Director: Nathan Rissman
Principal Cast: Dr. Jeffrey Sachs, Desmond Tutu, Bill Clinton, Dr. Paul Farmer, Dr. Matthews Chikaonda, Madonna
Executive Producer/Writer: Madonna
Producers: Angela Becker, Madonna
Associate Producer: Grant James
Editor: Danny B. Tull
We Were Here …
A Feature Length Documentary by David Weissman
“Of all the cinematic explorations of the AIDS crisis, not one is more heartbreaking and inspiring than WE WERE HERE… The humility, wisdom and cumulative sorrow expressed lend the film a glow of spirituality and infuse it with grace… ONE OF THE TOP TEN FILMS OF THE YEAR.” Stephen Holden, New York Times
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Earlier tonight as I was writing “We are not meant to be alone” hubby had put on this documentary that was airing here in Canada tonight. And so I sat through this film reliving the past 20 years of my life in stark detail.
Listening to the story tellers just breaks my heart, because I was there through the worst time of our lives. You just cannot imagine what it was like. Thinking about it is one thing, listening to someone narrate that time period is heart wrenching.
You know, the further I get from the past, the less I tend to think about it today. But every once in a while, and this rings especially true during Pride Months these documentaries play as reminders to those we lost.
I want so badly to tell you that YES, we are not meant to be alone and that we are all loveable no matter what devastation or situation we find ourselves in. And I think somewhere deep down, hubby’s message in watching this film was to say, yes I remember for you and you are not alone here in this life.
Things in my neck of the woods were as frightful as they were in San Francisco and in many big cities in the very beginning. When AIDS came to Ft. Lauderdale, we were all taken aback by the horror of just what AIDS was doing to our community.
Thank God – T H A N K G O D that what I saw did not happen to me. Because it was ugly. I have documented all these things in PAGES, but for the moment I am drawn to address this topic here and now because it weighs heavily on my heart and soul.
When I sero-converted I was so sick. I thought for sure that I was going to die at any moment. But my friends and keepers in the AIDS care circle had other plans for me.
The film speaks of finding a cure …
that there should be more than AZT…
Back in those days we were all taking AZT because there was nothing else to take. We even went the lengths to collect old drugs from people who had died, and those drugs were taken to drug farms and re-purposed for use for those who were still alive and fighting to stay alive.
God forbid you had to go to a hospital. They would break out the hazmat suits and moon goggles and scrubs. It was heartless the way that the medical community treated us, for a long time, until they got trained to be able to deal with us without all the fear that was running rampant through the cities.
There were no specialists, no real doctors at that point, it was hit and miss because there really was no social medical safety net to take care of all the sick. But there were enough people to begin with that took on the task of treating what they could with whatever they had on hand.
I know for myself. I took tons of pills to try and find something that worked. And in the beginning that was AZT. It made me sick, and we had little pocket timers that would go off every four hours to remind us to take our pills.
Eventually in Miami there was dedicated doctors who were in the loop of medical research that I got involved with and what these doctors did for me is nothing short of a miracle.
With Genotype and Phenotype testing, they figured out the strain and type of virus we were carrying, then from that they proceeded to attaining tables of drugs that we could take that had promising results in the lab. And as drug companies pushed out pills we took them.
We did not wait for test circles to form on others, we tested all those meds ourselves. So that every year we survived, we had data to share with the rest of the world as AIDS was a worldwide epidemic.
But medication was expensive especially if you could not afford your pills. There were no insurance plans designed for this – people were selling their life insurance policies and going on government disability to be able to afford treatment. I know it took me three attempts to finally get disability coverage in the U.S. I had to almost kill myself to get my social services person to sign off on my form.
Let me tell you what the government made us go through to get disability insurance. We had to be on deaths door step, sick unto death before they would finally clear you. I got so sick that on the day I finally got signed I walked into the office, not having bathed or shaven in a weeks time, hacking and coughing all over the place for someone to fear me enough to sign on the dotted line so that I could get assistance. It was heartless and cruel the things the government and the state did to those who were sick.
They made us little white boys go to places that white people don’t go to in broad daylight. Trekking from one side of the city to another taking bus after bus and train after train just to get social assistance. Needless to say that once a cast iron bitch always a cast iron bitch.
People were so afraid of the sick. God forbid you sat next to us on a bus, or a train. God forbid you had to deal with us directly.
