeffirelli’s “Endless Love.”
And with the digital release, let’s relive 1986, the year we first felt the need for speed and flew into the danger zone. The year the original “Top Gun” took our breath away.
Top 10 Box Office Hits
Top Gun (natch)
Crocodile Dundee
Platoon
The Karate Kid Part...
And with the digital release, let’s relive 1986, the year we first felt the need for speed and flew into the danger zone. The year the original “Top Gun” took our breath away.
Top 10 Box Office Hits
Top Gun (natch)
Crocodile Dundee
Platoon
The Karate Kid Part...
- 8/24/2022
- by Susan King
- Gold Derby
John Erman, the TV director best known for the Ann-Margret-led “Who Will Love My Children?” and an episode of the original “Roots” miniseries, has died at the age of 85.
The director died on June 25 “after a brief illness,” according to Deadline, which first reported the news of Erman’s passing.
Erman won a Directors Guild of America award in 1978 for his work on the second installment of “Roots.” He later went on to direct multiple episodes of the sequel series “Roots: The Next Generation” at ABC, as well as the CBS miniseries adaptation of the Alex Haley novel “Queen.”
Throughout his career, Erman received a total of 10 Emmy nominations, winning once in 1983 for “Who Will Love My Children?”
He picked up a second DGA award in 1986 for “An Early Frost,” which is billed as the first TV movie about the AIDS crisis. The film stars Aidan Quinn as a...
The director died on June 25 “after a brief illness,” according to Deadline, which first reported the news of Erman’s passing.
Erman won a Directors Guild of America award in 1978 for his work on the second installment of “Roots.” He later went on to direct multiple episodes of the sequel series “Roots: The Next Generation” at ABC, as well as the CBS miniseries adaptation of the Alex Haley novel “Queen.”
Throughout his career, Erman received a total of 10 Emmy nominations, winning once in 1983 for “Who Will Love My Children?”
He picked up a second DGA award in 1986 for “An Early Frost,” which is billed as the first TV movie about the AIDS crisis. The film stars Aidan Quinn as a...
- 7/6/2021
- by Reid Nakamura
- The Wrap
John Erman, an Emmy-winning director-producer who helmed multiple episodes of such classic TV series as Star Trek, M*A*S*H and Peyton Place along with Part 2 of Roots and much of its sequel miniseries Roots: The Next Generations, has died. He was 85.
His friend, Charles Silver of SMS Talent, told Deadline that Erman died June 25 in New York City after a brief illness.
Born on August 3, 1935, in Chicago, Erman began his show business career as an actor, including an unbilled role in 1955’s Blackboard Jungle before working extensively as a casting director. His first job in that role was with Jim Lister at Republic Studios in New York, and Erman would go on to work with numerous Hollywood legends in this capacity, from Marlon Brando, Henry Fonda and Olivia de Havilland to Woody Allen, Angela Lansbury and Ann-Margret — with whom he’d have a long-running working relationship.
He got his first shot...
His friend, Charles Silver of SMS Talent, told Deadline that Erman died June 25 in New York City after a brief illness.
Born on August 3, 1935, in Chicago, Erman began his show business career as an actor, including an unbilled role in 1955’s Blackboard Jungle before working extensively as a casting director. His first job in that role was with Jim Lister at Republic Studios in New York, and Erman would go on to work with numerous Hollywood legends in this capacity, from Marlon Brando, Henry Fonda and Olivia de Havilland to Woody Allen, Angela Lansbury and Ann-Margret — with whom he’d have a long-running working relationship.
He got his first shot...
- 6/29/2021
- by Erik Pedersen
- Deadline Film + TV
With the Emmy Awards nominations set for Tuesday, it is a good time to back at a few of the greatest Emmy-winning and Emmy-nominated performances from some of the biggest stars in Hollywood.
Ingrid Bergman, “The Turn of the Screw” (1959)
The Oscar-winning Swedish actress certainly ended the 1950s on a different note than she began the decade. After making her U.S. film debut opposite Leslie Howard in 1939’s “Intermezzo,” Bergman became one of the top Hollywood stars earning her first Oscar for 1944’s “Gaslight.” Married with a young daughter, she shocked the U.S. when she had an affair and became pregnant by famed Italian director Roberto Rossellini during the production of “Stromboli.” She was even denounced in Congress for her affair. The couple did marry, have three children including actress Isabella Rossellini and made several films together before they divorced in 1957. All was forgiven by 1956 when she won...
Ingrid Bergman, “The Turn of the Screw” (1959)
The Oscar-winning Swedish actress certainly ended the 1950s on a different note than she began the decade. After making her U.S. film debut opposite Leslie Howard in 1939’s “Intermezzo,” Bergman became one of the top Hollywood stars earning her first Oscar for 1944’s “Gaslight.” Married with a young daughter, she shocked the U.S. when she had an affair and became pregnant by famed Italian director Roberto Rossellini during the production of “Stromboli.” She was even denounced in Congress for her affair. The couple did marry, have three children including actress Isabella Rossellini and made several films together before they divorced in 1957. All was forgiven by 1956 when she won...
