NEWS

All the news from film and the world of the gays

Bryan Singer Accuser Filing Three More Lawsuits Against Hollywood Insiders

April 21, 2014 By Tim Isaac Leave a Comment

Michael F. Egan & Jerry Herman

Last week the lawyer representing the man accusing X-Men director Bryan Singer of sexual abuse said he would file more lawsuits against Hollywood figures before the April 26th deadline, when the statue of limitations in Hawaii runs out.

Now the lawyer, Jerry Herman, has revealed the alleged victim, Michael F. Egan, is suing TV exec Garth Ancier, former Disney TV president David Neuman and Broadway producer Gary Goddard. Egan says they are part of a Hollywood sex ring that abused him between the ages of 15 and 17, and he was not the only victim. He also says he has eye-witnesses to the abuse.

According to THR, ‘Ancier is a veteran programmer who oversaw the launch of Fox television and The CW, and also previously served as president of BBC Worldwide America. He created The Ricki Lake Show, and, at Fox TV, 21 Jump Street and In Living Color.

‘Neuman is the former president of Disney TV. Goddard, who directed the 1987 movie Masters of the Universe, has also produced several off and on-Broadway shows. He created numerous attractions for Universal Studios, including the Jurassic Park ride.’

The allegations say that Egan was sexually abused by Goddard when he was 15 in Los Angeles, and 17 in Hawaii (the inclusion of Hawaii is important as the stature of limitations has already run out in California, and they wouldn’t be able to sue over things that solely took place there). The suit alleges that Goddard used force.

In related news it’s been revealed that Jerry Herman was suspended from the practice of law for 18 months in 2009 by the Florida State Supreme Court for actions adverse to a client and ‘engag[ing] in conduct involving dishonesty [or] deceit’. He made an investment in and eventually a controlled a business that went in competition with a client, without telling that client.

Herman commented “This [sexual abuse] case isn’t about me… It is what it is. I thought [the investment] was OK to make.”

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Tom Hanks Up For Cold War Thriller With Steven Spielberg Attached To Direct

April 21, 2014 By Tim Isaac Leave a Comment

Just last week Steven Spie;berg signed up for the historical religious drama, The Kidnapping of Edgardo Mortara. Now he’s got another possibility in development and he’s re-teaming with Tom Hanks for it.

THR reports that Hanks is attached to star in a currently untitled Cold War thriller, which Steven Spielberg may direct. The director’s studio, DreamWorks, is backing the movie.

Matt Charman wrote the screenplay, which is based on the true story of American attorney James Donovan (Tom Hanks). He was recruited by the CIA in 1960 in order to negotiate the release of pilot Gary Powers, whose U-2 spy plane was shot down over Russia.

This would be Spielberg’s fourth collaboration with Hanks, following Saving Private Ryan, Catch Me If You Can and The Terminal. They also worked togeth as executive producers on HBO’s World War II mini-series’ Band of Brothers.

It’s not known when the film will shoot or if this will be Spielberg’s next movie.

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ACTORS: Tom Hanks DIRECTORS: Steven Spielberg

Steven Spielberg Has Written The Story for Goonies 2 Says Director Richard Donner

April 21, 2014 By Tim Isaac Leave a Comment

A couple of weeks ago Richard Donner confirmed that he was actively working on The Goonies 2. Now he’s got another nugget of info, as in a new interview with TMZ, he says Goonies executive producer Steven Spielberg has come up with the story for the sequel.

Donner says, “Hopefully we’re going to get this done. Period. Steven came up with the idea of doing a sequel after 30 years. You don’t do it without him. He came up with another story line, and he’s right on.”

As for whether original cast members such as Josh Brolin or Sean Astin will come back, the director adds, “God knows. It’s up to them. If they have any sense, they will. If they don’t, they won’t.”

Spielberg did a similar job on the first film, receiving a story credit, while Chris Columbus came up with the screenplay. Hopefully this will all end up with a film actually being made and it’ll be the good one fans have hoped for.