- I watched families throw their sons out into the streets.
- I watched lovers toss their loved ones out into the streets as well.
- I witnessed land lords toss sick people from their homes.
- I witnessed employers fire and cut people off from insurance and livelihoods.
- I witnessed so called Christians get on their hellfire and brimstone horses and watched them burn us all down to the ground with hatred and fear mongering.
- My Own family turned against me when I got sick. They would rather condemn me rather than help me so fuck them …
It was Sick. Absolutely and Totally Sick !!!
And still today that hatred simmers in certain circles. And every year we go through these periods of time when we are raw with emotions that some fuck comes along and throws salt in the wound just because they feel righteous !!!
The One Good thing that did happen was it galvanized those who were left into care circles and care givers. AIDS separated the men from the boys and the girls from the women. You learned just how devoted your friends were to you and just how much they meant to you while they were still here.
And FUCK all you haters out there. Heartless Bastards…
So many of my friends died. All I have is a photo album of the last time I saw the Names Project Quilt show in Ft. Lauderdale or Miami I think it was. This blog is a testament and my memory for those years of my life when I thought that I too was going to die.
God in his infinite wisdom had other plans for me. There was a life to live. There were things I still needed to do, and people to meet and places to see. Today I have the best doctor in the world. He treated patient Zero, the French Flight Attendant back in the old days. I truly lucked out when I moved here to find him and get into his clinic.
It is sad that there is still no cure. But death is something of a second thought now. We are living longer. I had a doctor who told me that when I die that it won’t be AIDS that kills me. And that was a long time ago.
I’ve always said that if science ever gets to the point that time travel is possible, the time I would go back to is the period of time that I was first diagnosed, because it was the Best of Times and it was The Worst of Times. I knew then that I was loved and so cared for that I wanted for nothing. And I think that that is what saved me.
There wasn’t time to sit and wait to die. I was too busy being taught how to survive and in that time I did not sit in my shit and play with it. Time was of the essence and men nor horses were going to keep me from winning this fight.
Every day that I look in the mirror I thank God for Todd and Roy and all the others who took the time to teach me and to love me and to make sure that nothing took me down be that sickness or man.
Never Forget and Remember still that on your daily goings on, you never know who you are sitting next to on the bus or on the train, or walking down the sidewalk, you never know what battle someone else is engaged in.
It Gets Better. We are still alive. And our stories should never be forgotten.
We Were Here … I was there, and I am still here.
I Can’t, He Can, I Think I’ll let Him …
Courtesy: Flickr Julianbialowas
Sunday has come and gone. Sitting comfortably at 13c at this hour. This short cold snap is over for now as temp will rise back into the teens this week. But it was a nice visit. I broke out my toques and my winter sweat shirts this weekend.
I began to clean out our closets and toss stuff we don’t need and get ready to make a hefty donation to Dans la Rue. Every year we clean out what we don’t need or outgrown or just don’t use any longer and we donate them to the homeless ministry here in the city. Winter duds are expensive and if you can afford a humble donation of jackets, sox, toques, and gloves they go very far to help Father’s kids here in the city.
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Tonight we gathered at St. Leon’s for Sunday Nighter’s. We read from Experience, Strength and Hope. Tonight’s story – The Car Crasher …
In the end it all came back to the simple principles … Did you pray today? Are you taking time in the morning to connect? At the end of the day do you stop and say “Thank You?” It is so simple, yet we tend to complicate things too much.
I can’t – He can – I think I will Let Him…
There was a lot of sharing. People at different stages in life, looking for answers. There is a bevy of literature to read at this particular meeting. They carry a huge stock of books and pamphlets. One of my friends has been sober more than twenty years and she is having a hard time. So I shared with her the book called “Voices of Long Term Sobriety.” A small book of thoughts and stories of people who have been sober in multiples of 10, 20, and 30 years or more of sobriety.
I just finished reading the book last week, and now it is in someone else’s hands. Hopefully it will make the same impact.
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I got home from the meeting and set down to watch Good Will Hunting, with matt Damon and Ben Affleck. It is an Oscar winner film. We had to watch it and read an article for Sociology tomorrow night. While hubby was watching the Emmy’s I was over here watching the movie.
We had a nice dinner and everyone is getting ready for bed at this hour. A new week is upon us. Lots to do…
That’s all for tonight…
Nerd Fighters Unite …Read It First …
Click the link: Read It First, take the pledge and join us Nerd Fighters with John and Hank Green, John Green is the author of “The Fault in our Stars” with this new exciting project.