- 7/24/2020
- by Susan King
- Gold Derby
LGBT TV movies, series and specials are part of our cultural landscape. They are frequently awarded with Emmys, Golden Globes, Critics Choice and SAG Awards. But this acceptance was a long time coming. Here’s a look back at the landmark telefilms that paved the way.
Do you know the first TV movie that featured a gay character? No, it wasn’t 1972’s “That Certain Summer.”
It was a drama called “South” that was produced by England’s ITV and aired on that network on Nov. 24, 1959. Set in the Antebellum South, the drama revolved around a handsome Polish army lieutenant living in the South who is torn between his love for a plantation owner’s niece or a hunky blond officer. “South” was incredibly daring for its time, especially since it would be eight years before homosexuality was legalized in England and Wales with the passing of the Sexual Offences...
Do you know the first TV movie that featured a gay character? No, it wasn’t 1972’s “That Certain Summer.”
It was a drama called “South” that was produced by England’s ITV and aired on that network on Nov. 24, 1959. Set in the Antebellum South, the drama revolved around a handsome Polish army lieutenant living in the South who is torn between his love for a plantation owner’s niece or a hunky blond officer. “South” was incredibly daring for its time, especially since it would be eight years before homosexuality was legalized in England and Wales with the passing of the Sexual Offences...
- 7/16/2020
- by Susan King
- Gold Derby
At Wednesday night’s Paley Honors, which paid tribute to Lgbtq achievements in television, attendees never lost sight of those who first paved the way – both on screen and off. CNN’s Don Lemon opened the ceremony by thanking legendary transgender activist Sylvia Rivera, who helped lead the charge at Stonewall fifty years ago. After recounting the story of the riots, he gestured around the Ziegfeld Ballroom. “Because she was there, we’re here tonight in this room, and at this point in history.”
On the eve of that landmark anniversary, stars ranging from Laverne Cox to Billy Crystal reflected on the progress that’s been made in the decades since — and how far things still have to go.
Our Lady J, a writer on “Transparent” and “Pose,” first learned about Stonewall as a teenager in New York. She immediately wanted to know more, so she turned to someone with...
On the eve of that landmark anniversary, stars ranging from Laverne Cox to Billy Crystal reflected on the progress that’s been made in the decades since — and how far things still have to go.
Our Lady J, a writer on “Transparent” and “Pose,” first learned about Stonewall as a teenager in New York. She immediately wanted to know more, so she turned to someone with...
- 5/17/2019
- by Alex Barasch
- Variety Film + TV
Two films about Brits of very different eras took the marquee trophies at the Ace Eddie Awards tonight as Bohemian Rhapsody and The Favourite took home the respective marquee prizes for Best Edited Feature Dramatic and Comedy.
“I was expecting the worst, I was not prepared for this at all,” Rhapsodyd editor John Ottman said from the stage. He called the film a “labor of love in trying circumstances but joked: “No one [was] miscast, thank God, so you don’t have to polish that turd for a year.”
In accepting his stauette for The Favourite, editor Yorgos Mavropsaridis told the crowd of 1,000-plus he was impressed to get the award because he is from such a “small country like Greece.”
Recognizing outstanding editing in film, TV and documentaries, the Eddies have a strong track record of predicting the Best Editing winner at the Academy Awards. Twenty-one of the past 28 Ace...
“I was expecting the worst, I was not prepared for this at all,” Rhapsodyd editor John Ottman said from the stage. He called the film a “labor of love in trying circumstances but joked: “No one [was] miscast, thank God, so you don’t have to polish that turd for a year.”
In accepting his stauette for The Favourite, editor Yorgos Mavropsaridis told the crowd of 1,000-plus he was impressed to get the award because he is from such a “small country like Greece.”
Recognizing outstanding editing in film, TV and documentaries, the Eddies have a strong track record of predicting the Best Editing winner at the Academy Awards. Twenty-one of the past 28 Ace...
- 2/2/2019
- by Erik Pedersen and Diane Haithman
- Deadline Film + TV
Gregg Rudloff, who won Academy Awards for sound mixing “Mad Max: Fury Road,” “The Matrix,” and “Glory” and was nominated four other times, died in Los Angeles on Jan. 6. He was 63.
A representative for the Los Angeles County Coroner’s office told Variety that the office is treating his death as a possible suicide with results of an autopsy pending.
Rudloff was nominated for an Oscar for “American Sniper,” Best Picture winner “Argo,” “Flags of Our Fathers” and “The Perfect Storm.” He also won an Emmy for sound mixing “An Early Frost” in 1985.
Rudloff followed his father, sound engineer Tex Rudloff, into the business. The elder Rudloff was nominated for a sound Oscar for “The Buddy Holly Story” and had credits on “They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?,” “Taxi Driver,” and Clint Eastwood’s “The Outlaw Josey Wales.”
Gregg Rudloff’s earliest credit was on 1982’s “Honkytonk Man” for Eastwood,...
A representative for the Los Angeles County Coroner’s office told Variety that the office is treating his death as a possible suicide with results of an autopsy pending.
Rudloff was nominated for an Oscar for “American Sniper,” Best Picture winner “Argo,” “Flags of Our Fathers” and “The Perfect Storm.” He also won an Emmy for sound mixing “An Early Frost” in 1985.
