NEWS

All the news from film and the world of the gays

Orange Is The New Black Wins At The GLAAD Media Awards

May 4, 2014 By Tim Isaac Leave a Comment

The 25th annual GLAAD Media Awards’ New York took place on Saturday night, with the Netflix show Orange Is The New Black walking away with outstanding comedy series.

The show is based on Piper Kerman’s autobiography and follows a group of people in a women’s prison. It’s won a lot of praise for its approach to LGBT issues, including the unfortunately unusual fact that it has a real trans* woman in a trans* role. Indeed that woman, Laverne Cox, picked up her own GLAAD Award last month at the Los Angeles ceremony.

Cox was on also hand, alongside several of her fellow cast members, to pick up the award in New York.

Other winners at the ceremony included George Takei, who was given the Vito Russo Award, which is presented to an openly gay media professional for promoting equality in the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community

On the movie front, Concussion won Outstanding Film – Limited Release, while Philomena picked up Outstanding Film – Wide Release.

Here are the full list of winners:

Vito Russo Award: George Takei
Outstanding Film – Limited Release: Concussion (RADiUS-The Weinstein Company)
Outstanding Comedy Series: Orange Is the New Black (Netflix)
Outstanding Individual Episode (in a series without a regular LGBT character): “Snow Angels” Elementary(CBS)
Outstanding Film – Wide Release: Philomena (The Weinstein Company)
Outstanding Talk Show Episode: “First Openly Gay NBA Player Jason Collins and his Family” Oprah’s Next Chapter (OWN)
Outstanding TV Journalism – Newsmagazine: “Transgender at 11: Listening to Jazz” 20/20 (ABC)
Outstanding TV Journalism Segment: “Gay Rights at Work” MSNBC Live (MSNBC)
Outstanding Magazine Article: “The Hidden War Against Gay Teens” by Alex Morris (Rolling Stone)
Outstanding Magazine Overall Coverage: The New Yorker
Outstanding Digital Journalism Article: “Sex, Lies and HIV: When What You Don’t Tell Your Partner is a Crime” by Sergio Hernandez (Buzzfeed.com / ProPublica.org)
Outstanding Blog: The New Civil Rights Movement

Spanish Language:

Outstanding Novela: Amores Verdaderos (Univision)
Outstanding Daytime Talk Show Episode: “Una pareja gay celebrara el Día del Padre luego de luchar por sus derechos” Despierta América (Univision)
Outstanding TV Journalism – Newsmagazine: “Rompiendo Estereotipos” Aquí y Ahora (Univision)
Outstanding Newspaper Article: “Desiguales por imperativo legal” by Jose Ángel Gonzalo García de León (Diario Las Américas)
Outstanding Digital Journalism Article: “Richard Blanco: el poeta latino y gay que conquisto a Barack Obama” by Daniel Basteiro (voces.huffingtonpost.com)

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First Pics Arrive Of Brad Pitt, Logan Lerman & Shia LeBeouf In Fury

May 4, 2014 By Tim Isaac 1 Comment

When Fury started shooting a posed, studio shot of the cast was released. Now we get the first two in-movie images from the World War II movie, featuring Brad Pitt, Logan Lerman, Shia LaBeouf, Michael Pena and Jon Bernthal, have arrived via People.

The film ‘is set at the very end of World War II, in April 1945. As the Allies make their final push in the European Theater, a battle-hardened army sergeant named Wardaddy (Pitt) commands a Sherman tank and her five-man crew on a deadly mission behind enemy lines.

‘Outnumbered and outgunned, Wardaddy and his men face overwhelming odds in their heroic attempts to strike at the heart of Nazi Germany.’

David Ayer directs the movie, which is due out at the end of the year.

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ACTORS: Pitt, Logan Lerman, Shia Labeouf, Michael Pena, Jon Bernthal DIRECTORS: David Ayer FILMS: Fury

Doctor Who Star Matt Smith Heads For Terminator: Genesis

May 4, 2014 By Tim Isaac 2 Comments

David Tennant’s attempts to go from Doctor Who to being a star in the US didn’t quite go to plan, despite a lot of movie interest and a few failed TV pilots. However Matt Smith seems to be doing pretty well with a role in Ryan Gosling’s upcoming directorial debut, Lost River, and now Deadline reports that he’s scored a major part in Terminator: Genesis.

There’s no news on exactly who he will be, although he will play a brand new character with a strong connection to John Connor. He’ll star alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jason Clarke, Emilia Clarke, Jai Courtney, J.K. Simmons, Dayo Okeniyi and Byung-hun Lee.