You Tube Video: How to make Ideas Real.
I am a huge fan of the Green Brothers on You Tube. they are writers, musicians and really great men of the world. Anything we can do to help them, we do it.
So join the cause and make the world a better place.
There is a link, farther down on the blog. When you take the pledge on the site it will give you the code to place an image to your own Site, Blog, Tumblr.
Thanks Again …
The Neville Connection …
Courtesy: Matthew Lewis Fans
Otherwise known as Neville Longbottom
And as soon as I hit publish and got up from my chair I saw lightening flash in the sky and the rain began to fall…
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If you are a Harry Potter head like me, you have read all the books and now, probably seen all the movies and then some.
Over the last few months I have read and re-read book seven enough that I had to re-glue the book back together because my copy is all bent backwards and forwards.
I decided to go back and re-read the other books going backwards. So first was Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, The Order of the Phoenix and lastly, The Goblet of Fire.
There is a distinct change in writing styles from Goblet into the Order and on into the Half Blood Prince and the Deathly Hallows. Harry as a young teenager in the Goblet is written in such a way that they are still explaining things to him through the story and introducing new characters who will play greater roles in Harry’s life later on in the successive books.
Long Long ago if you followed along on the websites and J.K.’s notes about the characters, The Prophecy spoke about a boy born at the end of July who would battle the Dark Lord and have powers that he had not.
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As Snape was apprehended before the full prophecy could be made, only part of the prophecy was reported to Voldemort. Oddly enough, the prophecy could have referred to one of two people born at the end of July, later known to be Harry Potter and Neville Longbottom. Though the prophecy could have referred to either Potter, a half-blood, or Longbottom, a pure blood, Voldemort decided that it was the child of James and Lily Potter to whom the prophecy was referring. Shocked by Voldemort’s decision, Snape hastened to Dumbledore and explained that Voldemort had come to the conclusion that the Potters’ child was his would-be vanquisher, and had vowed to kill him. Snape also confessed his longtime love for Harry’s mother, Lily, and offered Dumbledore his loyalty in exchange for her protection.
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You would know that Neville is the other boy that could have taken his spot in the story instead of Harry, had Voldemort gone after him rather than Harry. And it comes to pass that Neville’s parents are tortured by the Lestrange’s using the cruciatus curse and driven mad in the process and that they live at St. Mungos hospital for magical maladies.
- “The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches … born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies … and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not … and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives … the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies …“
- —Prophecy made to Albus Dumbledore by Sybill Trelawney
It was in the Goblet that Harry learns about Neville’s parents, but not yet who their torturers were. Dumbledore tells Harry not to tell anyone, that it would be Neville’s right to tell who he needs to tell. And Harry carries this memory forwards in the story.
In The Order of the Phoenix, Harry has his vision of Mr. Weasley getting attacked by the snake and ends up in St. Mungo’s over the holidays. And on one occasion Harry, Hermione and Ron are visiting Ron’s father and they happen across the long term living floor where Gilderoy Lockheart is living, and they also happen across a young Neville visiting his parents on the ward on Christmas. It is then that we see just how terrible Neville’s suffering is having his parents alive but unable to recognize him while he is there with his grandmother.
Harry is faced with a truth that while his parents were killed by Voldemort trying to save him, Neville’s parents still live, although insane from torture. Harry learns just how much several of his friends have been impacted by Voldemort’s cruelty and evil.
Harry then shares the secret with Hermione and Ron about Neville’s parents. It is part of the story that Dumbledore tells Harry continuously that he should share what he has learned with them as the story progresses.They are always kept in Harry confidences.
There are other secrets that come to light throughout the earlier books that are finally explained in the seventh and final book. In The Half Blood Prince, Harry and Dumbledore visit the gaunt shack several times throughout Tom’s life to see several memories that have been collected.
BUT
If you read The Goblet of Fire now, after reading all the other books and you go back, the story opens with Voldemort finding himself in the old manor house where he kills his father and grandparents and also the old caretaker of the manor house who happens upon Voldemort and Wormtail. That is one piece of the story that is introduced well early of its placement later on in the time line.
This is one memory that stands alone and is never really rectified where Tom was never totally connected to the deaths of his father and grandparents, but Dumbledore suspects that it was a magical death. And here in Book four, the Goblet, the story plays out for us on the pages, directly from the memory played out in the Half Blood Prince.