Rudloff followed his father, sound engineer Tex Rudloff, into the business. The elder Rudloff was nominated for a sound Oscar for “The Buddy Holly Story” and had credits on “They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?,” “Taxi Driver,” and Clint Eastwood’s “The Outlaw Josey Wales.”
Gregg Rudloff’s earliest credit was on 1982’s “Honkytonk Man” for Eastwood,...
- 1/10/2019
- by Dave McNary
- Variety Film + TV
Director Jonathan Demme's Philadelphia had some major forces going both for and against it a quarter-century ago. On the downside, the TriStar production was about a gay man with HIV/AIDS. On the plus side, Tom Hanks starred as that man.
The Hollywood Reporter was impressed by the film that opened Dec. 23, 1993, but said "it will take an exceptionally inspired marketing campaign to bring Philadelphia home everywhere." Hollywood's previous attempts to tackle AIDS hadn't gone well. (The first was NBC's 1985 movie An Early Frost, which had been a critical success and the most-watched broadcast of the ...
The Hollywood Reporter was impressed by the film that opened Dec. 23, 1993, but said "it will take an exceptionally inspired marketing campaign to bring Philadelphia home everywhere." Hollywood's previous attempts to tackle AIDS hadn't gone well. (The first was NBC's 1985 movie An Early Frost, which had been a critical success and the most-watched broadcast of the ...
- 11/29/2018
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Director Jonathan Demme's Philadelphia had some major forces going both for and against it a quarter-century ago. On the downside, the TriStar production was about a gay man with HIV/AIDS. On the plus side, Tom Hanks starred as that man.
The Hollywood Reporter was impressed by the film that opened Dec. 23, 1993, but said "it will take an exceptionally inspired marketing campaign to bring Philadelphia home everywhere." Hollywood's previous attempts to tackle AIDS hadn't gone well. (The first was NBC's 1985 movie An Early Frost, which had been a critical success and the most-watched broadcast of the ...
The Hollywood Reporter was impressed by the film that opened Dec. 23, 1993, but said "it will take an exceptionally inspired marketing campaign to bring Philadelphia home everywhere." Hollywood's previous attempts to tackle AIDS hadn't gone well. (The first was NBC's 1985 movie An Early Frost, which had been a critical success and the most-watched broadcast of the ...
- 11/29/2018
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
One year before the release of Parting Glances and four before Longtime Companion, Arthur Bressan Jr. wrote, produced, directed and edited Buddies (1985), one of the first narrative feature films to put AIDS front and center as a subject. It might be the first, but the television movie An Early Frost aired at around the same time, and in any case, I’ve learned not to make claims for anything being the absolute first when it comes to film history since there are inevitably obscurities that elude even a guy like me who spends every waking hour watching and thinking about […]...
- 8/24/2018
- by Jim Hemphill
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
One year before the release of Parting Glances and four before Longtime Companion, Arthur Bressan Jr. wrote, produced, directed and edited Buddies (1985), one of the first narrative feature films to put AIDS front and center as a subject. It might be the first, but the television movie An Early Frost aired at around the same time, and in any case, I’ve learned not to make claims for anything being the absolute first when it comes to film history since there are inevitably obscurities that elude even a guy like me who spends every waking hour watching and thinking about […]...
- 8/24/2018
- by Jim Hemphill
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
Gay fests are currently showing a restoration of the late Arthur J. Bressan Jr.’s “Buddies,” a microbudgeted drama that arrived in 1985 as the first-ever narrative feature about the AIDS crisis, one resolutely from the viewpoint of the already hard-hit gay community. A few months later network TV waded in with the acclaimed “An Early Frost,” which like most early mainstream treatments of the subject took a perspective designed to soften up AIDS-phobic Middle America — that of “respectable” parents coming to terms with their sons’ homosexuality as well as probably terminal illnesses.
Bridging the two 30-odd years later is Yen Tan’s fine “1985,” which expands on ideas first explored in his short of the same name two years ago. This excellent drama presents an ’80s flashback perhaps even more uncomfortably familiar to many gay men who survived that era than the stricken Manhattan of “Buddies” or the upscale suburbia of “Frost.
Bridging the two 30-odd years later is Yen Tan’s fine “1985,” which expands on ideas first explored in his short of the same name two years ago. This excellent drama presents an ’80s flashback perhaps even more uncomfortably familiar to many gay men who survived that era than the stricken Manhattan of “Buddies” or the upscale suburbia of “Frost.
- 6/28/2018
- by Dennis Harvey
- Variety Film + TV
Every week, IndieWire asks a select handful of TV critics two questions and publishes the results on Tuesday. (The answer to the second, “What is the best show currently on TV?” can be found at the end of this post.)
This week’s question: What TV show that has changed your perspective on something? How? Why?
Sonia Saraiya (@soniasaraiya), Variety
This is almost cliché given how much we all wrote about it — but “You’re the Worst” really did alter the way that I thought about and understood clinical depression. I think the power that television and storytelling, in general, has to change our perspectives and/or broaden our horizons about experiences that aren’t our own is its most powerful force, and I could point to any number of shows that have slowly and gradually opened up new realizations for me. With “You’re the Worst” it felt like...