There are few details on the exact plot, although it’s known there will be a lot of time-travelling involved and that this is designed as the first part of a stand alone trilogy.

The film recently started shooting with Alan Taylor directing from a screenplay by Laeta Kalogridis and Patrick Lussier.

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ACTORS: Matt Smith DIRECTORS: Alan Taylor FILMS: Terminator Genisys

Angelina Jolie Has Written A Movie For Her & Brad Pitt To Star In Together

May 4, 2014 By Tim Isaac Leave a Comment

Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt have a lot of kids and a lot of commitments all over the world, which means they’re often apart or moving their family around to try and be together. However now Jolie has come up with a good way to ensure they can all stick together for a while – she’s written a movie for her and Brad to make together, according to Deadline.

The untitled movie doesn’t have studio backing yet, but with two of the biggest stars in Hollywood sharing the screen for the first time since Mr & Mrs Smith, it’s not likely to have difficulties finding funding.

There are no plot details on the plot and it seems things are till in the very early stages. It’s not known if Jolie intends to direct, but it appears both her and her hubby and thinking about starring.

Jolie will presumably fit in writing the script while she travelling the world promoting this month’s Maleficent, as well as while finishing her second directorial effort, Unbroken, which stars Jack O’Connell, Domhnall Gleeson, Garrett Hedlund and Jai Courtney, and should be out at Christmas.

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ACTORS: Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt

Dustin Lance Black Re-Invited To Speak At College That Cancelled Him

May 2, 2014 By Tim Isaac Leave a Comment

It’s amazing how many organisations manage to cause huge amounts of controversy by trying to avoid a far smaller, theoretical controversy. That’s exactly what Pasadena City College managed when they rescinded an invitation to screenwriter and gay activist Dustin Lance Black to speak at their commencement ceremony.

However he’s now been re-invited following a equally big controversy that erupted over his replacement.

The official reason Black was initially disinvited was that the college felt pictures of him having unsafe sex that leaked a couple of years ago could prove controversial, especially if they were somehow linked to a couple of sexual scandals that happened recently at the college. However others felt this was homophobia. As Student Trustee Simon Fraser commented at the time, “it was not viewed as intimate contact between two adults but as a promotion of unsafe sexual practices”, and the reason for that is because it was between two men.

The college didn’t seem to care either that the pictures were stolen and leaked against Black’s will. The writer responded in an op-ed saying, “If I was a heterosexual man or woman with this same painful injury in my past, would PCC’s Administration still be rescinding such an honor?”

In a stunningly dumb movie, after getting rid of Black the college invited Dr. Eric Walsh, the Pasadena Director of Public Health. He may seem like a relatively safe, if dull, choice, but he is a Seventh-day Adventist who has preached in sermons on Youtube things such as that (according to Pasadena Star-News) ‘Oprah Winfrey is harboring the spirit of the anti-Christ; Acceptance of homosexuals is a satanic ploy to destroy America; Disney movies, which are loaded with violence, sex and magic, are a satanic ploy to split up families; Darwin’s Theory of Evolution is a “satanic belief”; The distribution of condoms to a public in need leads to higher AIDS rates; The Pope is the anti-Christ.’

Understandably the fact they chose him to replace a man who has become well known for fighting for gay rights causes resulted in a huge amount more controversy.

Now PCC has officially re-invited Black, saying “The Board of Trustees and college administration deeply respect Mr. Black, his work and his causes. The Board also sincerely apologizes to Mr. Black for any actions that may have caused hurt.”

It’s not known yet how Black will respond.

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DIRECTORS: Dustin Lance Black

What We Do In The Shadows Trailer – Jermaine Clement takes us into his vampire society

May 2, 2014 By Tim Isaac Leave a Comment

Flight Of The Conchords fan be happy, as Jemaine Clement has reteamed with Eagle Vs. Shark sometime Flight of the Conchords director Taika Waititi for What We Do in the Shadows.

The mockumentary has been described as a Real World style look into the life of three vampire roommates, and those who’ve seen it have said it’s very funny.

Here’s the synopsis: ‘Follow the lives of Viago (Taika Waititi), Deacon (Jonathan Brugh), and Vladislav (Jemaine Clement) – three flatmates who are just trying to get by and overcome life’s obstacles-like being immortal vampires who must feast on human blood. Hundreds of years old, the vampires are finding that beyond sunlight catastrophes, hitting the main artery, and not being able to get a sense of their wardrobe without a reflection-modern society has them struggling with the mundane like paying rent, keeping up with the chore wheel, trying to get into nightclubs, and overcoming flatmate conflicts.’