At the end of the Goblet where the Dark Lord rises, you learn who the Death Eaters are that return to him after his resurrection and those death eaters later play a crucial role in the Deathly Hallows. Harry is able to name them to Dumbledore back in his office after returning from Little Hangelton.
The graveyard of Little Hangleton is where Voldemort’s father and granparents are buried near the manor house of the same name exist in the Goblet and are mentioned in the Half Blood Prince when Dumbledore introduces this memory of the killing of Tom’s father and his parents.
You get introduced to many characters who take on greater roles in the story later on in the Goblet of Fire. Harry begins to run across Horcruxes in the Order of the Phoenix, with the help of Hermione and Mrs. Weasley and the cleaning of Number 12 Grimmauld Place. J.K. has woven all these little tidbits of secrets and mysteries within the stories as they flesh out into the Deathly Hallows.
In the Half Blood Prince, Harry gets his first taste at fighting and finding Horcruxes with Dumbledore and learns all those secrets that have been hinted at or firstly introduced in the earlier books. It must have been a long process trying to figure out how she would introduce each layer of the story with whom and by whom. Each Character she introduces in earlier stories grow into crucial characters who all play a role in Harry’s success in the final installment.
It is in the final book where Neville gets brought into the final three Horcrux secret where Harry tells him about killing Nagini when Harry is off to the forest. And in the end the boy who almost was the boy targeted by Voldemort, Neville gets to kill one of Voldem0rt’s horcruxes. The silent/other participant in the prophecy gets his moment in the light.
In the Goblet of Fire, when Wormtail takes blood from Harry to restore Voldemort’s body, when he takes the blood, he inadvertently creates another Horcrux that must be destroyed later on. Harry becomes a horcrux himself because some of the charm his mother gave him now resides in Voldemort. And while a part of Lily exists inside Voldemort, he cannot be killed. Which is why, in the Deathly Hallows, when Voldemort attempts to kill Harry in the forest, he then kills the final horcrux himself. And Dumbledore sheds light on all those things that happened throughout all the books to Harry. All those little unexplained pieces of information get explained by Dumbledore through his study of all things Voldemort. Harry was the seventh Horcrux. The one that was made inadvertently in the Goblet.
What other tidbits of information do you have from your reading of the Harry Potter stories??? Share then with us…
They are Coming …
The night has been exciting, as news of the first crowds preparing for the first showing of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. The first shows should have ended by now, and tomorrow the reviews will be coming in from all corners of the world.
We have tickets for the 4 p.m. show on the IMAX screen at Scotia Bank Place Theatres in Downtown Montreal.
I’ve seen all the clips that have been released. I am hoping for a good show tomorrow. From all that I have seen, the clips are true to the book.
Harry Potter
And the Deathly Hallows.
As you see, the imagery on the blog has changed, as we begin the countdown to the Finale Episode 1 of Deathly Hallows on the 19th of November.
Throughout the month you will see these images change as the day approaches. I have something BIG planned for premier day, so stay tuned. We will rotate in and out new images from the trailer of the first film. I spent a good hour watching the latest trailer over and over again trying to find suitable images to post here on the blog.
I have 8 header images and assorted shots from the film here and there. Maybe I will do successive Harry Potter posts into the feed. People like Harry so maybe we will do that.
Stay tuned …
"The Hurt Locker" wins Oscar for best picture
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – “The Hurt Locker” won the Academy Award for best picture on Sunday, capping a historic Oscar ceremony that saw the low-budget Iraq war drama vanquish the sci-fi blockbuster “Avatar.”
Its victory also brought a second statuette for Kathryn Bigelow.
Bigelow was one of the four producers of “The Hurt Locker,” along with journalist Mark Boal, financier Nicolas Chartier and Greg Shapiro. Chartier was banned from the ceremony after the French native broke Oscar campaign rules by e-mailing voters on behalf of the picture.
“The Hurt Locker,” which centers on an American bomb-disposal squad in Iraq, is now out on DVD. It earned a modest $15 million at the North American box office. It was distributed by closely held Summit Entertainment.
Its closest Oscar competition was considered to be “Avatar,” the all-time box office champ produced and directed by James Cameron, Bigelow’s ex-husband.
Both films received nine nominations.