This week’s question: What TV show that has changed your perspective on something? How? Why?
Sonia Saraiya (@soniasaraiya), Variety
This is almost cliché given how much we all wrote about it — but “You’re the Worst” really did alter the way that I thought about and understood clinical depression. I think the power that television and storytelling, in general, has to change our perspectives and/or broaden our horizons about experiences that aren’t our own is its most powerful force, and I could point to any number of shows that have slowly and gradually opened up new realizations for me. With “You’re the Worst” it felt like...
- 4/25/2017
- by Hanh Nguyen
- Indiewire
Film Comment Nick Davis interviews Todd Haynes on movies that inspired something in his movies
Interview Mag talks to Regina King about her big year, an Emmy win and The Leftovers
Kenneth in the (212) looks back on the revolutionary TV movie An Early Frost (starring Aidan Quinn & Gena Rowlands) for its 30th anniversary
The Film Stage a prologue comic for The Hateful Eight written by Quentin Tarantino himself
The Envelope Jacob Tremblay on how Room should have ended
filmmixtape suggests 10 films that should have made WGA's "Funniest" List
Pajiba mourns the passing of Hayley Atwell... from social media. She was a master at it. *sniffle*
This is Not Porn Marlon Brando on the set of Julius Caesar
Gurus of Gold new charts and which films and performance need a bigger campaign push to be a nomination threat
Screen Daily Adele in talks to join the cast of the next Xavier Dolan movie.
Interview Mag talks to Regina King about her big year, an Emmy win and The Leftovers
Kenneth in the (212) looks back on the revolutionary TV movie An Early Frost (starring Aidan Quinn & Gena Rowlands) for its 30th anniversary
The Film Stage a prologue comic for The Hateful Eight written by Quentin Tarantino himself
The Envelope Jacob Tremblay on how Room should have ended
filmmixtape suggests 10 films that should have made WGA's "Funniest" List
Pajiba mourns the passing of Hayley Atwell... from social media. She was a master at it. *sniffle*
This is Not Porn Marlon Brando on the set of Julius Caesar
Gurus of Gold new charts and which films and performance need a bigger campaign push to be a nomination threat
Screen Daily Adele in talks to join the cast of the next Xavier Dolan movie.
- 11/15/2015
- by NATHANIEL R
- FilmExperience
A Woman Under The Influence 40th Anniversary Screening In Los Angeles
By Todd Garbarini
Probably the best known film of the late film director John Cassavetes’ career, A Woman Under the Influence (1974) is celebrating its 40th anniversary with a screening at the Landmark Theatre at 10850 West Pico Blvd. in Los Angeles, CA 90064 on Wednesday, May28th at 7:00 pm. The film’s star, actress Gena Rowlands, is scheduled to appear in person.
From the press release:
In Person!
An Evening with
Star Gena Rowlands!
Director John Cassavetes'
A Woman Under the Influence (1974)
40th Anniversary!
Wednesday, May 28 at 7:00pm
at The Landmark
A Woman Under the Influence received two Oscar© nominations in 1974—best actress Gena Rowlands and best director John Cassavetes. The film tells the story of a wife and mother whose unstable behavior leads her husband (Peter Falk) to commit her to a mental institution. At the time of its release,...
By Todd Garbarini
Probably the best known film of the late film director John Cassavetes’ career, A Woman Under the Influence (1974) is celebrating its 40th anniversary with a screening at the Landmark Theatre at 10850 West Pico Blvd. in Los Angeles, CA 90064 on Wednesday, May28th at 7:00 pm. The film’s star, actress Gena Rowlands, is scheduled to appear in person.
From the press release:
In Person!
An Evening with
Star Gena Rowlands!
Director John Cassavetes'
A Woman Under the Influence (1974)
40th Anniversary!
Wednesday, May 28 at 7:00pm
at The Landmark
A Woman Under the Influence received two Oscar© nominations in 1974—best actress Gena Rowlands and best director John Cassavetes. The film tells the story of a wife and mother whose unstable behavior leads her husband (Peter Falk) to commit her to a mental institution. At the time of its release,...
- 5/12/2014
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
Adam Lambert at the Family Equality Council’s Annual Los Angeles Awards Dinner. A taste of what to expect from this week’s Hump Day.
Birthday shoutouts go to Laura Dern, who is 47, Elizabeth Banks is 40, Emma Roberts is 23, and Roberta Flack is 77. Here’s my favorite underrated and sadly lost Roberta song. It peaked at #58 in February 1984.
The Walking Dead returned to record ratings last night, easily outpacing Sochi in the demo.
Best Buds Derek Hough and Mark Ballas buy bachelor pad together. Bless their hearts.
Will Michael Sam Save the NFL From Its Homophobia?
How will news that Michael Sam is gay affect his NFL draft stock? Ugh. At least these Tweets are more supportive.
Congratulations on leading the way, @MikeSamFootball. That's real sportsmanship.
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) February 10, 2014
You're an inspiration to all of us, @MikeSamFootball. We couldn't be prouder of your courage both on and off the field.