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DIRECTORS: Richard Donner, Steven Spielberg

LGBT Group Boycotts Beverly Hills Hotel Over Sultan Of Brunei Ownership

April 21, 2014 By Tim Isaac Leave a Comment

The Beverly Hills Hotel has been an LA landmark since 1912, becoming a popular haunt for generations of movie stars. In recent years the hotel has been owned by the Sultan Of Brunei, something that has largely gone unremarked.

That’s changing though as the Washington Blade reports that the political organisation, The Gill Action Fund, which was founded by entrepreneur and activist Tim Gill to advocate for LGBT equality, has cancelled a conference for political donors that was due to take place there from May 1st-4th.

The reason they backed away from the venue is that in the past couple of weeks the Sultan approved a law that includes gay sex on a list of sexual offences for which Muslims (and only Muslims) can to be stoned to death in Brunei.

The Gill Action Fund’s Kirk Fordham says, “In light of the horrific anti-gay policy approved by the government of Brunei, Gill Action made the decision earlier today to relocate its conference from the Beverly Hills Hotel to another property.”

The hotel responded, via THR, saying that they, “Do not tolerate any form of discrimination of any kind. We are also against any law in any other country around the world that punishes people for their religious beliefs, ethnicity, race or sexual orientation. The laws and policies that govern how we run our hotel have nothing to do with the laws that exist in any other country outside of the United States. We do not tolerate any form of discrimination and strongly value people and cultural diversity amongst our guests and employees.”

However they failed to specifically address the fact the Sultan owns most of the hotel and therefore him and his country profit from events that happen there. The Beverly Hills Hotel is part of the Dorchester Collection, which is headquartered in London but controlled by the Brunei Investment Agency on behalf of the Sultan. The group also includes The Dorchester and 45 Park Lane in London, The Beverly Hills Hotel and Hotel Bel-Air in LA, the Plaza Athénée and Hotel Meurice in Paris and the Le Richemond in Geneva.

The UN has said Brunei’s extension of offences for which capital punishment is possible contravenes international human rights law. The new penal code goes into effect on April 22nd, with the only bright spot being that while capital punishment has always been on the books for some crimes in the country, it’s believed no one has been executed there since 1957.

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Gay Producers Craig Zadan & Neil Meron Returning For Next Year’s Oscars

April 21, 2014 By Tim Isaac Leave a Comment

For the last couple of years the Oscars has had a lot of help from producers Craig Zadan & Neil Meron, the openly gay duo who before taking on the Academy Awards job produced movies like Hairspray and Chicago, as well as putting on Broadway shows such as the successful restaging of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.

Their mix of stage and screen success has been a big boon for the Oscars, as while hosts Seth MacFarlane and Ellen Degeneres both attracted some criticism, they succeeded in growing the TV audience from previous years.

Now it’s been confirmed that Zadan and Meron will be back for the next ceremony, due to take place February 22nd, 2015.

Academy president Cheryl Boone Isaacs made the announcement, saying, “Their showmanship has elevated the show to new heights and we are excited to keep the momentum going with this creative partnership,” she said.

Academy CEO Dawn Hudson added, “This year’s show reached viewers of all ages and set social media records, proving that Craig and Neil are masters at tapping into the zeitgeist and capturing the hearts of movie fans around the world.”

Zadan and Meron also released a statement, saying, “We’re proud of the show’s success over the last two years and are eager to embark on another entertaining show to honor this year’s motion pictures.”

This year’s Oscars was the most watched in 14 years, so you can certainly see why Zadan and Meron have been invited back.

As yet there’s no word on a host. Many expect them to try and secure Ellen again, but it’s not known if she’d be willing to return.

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Mala Mala Trailer – Looking at transsexual lives in Puerto Rico

April 21, 2014 By Tim Isaac Leave a Comment

The documentary Mala Mala has just premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival (although there are a few other screenings this week), and it’s well worth taking a look at the trailer in the hope the film will get a wider released sometime soon.