(Reporting by Dean Goodman, Editing by Sandra Maler)
Latter Days …
Click Film Link Here: Latter Days Movie
I was on You Tube the other night and I saw trailer for this little gay film called “Latter Days.” A movie about a group of young Mormon men who travel from Idaho to Los Angeles for “Mission.” But the apartment complex they moved into carries with it its fair share of complications to their “Mission.”
Aaron, our young Mormon man with Mission stars in his eyes meets a young man named Christian and they form a relationship of sorts. At Christian’s place of employment a bet is laid down and things progress.
Our two young men find themselves in water that is getting ever hotter as the movie progresses. Suffice to say that Aaron (Elder Davis) is sent home after being witnessed kissing another boy (Christian).
He is excommunicated from his church by his father and their elders and this leads to a suicide attempt and a stint in a reprogramming center to “cure him.”
Christian is under the impression, as we are the viewers, that Aaron was dead because Christian finds his number and calls his house and his mother tells him that she lost her son. Christian goes through some serious mourning.
He does not know the real story of where Aaron is …
In the end, you’ll have to rent the movie to find out what happens.It made me cry like a girl … Go Rent This Film …
This film may be a fiction story but the truth is there. The religious view of the Mormon church is not in dispute. But is portrayed truthfully. Many young gay men and women deal with issues of self and homosexuality every day. Many of them go to an early grave because of what they are put through by those who don’t accept them, family, friends, employers, schools, religion…
If you or someone you know needs help you can call the TREVOR hot line around the clock: 1 -866 – 4 – U – TREVOR …THE TREVOR PROJECT.
Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince
The dark and brooding way in which this film is presented gives it a new feel, unlike all the other movies. Some have called this the best of the movie yet so far. I will hold that judgment until the final film is out.I liked the way in which this film was “filmed” and shown.
Firstly, I though that Bellatrix and her cohorts were given way too much screen time, as deatheaters don’t show up much in the book. The whole doing the unbreakable deed at Pettigrew’s with Narcissa and Bellatrix was something. I don’t know if Cissy looks the part, from the way she is described in the Deathly Hallows. Helena Bonham Carter is devilishly evil in her portrayal. But why does her crew get all this screen time? Are they trying to bait us with an impending battle to come?
Did you know that Harry Potter and I share a birthday – the 31st of July. I think that they gave good time to the rest of the story in the book. But refraining from telling more about the romances between Harry and Ginny and the brooding budding relationship between Ron and Hermione was telling.
What DID strike me as odd was the wand fight at the Burrow… Why did Bellatrix and company move on the Burrow. And where did they get that sequence from – because I went back to the book looking for it – I just wondered why they would destroy the burrow and leave the Weasley’s homeless when the burrow plays a pivotal part in the opening of the next movie – or are they going to skip the whole Harry’s Birthday and the wedding of Bill and Fleur in the next installment? Are they giving the Weasley’s an out?
The whole disapparating visual was great. And the way that they told the story of the memories and the pensieve were well done. It was very close to the telling in the book. The youthful Tom Riddle was well played. The fact that they only placed one group of deatheaters in the castle – at the time of Dumbledore’s death was also telling. They are saving the big battle for the final film. I think they gave us at least a hint of what it will look like when we finally get there.
Malfoy gets a lot of screen time. In his attempt to get the cupboard in the room of requirement working correctly, this portion of the movie played true to the text. The bathroom scene with the wand fight between Harry and Malfoy was very dark and telling as well. There is no friendship between them. And no love lost when Harry uses “Sectumsempra” on him.
Snape is as sinister as he is in the book. The fact that Harry uses the “Sectumsempra” on Snape was in the book, but the visual on screen does not follow the book. The Flight of Snape and party was intertwined with the realization that Snape is the Half Blood Prince and he lets Harry be there, and does nothing to get him the the Dark Lord. Strange – nobody bothered him at this point of the movie. There was no big Dark Lord fight…
The fact that they left out the funeral for Dumbledore leads me to believe that they have a lot of action to get into the next two films. A funeral – the last of the Dursley’s – the leaving of the house and the lifting of the trace – the wedding and the crashing of the Death Eaters – the quest for the horcruxes and the final battle for the castle is going to take up much of the screen time, if the film makers believe that can keep continuity in telling the rest of the story.
They did well with the sea cave – the locket and the drinking of the potion was very true to the book. They did a good job with the visual of the Inferi and the lake of the dead. I went back to my book to try and piece together what they showed in the movie as to what is in the book.