Birthday shoutouts go to Laura Dern, who is 47, Elizabeth Banks is 40, Emma Roberts is 23, and Roberta Flack is 77. Here’s my favorite underrated and sadly lost Roberta song. It peaked at #58 in February 1984.
The Walking Dead returned to record ratings last night, easily outpacing Sochi in the demo.
Best Buds Derek Hough and Mark Ballas buy bachelor pad together. Bless their hearts.
Will Michael Sam Save the NFL From Its Homophobia?
How will news that Michael Sam is gay affect his NFL draft stock? Ugh. At least these Tweets are more supportive.
Congratulations on leading the way, @MikeSamFootball. That's real sportsmanship.
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) February 10, 2014
You're an inspiration to all of us, @MikeSamFootball. We couldn't be prouder of your courage both on and off the field.
- 2/10/2014
- by snicks
- The Backlot
An Early Frost: Ekvtimishvili & Grob’s Debut a Memoir in Neorealism
The Georgian entry for 2014’s Best Foreign Language Film, In Bloom is the directorial debut of Nana Ekvtimishvili and Simon Grob, and is based on the former’s memories of childhood while growing up in 1992 war-torn Georgia. Previously, they made the 2007 film Fata Morgana together (yes, which shares the same name with the famed Herzog documentary), directed by Grob and written by Ekvtimishvili. Whilst set in a notably violent period in the country after its separation from the Soviet Union, leading to an unrest that sparked a three year civil war, it seems the bubble of the adolescent realm seems to supersede all even in the worst of times. But for young girls on the cusp of developing into well-adjusted young women amidst such tumultuous times seems next to impossible, female agency dashed upon the rocks of a...
The Georgian entry for 2014’s Best Foreign Language Film, In Bloom is the directorial debut of Nana Ekvtimishvili and Simon Grob, and is based on the former’s memories of childhood while growing up in 1992 war-torn Georgia. Previously, they made the 2007 film Fata Morgana together (yes, which shares the same name with the famed Herzog documentary), directed by Grob and written by Ekvtimishvili. Whilst set in a notably violent period in the country after its separation from the Soviet Union, leading to an unrest that sparked a three year civil war, it seems the bubble of the adolescent realm seems to supersede all even in the worst of times. But for young girls on the cusp of developing into well-adjusted young women amidst such tumultuous times seems next to impossible, female agency dashed upon the rocks of a...
- 1/12/2014
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
Here at TheBacklot.com we spend a lot of time celebrating gay and bi men in the spotlight: actors, singers, dancers, sportsmen, and personalities are splashed across our pages like so much red paint at an all-fur fashion show. While we will never tire of the Neil Patrick Harrises and Chris Colfers of the world, we thought it was high time we paid due credit to some of the more unsung gay heroes: the guys behind the cameras of some of television’s best shows. In that light, we are proud to unveil TheBacklot 40, our celebration of 40 of the hardest-working and most influential out men working behind the scenes in TV.
These are the men who create and run some of our favorite shows, have written some of our most beloved gay characters, and have shepherded gay-inclusive stories to screen long before it was fashionable. Some will be familiar, but...
These are the men who create and run some of our favorite shows, have written some of our most beloved gay characters, and have shepherded gay-inclusive stories to screen long before it was fashionable. Some will be familiar, but...
- 10/28/2013
- by Brian Juergens
- The Backlot
As a new year dawns, a tribute to those we've lost in the year now ending is merited ... and in 2012, those sad milestones have encompassed some of the most popular personalities in television history.
Andy Griffith: The actor-producer who put Mayberry on the map forever will be remembered as one of television's most genial personalities, also extending to his run as wily lawyer Matlock.
Dick Clark: The number of music stars who owe at least part of their success to the "American Bandstand" maestro is incalculable. Thanks to him, people also enjoy "New Year's Rockin' Eve," receive American Music Awards and have a greater appreciation of bloopers. Here's a "so long" salute to you, Dick.
Larry Hagman: The truly unfortunate irony of the veteran actor's recent death is that he was just starting his second round of "Dallas" success as master schemer J.R. Ewing. He'll also...
Andy Griffith: The actor-producer who put Mayberry on the map forever will be remembered as one of television's most genial personalities, also extending to his run as wily lawyer Matlock.
Dick Clark: The number of music stars who owe at least part of their success to the "American Bandstand" maestro is incalculable. Thanks to him, people also enjoy "New Year's Rockin' Eve," receive American Music Awards and have a greater appreciation of bloopers. Here's a "so long" salute to you, Dick.
Larry Hagman: The truly unfortunate irony of the veteran actor's recent death is that he was just starting his second round of "Dallas" success as master schemer J.R. Ewing. He'll also...
- 12/31/2012
- by editorial@zap2it.com
- Zap2It - From Inside the Box
"A New York native of Sicilian heritage, Ben Gazzara was a strongly masculine, subtly menacing screen presence with a gravelly voice that one writer described as 'saloon-cured' and another said could strip paint at 50 paces," writes Dennis McLellan in the Los Angeles Times. "The veteran actor, who died Friday in New York City, found fame on Broadway in the 1950s, starred in the TV series Run for Your Life in the 1960s and was closely identified on the big screen with independent filmmaker John Cassavetes."