The movie is currently playing festivals and will hopefully be released later this year. [Read more…]

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David S. Goyer To Write & Produce James Cameron’s Fantastic Voyage Remake

May 2, 2014 By Tim Isaac Leave a Comment

For quite a long time James Cameron has been planning to produce a remake of Vantastic Voyage, however it hasn’t happened so far. Initially he was thinking of directing himself, but Avatar sequels meant he had to give the job to someone else.

The likes of Shawn Levy, Louis Leterrier and Paul Greengrass flirted with the film, but ultimately it got trapped in development and we haven’t heard much about in the last couple of years.

Now THR reports the remake has new life, as David S. Goyer has come onboard to write the movie and produce alongside Cameron. The likes of Shane Salerno, Cormac and Marianne Wibberly, and Laeta Kalogridis have already had a crack at the script, but hopefully Goyer will be able to bring some of the magic that he gave to the Dark Knight movies and Man of Steel.

20th Century Fox is now kicking the project into high gear, putting it on the fast track in the hope it can be a major tent-pole event pic.

The original 1966 Fantastic Voyage is about a team of scientists who are miniaturised and injected into the body of a colleague, in order to try and save his life.

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DIRECTORS: James Cameron

Dakota Fanning & Charlize Theron Team For Brain on Fire

May 2, 2014 By Tim Isaac Leave a Comment

Charlize Theron and Dakota Fanning are teaming up for an adaption of the non-fiction novel, Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness, by Susannah Cahalan, according to Deadline.

The 2012 book chronicles the ‘a young woman’s terrifying descent into madness’. Fanning will play a 24-year-old reporter for the New York Post who suddenly became psychotic and violent. This led her to being hospitalised, although doctors couldn’t work out exactly what was going on and were ready to commit her to a psychiatric clinic.

Then Dr. Souhel Najjar came in to look at her. After he asked her to draw a simple sketch, it helped him diagnose her with a new auto-immune disease which had caused her body to attack her brain. Many believe this illness may have been the cause of many cases of supposed demonic possessions throughout history.

Theron has optioned the book herself via her Denver & Delilah production company. No studio is currently attached. Indeed it’s very early days as there’s no writer or director involved at this time either.

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ACTORS: Charlize Theron, Dakota Fanning

Rhys Ifans Takes On Dylan Thomas Biopic, With John Malkovich & Diego Luna Co-Starring

May 2, 2014 By Tim Isaac Leave a Comment

Today marks the start of a festival in Wales to celebrate 100 years since the birth of playwright and poet Dylan Thomas. Rhys Ifans has already been a big part of marking the centenary, and now he’s taking it further as Variety reports that he’ll play the Under Milk Wood writer in the indie drama Dominion.

John Malkovich and Diego Luna have also signed up for the movie, with Steven Bernstein (Decoding Annie Parker) directing from his own script.

The film will focus on the events surrounding the last days before his untimely death at the age of 39 in 1953 in New York, which included multiple visits to the White Horse Tavern in Greenwich Village.’

Thomas was ill when he got to New York, although there’s been some speculation over exactly what killed him. The official reason was pneumonia, with pressure on the brain and a fatty liver as contributing factors. He was also given morphine before he was admitted to hospital, which is known to have affected his already difficult breathing – and some feel it’s more likely that killed him than pneumonia on its own. He was also an alcoholic although officially this didn’t contribute to his death.

The movie is due to start shooting later this month.

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ACTORS: Rhys Ifans, Diego Luna, John Malkovich

Allison Janney & Morena Baccarin Are Set To Spy Alongside Melissa McCarthy

May 2, 2014 By Tim Isaac Leave a Comment

Paul Feig (Bridesmaids, The Heat) is pulling together an impressive cast for Spy. Now he’s got a couple of new addition, with Deadline reporting that Allison Janney and Morena Baccarin have signed up for the movie.

Melissa McCarthy has the central role, with the likes of Rose Byrne, Jason Statham, Jude Law, Bobby Cannavale, Miranda Hart, Nia Long, 50 Cent, Peter Serafinowicz, Nargis Fakhri, Bjorn Gustafsson and Verka Serduchka joining her.

Not too much info has been released about the comedy, other than that it’s about an unlikely female secret agent called Susan Cooper, played by McCarthy. Baccarin will be Karen Walker, although there’s no info on exactly how she fits into the plot, while Janney is Elaine Crocker, a CIA agent who crosses paths with McCarthy’s evidence.

The movie will reunite Janney and McCarthy, who star together in this summer’s Tammy.

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ACTORS: Allison Janney, Melissa McCarthy, Morena Baccarin DIRECTORS: Paul Feig FILMS: Susan Cooper