They added film sequences that throw the book continuity out of synch – they did not spend enough time on telling the story as the book reads. They gave minor characters in the 6th book more air time than the book gives them, and in the end, I enjoyed the film.
I am a little too fond of the Weasley’s and was sad the see their house get burned to the ground. I don’t know why they did that to them, as we know that Molly and Belltrix go head to head in the final battle – maybe the destruction of their house gives Molly a BIGGER resentment to see Bellatrix dead in the final film.
I still adore the final book. They have big shoes to fill in the last two film installments. I would be disappointed if they did not maintain story telling continuity through the last of the Half Blood Prince – they need to give Dumbledore closure and they need to open the next film with a BIG piece of the story – I hope they don’t leave anything major out of the story telling.
Star Trek
Last night we went to see Star Trek. I have to say that I quite enjoyed it. The new cast seemed to gel quite nicely. There were times during the movie when the young Kirk did things that have been referenced in the latter Star Trek movies, like the Kobyashi Maru test. Referenced in Star Trek II the Wrath of Khan. Kirk being the one who beat the test.
I think they did a good job with casting all of the bridge crew. I thought that the ship would be rudimentary and simple seeing that the movie was a prequel to the series, but I was wrong. It was all very flashy and new. There were also shades of the Wrath of Khan when Nero used the little brain animals to get the captain to talk. It seems that they took liberty with bits and pieces of the older Star Trek movies.
I did notice that the crew had that kind of relationship dynamic that the elder crew had. The quips between McCoy and Spock and Kirk. Well written to give us shadows of their elder statesmen. Chekov and Sulu were really great parts down to the diction and accents. It was great that all the bridge crew had meaty parts and played big roles in the evolution of the film. Who knew Chekov was so knowledgeable about computer targeting… And Scotty having learned how to beam from one location to another while a ship was in warp, this little truth comes from the temporal shifting Spock.
And the little “Time Twist” with the appearance of SPOCK during the film, and the promise of keeping the ‘Temporal Prime Directive’ this would have been seen in the Voyager series, with Captain Janeway and the Time Ship Relativity.
Spock is coming from the future to make sure that his younger counterpart did what he was supposed to do and to forge a friendship with the younger Kirk, who happens upon Spock on that icy planet. And then at the end of the film the younger Spock and his much older counterpart meet in the hanger bay where the younger Spock calls out to his father and SPOCK turns around and says “I am not our father…” And he gives some revelatory information to spock when he says “put logic aside and do what feels right…”
Overall I would give the film a big SEE IT. I may go to see it once more because it was that good.
Sean Penn's new gay drama avoiding publicity
NEW YORK (Hollywood Reporter) – The opening of “Milk,” director Gus Van Sant‘s account of California‘s first openly gay politician, is four weeks away. Yet you wouldn’t know it.
Unlike the hoopla over Focus Features‘ previous gay-themed awards magnet, “Brokeback Mountain,” which was drawing calls of agenda-pushing from right-wingers months before it opened in 2005, there’s been hardly a peep in editorial pages or on talk radio.
Admittedly, the election is a major distraction. But Focus also is doing something deliberate: It’s eschewing publicity for the Sean Penn vehicle, keeping it out of the high-profile fall film festivals and heavily restricting media screenings.
“The best way to help this film win over a mainstream audience is to avoid partisanship, and the best way to avoid partisanship is to let people find out about the film from the film itself,” said one person involved with the film.
Giving up word-of-mouth to avoid hot air is not a typical trade-off — notice how Lionsgate effectively flogged politically charged movies like Oliver Stone‘s George W. Bush biopic “W.” and the Bill Maher documentary “Religulous” — but it’s one Focus is willing to make.
Not that it will last. The political football will be kicked off when the movie premieres Tuesday night in San Francisco and then put in play after the November 4 election. And when that happens, the studio will face a marketing dilemma: how to accommodate the gay-rights angle the core audience expects while appealing to mainstream filmgoers who might not be immediately moved to see a movie about the subject.
One example of those filmgoers: At a recent Vegas test-screening for a middle-class, straight audience, several senior citizens tried to leave after a gay love scene in the early moments but couldn’t because they were trapped in the middle of a row (near Focus production chief John Lyons, in fact). The seniors eventually said they were happy that they stayed, but, like independent voters in an election contest, these are the viewers Focus must woo.