In Cassavetes's Husbands (1970), The Killing of a Chinese Bookie (1976) and Opening Night (1976), "he plays varieties of himself, as Cassavetes saw him: the moderate man who loses his head and takes immoderate action," blogs the New Yorker's Richard Brody. "Husbands, in particular, finds Gazzara accomplishing one of the most astonishing, and moving, feats ever filmed: he steals a movie from Cassavetes and Peter Falk…. The movies...
In Cassavetes's Husbands (1970), The Killing of a Chinese Bookie (1976) and Opening Night (1976), "he plays varieties of himself, as Cassavetes saw him: the moderate man who loses his head and takes immoderate action," blogs the New Yorker's Richard Brody. "Husbands, in particular, finds Gazzara accomplishing one of the most astonishing, and moving, feats ever filmed: he steals a movie from Cassavetes and Peter Falk…. The movies...
- 2/5/2012
- MUBI
Ben Gazzara died on February 3 of pancreatic cancer. An alumnus of the famed Actors’ Studio, he had a long career on stage, TV, and film. Not just long, but accomplished.
On Broadway, he was the original Brick in the Tennessee Williams’ classic, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, and then he eclipsed that triumph with another powerful stage performance as a junkie whose habit poisons his relationship with everyone who loves him in A Hat Full of Rain.
His TV career launched in the early 1950s and extended through the next five decades. His small screen credits included roles on the landmark live drama anthologies of the 50s, such as The United States Steel Hour, Kraft Theatre, and Playhouse 90, and such acclaimed productions as cop drama A Question of Honor (1982), one of network TV’s first attempts to address the then detonating AIDS epidemic in An Early Frost (1985), and the epic mini-series,...
On Broadway, he was the original Brick in the Tennessee Williams’ classic, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, and then he eclipsed that triumph with another powerful stage performance as a junkie whose habit poisons his relationship with everyone who loves him in A Hat Full of Rain.
His TV career launched in the early 1950s and extended through the next five decades. His small screen credits included roles on the landmark live drama anthologies of the 50s, such as The United States Steel Hour, Kraft Theatre, and Playhouse 90, and such acclaimed productions as cop drama A Question of Honor (1982), one of network TV’s first attempts to address the then detonating AIDS epidemic in An Early Frost (1985), and the epic mini-series,...
- 2/5/2012
- by Bill Mesce
- SoundOnSight
Prolific actor who built a 60-year career in the Us and Europe
Few screen debuts have equalled the searing malevolence of Ben Gazzara's Iago-inspired Jocko De Paris in The Strange One (1957). The role, which he had created on stage, became forever associated with this intense graduate of New York's method school of acting.
Gazzara, who has died aged 81 of pancreatic cancer, continued his stage career in modern classics including Epitaph for George Dillon and as the humiliated and vengeful George in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1976). He also achieved popular acclaim through television series – notably Run for Your Life (1965-68) – and in movies for his friend John Cassavetes and other directors including Otto Preminger, Peter Bogdanovich, David Mamet, Todd Solondz and the Coen brothers.
Gazzara was born to Sicilian immigrants and grew up on Manhattan's lower east side. He began acting at the Madison Square Boys Club and...
Few screen debuts have equalled the searing malevolence of Ben Gazzara's Iago-inspired Jocko De Paris in The Strange One (1957). The role, which he had created on stage, became forever associated with this intense graduate of New York's method school of acting.
Gazzara, who has died aged 81 of pancreatic cancer, continued his stage career in modern classics including Epitaph for George Dillon and as the humiliated and vengeful George in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1976). He also achieved popular acclaim through television series – notably Run for Your Life (1965-68) – and in movies for his friend John Cassavetes and other directors including Otto Preminger, Peter Bogdanovich, David Mamet, Todd Solondz and the Coen brothers.
Gazzara was born to Sicilian immigrants and grew up on Manhattan's lower east side. He began acting at the Madison Square Boys Club and...
- 2/4/2012
- by Brian Baxter
- The Guardian - Film News
Emmy-winning stage, film and television actor was known for intense countenance that won him tough-guy roles
• Ben Gazzara obituary
The actor Ben Gazzara, known for his brooding tough-guy presence in dozens of films, television shows and stage productions over his long career, died of pancreatic cancer on Friday at a Manhattan hospital, his lawyer said. He was 81.
The New York-born performer died at Bellevue hospital centre with members of his family at his side, according to his attorney, Jay Julien.
Born Biagio Anthony Gazzara to Italian immigrant parents, he began his career in live theatre, most notably with the role of Brick in the original Broadway production of Tennessee Williams's Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, directed by Elia Kazan. The role was played by Paul Newman in the 1958 film version.
A three-time Tony award nominee for his stage work, Gazzara made his film debut as a sociopathic military...
• Ben Gazzara obituary
The actor Ben Gazzara, known for his brooding tough-guy presence in dozens of films, television shows and stage productions over his long career, died of pancreatic cancer on Friday at a Manhattan hospital, his lawyer said. He was 81.