Here’s the synopsis from Tribeca: ‘In a celebration of the trans community in Puerto Rico, the fissure between internal and external is an ever-present battle. A unique exploration of self-discovery and activism, featuring a diverse collection of subjects that include LGBTQ advocates, business owners, sex workers, and a boisterous group of drag performers who call themselves The Doll House, Mala Mala portrays a fight for personal and community acceptance paved with triumphant highs and devastating lows.

‘Through riveting cinematography that encapsulates the candy-colored, vivacious personalities as well as their frequently dark personal experiences, directors Antonio Santini and Dan Sickles dynamically present the passion and hardships reflective of this distinctively binary human experience.’

Take a look at the trailer above. [Read more…]

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Bryan Singer Allegations Included In Upcoming Sex Abuse Documentary, Although The Director Says He Was Out Of The Country

April 19, 2014 By Tim Isaac 1 Comment

In the last couple of days Bryan Singer has gone from someone preparing to release the biggest movie of his career, X-Men: Days Of Future Past, to facing very serious allegations over sex abuse of a minor, said to have taken place in 1999 in Hawaii and LA.

It’s now been revealed, according to The Daily Mail, that the accuser, Michael F. Egan, has been co-operating with Oscar-nominated documentarian Amy Berg (West of Memphis, Deliver Us From Evil) on a new documentary about sexual abuse in Hollywood.

Berg says she has been working on the project for the past two years. It’s reported that she was surprised that Michael Egan went public with his lawsuit against Bryan Singer, although due to Hawaii law, he only had until April 26th to file due to a temporary extension of the statute of limitation. It isn’t known if Michael Egan has been interviewed on camera for the documentary, or what his involvement will be.

An unidentified source close to Michael Egan says, “Just this week, I got a message from [Amy Berg’s] Disarming Films, a documentary film company working out of Los Angeles. They said they are making a documentary about a bunch of children molested by somebody in the film industry. I never contacted them back. They wanted videos and pictures of Michael and a few others he knew. The film company said they were working on numerous children, now adults, now coming forward about this. I was close to Michael, but he didn’t confess any of this to me until 2012. I don’t know the specifics, what the person’s name was, I just knew that one of his close friends was in that whole scene with him. Michael has lots of psychological issues, he’s a messed up person. He told me all of his issues were down to this.”

Singer is strongly contesting all allegations against him, and the latest reports say he is planning to prove that he wasn’t even in Hawaii during the 1999 timeframe the events are supposed to have taken place. TMZ says he will file receipts and bills proving he was in Toronto working on the first X-Men movie at the time.

Egan’s lawyer says this is just the first of several lawsuits he plans to file featuring prominent Hollywood names, with the others being revealed in the next few days (again because of the April 26th deadline).

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ACTORS: Bryan Singer DIRECTORS: Amy Berg

Full The Normal Heart Trailer – Matt Bomer, Jim Parsons, Mark Ruffalo & Taylor Kitsch offer searing drama

April 19, 2014 By Tim Isaac 1 Comment

We’ve had a few fairly short trailers for The Normal Heart, but now HBO has released a new one, which suggests this is going to be a dramatic and powerful adaptation of Larry Kramer’s seminal play.

It’s not going to pull any punches in its look at the early days of AIDS in New York, when the disease didn’t have a name and no one knew what it was that was suddenly striking down gay men. Inevitably people are already talking about which Emmys and Golden Globes it might win.

In the film Mark Ruffalo takes on the lead role of Ned Weeks, who in the early 80s is one of the first people to raise an alarm about the new disease that initially was known as ‘Gay Cancer’, but which later was called HIV/AIDS. Big Bang Theory star Jim Parsons will be gay activist Tommy Boatwright, a role he previously took in a 2011 Broadway revival of the play.