Like its initial phase of playing keep-away from cable news, the post-election phase will also involve staying above politics. Focus plans on selling “Milk” in part as a story of hope and change (Harvey Milk, a member of San Francisco’s Board of Superviors until his assassination in 1978, won equal-rights battles against great odds), just as it sold “Brokeback” as a love story.
The ploy was logical with “Brokeback.” It’s less so here.
Like “Brokeback,” “Milk” features a gay romance. But unlike “Brokeback,” “Milk” is made by gay filmmakers, features the polarizing Penn and puts itself squarely in a political context. Milk’s fight against California‘s anti-gay-rights Proposition 6 — a drama the movie deals with in great detail — spookily parallels the current California fight over Proposition 8, a measure that would ban gay marriage.
Neil Giuliano, president of the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, said that “since this movie is about a beloved politician who was killed, it won’t be easy for our adversaries to fight us on it.” Focus and its Oscar handlers should get the weaponry ready anyway.
Reuters/Hollywood Reporter
Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince
New Trailer Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Poof! Next `Harry Potter' flick moves to summer
By DAVID GERMAIN, AP Movie Writer
LOS ANGELES – It’s summer school for Harry Potter.
“Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince,” the sixth installment in the blockbuster film franchise about boy wizard Harry, is moving from its planned Nov. 21 release to July 17, 2009, distributor Warner Bros. said Thursday.
The move was made to take advantage of an open weekend in Hollywood‘s busy summer season, said Alan Horn, Warner Bros. president and chief operating officer. The film had been on schedule, and the change was not due to any production snags, he said.
“The picture is completely, absolutely, 100 percent on schedule, on time. There were no delays,” Horn told The Associated Press. “I’ve seen the movie. It is fabulous. We would have been perfectly able to have it out in November.”
The switch will mean a two-year lag between the film adaptations of books five and six in J.K. Rowling‘s fantasy series. But it will shorten fans’ wait between “Half-Blood Prince” and the final two installments, which are being shot simultaneously next year.
Based on book seven, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,” the last two movies are due out in close order, in November 2010 and summer 2011. Horn said the later release of “Half-Blood Prince” will not affect the schedule for the final two movies.
Horn said the studio has had success with past summer “Harry Potter” releases, including the fifth movie, which was released in 2007 and became the second-highest grossing in the franchise.
The recent Writers Guild of America strike also had affected Hollywood’s lineup in next summer, leaving a key date open for Warner to slot in “Half-Blood Prince,” Horn said.
The July 17 release will be over the same weekend that Warner debuted this year’s blockbuster “The Dark Knight,” which had a record-breaking opening weekend and is on its way to $500 million domestically and the No. 2 spot on the all-time box-office charts behind “Titanic.”
“Half-Blood Prince” finds Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) returning to his wizard classes with a clandestine assignment to root out dark secrets about the early years of his archenemy, the dark Lord Voldemort.
The film is directed by David Yates, who made the fifth movie and also is shooting the final two.
Last February, another big Hollywood film, Paramount’s “Star Trek,” was bumped from a December release to May 8, 2009. Paramount executives said that move also was intended to take advantage of an open weekend in the summer lineup.
International Fireworks Festival 08'
South Korea Fireworks Presentation
Here is my latest movie from Montreal. South Korea’s showcase at the International Fireworks Festival.
The Spiderwick Chronicles
I rented some movies this weekend and today I watched the Spiderwick Chronicles. With Freddie Highmore playing the role of Jared and Simon in the film. If you like fantastical worlds of fairies and goblins then this movie is for you. It is a magical film with some pretty amazing secrets if you delve into the Special Features on the Double Disc Set. The cast is award winning, with Mary Louise Parker, Freddie Highmore, Nick Nolte and Joan Plowright, Seth Rogan, Sara Bolger and Martin Short as “Thimbletack.”
A very enjoyable film. If you take the time to rent it or buy it the Special Features will give you hours of pleasure. Freddie is best known as the boy in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and his role as ‘Pantalaimon’ in The Golden Compass.
Wall-E
Tonight, being home alone, I took myself out to dinner and to a movie. Tonight’s feature is a Pixar Studio’s animated film called “Wall-E.” It was a cute movie – to sit back and enjoy the fun animation that went into this film. The short that preceeded the film was cute. If you can enjoy story telling without much dialogue then you will enjoy this film. Pixar has another HIT on its hands. They have shown that they can produce such wonderful material.