The New York-born performer died at Bellevue hospital centre with members of his family at his side, according to his attorney, Jay Julien.
Born Biagio Anthony Gazzara to Italian immigrant parents, he began his career in live theatre, most notably with the role of Brick in the original Broadway production of Tennessee Williams's Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, directed by Elia Kazan. The role was played by Paul Newman in the 1958 film version.
A three-time Tony award nominee for his stage work, Gazzara made his film debut as a sociopathic military...
- 2/4/2012
- The Guardian - Film News
Ben Gazzara, star of "Anatomy of a Murder" and "The Killing of a Chinese Bookie" has died at age 81. The actor, who was a favorite of director John Cassavetes, died of pancreatic cancer at Bellevue Hospital Center, his lawyer, Jay Julien, told the New York Times. He was a contemporary of higher-profile stars Marlon Brando and Rod Steiger and also studied at the famed Actors Studio in Manhattan. He conquered Broadway, originating the role of Brick in "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof," but didn't capitalize on his rising star when Hollywood came calling. "When I became hot, so to speak, in the theater, I got a lot of offers,” he told Charlie Rose in a 1998 interview. “I won't tell you the pictures I turned down because you would say, ‘You are a fool.' And I was a fool.” Gazzara still managed to make an indelible mark on the movies,...
- 2/4/2012
- by Sharon Knolle
- Moviefone
Audrey Hepburn, Ben Gazzara, They All Laughed Ben Gazzara Dead Pt.1: Anatomy Of A Murder, Husbands, An Early Frost Long before An Early Frost, Ben Gazzara had already appeared in two (however veiled) gay-themed productions. On Broadway, he was the virile ex-football player pining for his "best friend" while ignoring wife Barbara Bel Geddes in the 1955 original staging of Tennessee Williams' Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. (Paul Newman and Elizabeth Taylor played those two roles in the bowdlerized 1958 movie version directed by Richard Brooks.) And in 1957, Gazzara made his film debut as a sexually troubled military man who gets off by viciously abusing (or watching others viciously abuse) his fellow cadets in Jack Garfein's The Strange One. Among Gazzara's other 75 or so feature films — many of which were made in Italy — are Steve Carver's Capone (1975), in the title role; Stuart Rosenberg's Voyage of the Damned...
- 2/4/2012
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Ben Gazzara, who was featured on Broadway in the original Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and in movies by the likes of John Cassavetes, Otto Preminger, and Peter Bogdanovich, died earlier today at Manhattan's Bellevue Hospital Center as per the New York Times. Gazzara, who had been suffering from pancreatic cancer, was 81. Although Gazzara (the son of Italian immigrants, born Aug. 28, 1930, in New York City) is probably best remembered for his films directed by Cassavetes — Husbands (1970), The Killing of a Chinese Bookie (1976), and Opening Night (1978) — he was remarkably effective elsewhere. Arguably, much more effective elsewhere. Gazzara delivered a first-rate performance in Otto Preminger's cynical look at the American justice system, Anatomy of a Murder (1959), in which he played a military man on trial for killing a man — he claims — was attempting to rape his wife (Lee Remick, replacing Lana Turner). James Stewart is his somewhat shady defense attorney,...
- 2/4/2012
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
The anticipated Angelina Jolie’s directorial debut film has a U.S. distributor and a name. Her Bosnian War film “In the Land of Blood and Honey” was acquired by FilmDistrict, a subsidiary of Gk Films. Gk Films found Graham King stated that Jolie’s debut “signals the arrival of a visceral and compelling storyteller. Here is the official synopsis: ‘In the Land of Blood and Honey’ is a love story about a young Serb and a Muslim woman who fell in love several evenings before beginning of war in Bosnia. The action follows war events with the young Muslim woman ending up in a Serbian concentration camp from where she is somehow saved by the young Serb. Their love becomes passionate but impossible. The film stars Rade Serbedzija (“Batman Begins,” “Snatch”), Branko Djuric (“Cat Run,” “The Bright Side of the Moon”) and Nikola Djuricko (“The Woman with a Broken Nose,...
- 5/16/2011
- LRMonline.com
3:30 p.m. Chase
In the new action show about U.S. Marshalls, Kelli Giddish plays Annie Frost, a Texan with a talent for chasing down the best of criminals. Giddish's co-star is someone we know well: Rose Rollins.
Rose said she plays "Daisy, aka Hurricane. I balance out the Chatterbox over here, which is Marco, because I am a woman of few words. I am the tactical specialist. I come from a tight knit family, second generation Nigerian."
And it's true — in the pilot, even when Rose is on screen, she's not saying much. But I feel like her role will grow as the show goes on and establishes itself. Also Executive Producer Jennifer Johnson says we'll see a friendship unfold between Annie and Lucy and "learn a secret" about Annie.
I asked Rose if she knows her character's romantic situation and she said there hasn't been any development...
In the new action show about U.S. Marshalls, Kelli Giddish plays Annie Frost, a Texan with a talent for chasing down the best of criminals. Giddish's co-star is someone we know well: Rose Rollins.