Julia Roberts is Emma Brookner, a doctor who is the only one of her peers in New York taking AIDS seriously. Matt Bomer is Felix Turner, a gay fashion journalist who becomes Ned’s lover. Jonathan Groff is playing an early victim of the disease called Craig, whose boyfriend, Taylor Kitsch, starts off as a closeted investment banker but eventually becomes an AIDS activist.

Larry Kramer’s play is considered one of the most important reactions to the early AIDS epidemic, written by someone who has on the front lines of the fight, such as co-founding Gay Men’s Health Crisis and ACT UP. Kramer later wrote a follow-up, The Destiny Of Me.

The rest of the world should get to see The Normal Heart shortly after its US HBO debut on May 25th. [Read more…]

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ACTORS: Mark Ruffalo, Julia Roberts, Taylor Kitsch, Jim Parsons, Matt Bomer DIRECTORS: Ryan Murphy FILMS: The Normal Heart

First Look At Michael Fassbender & Marion Cotillard In Macbeth

April 19, 2014 By Tim Isaac Leave a Comment

Shakespeare is getting an outing this year with Macbeth, and now we’ve got our first look with Michael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard looking suitably Dark Ages, as this take retains the original story’s 11th Century setting.

Michael Fassbender is the title character, a Scottish Lord who will do anything to become king, with Marion Cotillard portraying his wife, Lady Macbeth.

However there are some new ideas, as Fassbender told the Daily Mail, his character is “Suffering from post traumatic stress disorder. It makes total sense, when you think about it. Justin set the seed of the idea in my head. This trauma is something we know about. In World War I they called it battle fatigue, and it was probably more horrific in Macbeth’s days, when they were killing with their bare hands, and driving a blade through bodies. He’s having these hallucinations, and he needs to return to the violence to find some sort of clarity, or peace.”

He adds, “He’d been away fighting and when he returns, we see it’s a relationship that’s broken down. They lost a child, and there wasn’t time for them to grieve because he’s been away campaigning. Lady M is desperate for that reconnection, and briefly they do. And, of course, the doorway has been opened to darkness and to violence.”

The actor also revealed that the cast use Scottish accents, except for Marion Cotillard, saying “We felt it would be unreasonable for her to put on a Scottish accent. It would not be unreasonable to presume that her character spent time in the French court.”

The film should be in cinemas late this year or early next.

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ACTORS: Michael Fassbender, Marion Cotillard DIRECTORS: Justin Kurzel FILMS: Macbeth (2014)

New Yves Saint Laurent Trailer – Things are looking classy for the gay fashion designer

April 18, 2014 By Tim Isaac 1 Comment

The film Yves Saint Laurent has already had its UK cinema release, but it doesn’t arrive in in the US until July. As a result it’s got a new trailer which may slightly try to hide the fact it’s all in French, but does acknowledge Laurent was gay.

Here’s the synopsis: ‘Paris, 1957. 21 year old Yves is catapulted to international stardom as the successor to Christian Dior who has recently died. At his first catwalk show he meets Pierre Bergé, who will become his lover and business partner, and begins a relationship that will change his life forever. Just a few years later however he’s subjected to the public humiliation of being fired. Refusing to succumb to his critics and self-doubt, he creates the Yves Saint Laurent fashion house and presents the first-ever ‘ready to wear’ collection, shocking the world of couture.

‘YVES SAINT LAURENT follows the designer as he attempts to democratise fashion against the backdrop of Sixties’ liberation, battling his personal demons to build an empire that would be renowned for liberating women all over the world.’

It’s the year for Yves Saint Laurent in film, as beyond this film there another, currently titled Saint Laurent, which stars Gaspard Ulliel (Hannibal), Louis Garrel (The Dreamers), Jérémie Renier (In Bruges) and Lea Seydoux (Blue Is the Warmest Color). That one’s due either towards the end of this year or the beginning on 2015. [Read more…]

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ACTORS: Pierre Niney FILMS: Yves Saint Laurent