I have to say that going to the movies at the AMC theatre here is a very quiet experience. We do not get the crowds that most theatres get at the old Forum space. The theatre tonight was not full but there were more people seeing this movie than usual.
This was a cute tale of how the earth has become a wasteland of garbage and humans are traveling the galaxy on star-cruise ships – ours was called the AXIOM. A probe ship was sent out to collect living specimens that would direct the ship to return to earth and recolonize. There was a really interesting nod to 2001 A Space Odyssey with the auto pilot character on the ship, in a “Hal” like role. Eve collects a plant specimen that was given to her by Wall-E. And the whole rest of the movie was the aquisition of the plant that has to be set into the Holo-system so that the ship would be autopiloted back to earth some 700 plus years later.
This little adventure was funny and sad and happy all at the same time. You can take away many messages from the film and I will leave that to you to divine. A good time was had by all tonight.
Into the Wild…
A while ago, this movie was made and played in the theatre. It also made Oprah. Tonight we watched this film for the first time on DVD. It was a painful movie to watch and it was also glorious. What would it be like if we sold everything we owned, got rid of all our money and set off for places unknown, far far away.
I don’t think any of us escapes the curse of our parents. I have always said, “be careful the lies you tell your children because one day they will come back to haunt you.” The story, as told by the sister, I guess was this young man’s way of exorcising the demons of his parents and of his life. But it was amazing to see the ground that he covered in his travels, the people he had come to meet and the lessons he learned along the way.
If you haven’t seen this film, I say rent it today…
I Am Because We Are
Tribeca Film Festival Link Here
[IAMBE] | 2008 | 85 min | Feature Documentary
Directed by: Nathan Rissman
World Premiere
Interests: African, Documentary, Health Issues, Social Issues, Women
Moods: 6 Cross-Cultural, Crusading, Empowering, Inspirational, Poignant, Topical
Cast & Credits
Program Notes
In southeastern Africa, the landlocked and densely populated country of Malawi is under severe distress. In a country of 12 million people, an unprecedented one million-plus children have been orphaned by AIDS, and malnutrition and inadequate medical treatment still run rampant.
The multitalented Madonna assumes one of her most impactful roles yet as writer, producer, and narrator of this eye-opening and heart-wrenching documentary. Under the confident direction of first-timer Nathan Rissman, we journey with Madonna as she exposes the harsh realities of a half-forgotten country by introducing us to its future-Malawi’s children.
As she bears witness to the lives of these special children and their extraordinary will to survive, Madonna shares her own personal thoughts, making for an incredibly intimate and emotional cinematic experience. While analyzing all sides of the dilemma and the cultural challenges facing Malawi as it relates to the world, the film is a testament to human interconnectivity and social responsibility-a call to action wrapped in a well crafted and visually beautiful film.
Leading experts such as President Bill Clinton, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Professor Jeffrey Sachs, and Dr. Paul Farmer offer memorable insight, but the real driving force of the film is undoubtedly the children’s riveting stories, which will stir audiences and, at best, rouse them to action.
– Genna Terranova
A Titanic Night…
The Biggest room on IMVU is The R.M.S. Titanic. Tonight Danny took me aboard Titanic and he played the song for me. It was a very Celine moment… How much more Canadian can you get, I ask you? You can actually stroll the decks, and sit in the lounges inside the ship, we stood on the stern where Rose attempted to jump ship and even, if you look at the photo above, stand in the crow’s nest at the front of the ship.
I’ve spoken often about IMVU, the virtual community that I belong to. You can click the IMVU Link and join up yourself if you feel inclined. Tonight was a special night. One of my oldest and best friends is a builder in that community and He created for me my very own nightclub which I am going to show you below. There are cars and trucks on the first floor, a spinning dance floor with lights and sound.
This is another wide angle view of the first and second story of the club, where one can sit on sofas and look down on the main floor and watch plasma tv’s. It’s really cool. I am standing next to the sports car that is in the club.
And this is my Canadian Made Avatar…
A fun night was had by all.
That’s all for tonight, it’s quite late already…
Bad Bad Jonathan
DUBLIN, Ireland – Jonathan Rhys Meyers, star of the Henry VIII soap opera “The Tudors,” has been charged with public drunkenness and breach of the peace at Dublin Airport, police said Monday.