Rose said she plays "Daisy, aka Hurricane. I balance out the Chatterbox over here, which is Marco, because I am a woman of few words. I am the tactical specialist. I come from a tight knit family, second generation Nigerian."
And it's true — in the pilot, even when Rose is on screen, she's not saying much. But I feel like her role will grow as the show goes on and establishes itself. Also Executive Producer Jennifer Johnson says we'll see a friendship unfold between Annie and Lucy and "learn a secret" about Annie.
I asked Rose if she knows her character's romantic situation and she said there hasn't been any development...
- 7/30/2010
- by Trish Bendix
- AfterEllen.com
The juror panel at the Tribeca Film Festival is going to look like the red carpet at a major Hollywood premiere.
Several celebrities, including Jessica Alba, Whoopi Goldberg, Aaron Eckhart and Brooke Shields, were asked to serve on the six competitive festival categories. They will announce the winning films, filmmakers and actors in their respective categories at the Tff Awards Night Party, which will be held on April 29. The 2010 Tribeca Festival runs from April 21 to May 2 in New York City.
“This year’s jury features the same impressive range and depth as our films playing in competition. They are distinctive and accomplished storytellers, artists and entrepreneurs from the worlds of film, theater, culture, fashion, television and new media – all of whom share a passion for film, a thirst for discovery and a spirit of independence,” said Jane Rosenthal, co-founder of the Tribeca Film Festival.
Here’s a list of all...
Several celebrities, including Jessica Alba, Whoopi Goldberg, Aaron Eckhart and Brooke Shields, were asked to serve on the six competitive festival categories. They will announce the winning films, filmmakers and actors in their respective categories at the Tff Awards Night Party, which will be held on April 29. The 2010 Tribeca Festival runs from April 21 to May 2 in New York City.
“This year’s jury features the same impressive range and depth as our films playing in competition. They are distinctive and accomplished storytellers, artists and entrepreneurs from the worlds of film, theater, culture, fashion, television and new media – all of whom share a passion for film, a thirst for discovery and a spirit of independence,” said Jane Rosenthal, co-founder of the Tribeca Film Festival.
Here’s a list of all...
- 4/13/2010
- by Sean O'Connell
- Hollywoodnews.com
The Tribeca Film Festival announced Tuesday morning the 35 jurors for its six competition categories.
Filmmakers, actors, screenwriters, journalists and media figures such as Aaron Eckhart, Jessica Alba, Cheryl Hines, America Ferrera, Alicia Keys, Zach Braff, Hope Davis, Gary Ross, Whoopi Goldberg and Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey will participate on the juries.
"This year's jury features the same impressive range and depth as our films playing in competition," fest co-founder Jane Rosenthal said. "They are distinctive and accomplished storytellers, artists and entrepreneurs from the worlds of film, theater, culture, fashion, television and new media -- all of whom share a passion for film, a thirst for discovery and a spirit of independence."
Winners in the world narrative, world documentary, New York narrative, New York documentary, narrative short and documentary and student short film categories will be announced at the awards night party April 29. Together, the six juries will award $130,000 in cash and prizes,...
Filmmakers, actors, screenwriters, journalists and media figures such as Aaron Eckhart, Jessica Alba, Cheryl Hines, America Ferrera, Alicia Keys, Zach Braff, Hope Davis, Gary Ross, Whoopi Goldberg and Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey will participate on the juries.
"This year's jury features the same impressive range and depth as our films playing in competition," fest co-founder Jane Rosenthal said. "They are distinctive and accomplished storytellers, artists and entrepreneurs from the worlds of film, theater, culture, fashion, television and new media -- all of whom share a passion for film, a thirst for discovery and a spirit of independence."
Winners in the world narrative, world documentary, New York narrative, New York documentary, narrative short and documentary and student short film categories will be announced at the awards night party April 29. Together, the six juries will award $130,000 in cash and prizes,...
- 4/13/2010
- by By Jay A. Fernandez
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Last weekend's Equality March in Washington D.C. got me to thinking about how far we have — and haven't — come in the fight for gay equality. But since AfterElton.com focuses on pop culture, I'm going to look at things through that lens and leave the political analysis for Pam's House Blend, Americablog, Bilerico and the other assorted gay political websites that cover the topic.
One of the very first times American television addressed the subject of gay men (bisexuality was almost never addressed) was way back in 1954 when the L.A. based tabloid talk show Confidential File presented "Homosexuals and the Problems They Present." Hmm, I'm guessing it wasn't terribly flattering unless it was about how boring straight people looked in comparison to us 'mos.
San Francisco's public TV station did the first ever documentary, The Rejected in 1961 and it wasn't until 1967 that a television show first featured a gay storyline.
One of the very first times American television addressed the subject of gay men (bisexuality was almost never addressed) was way back in 1954 when the L.A. based tabloid talk show Confidential File presented "Homosexuals and the Problems They Present." Hmm, I'm guessing it wasn't terribly flattering unless it was about how boring straight people looked in comparison to us 'mos.
San Francisco's public TV station did the first ever documentary, The Rejected in 1961 and it wasn't until 1967 that a television show first featured a gay storyline.
- 10/16/2009
- by michael
- The Backlot
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