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You don't often see the great movies coming. Sure, some classics swagger their way into theaters (like "Barbie" and "Oppenheimer" did in 2023), but take a look at the vast majority of the movies on your favorites queue and you'll see titles that arrived with very little fanfare. Warner Bros. didn't expect "L.A. Confidential" to take off like it did, and Columbia Pictures was absolutely stunned when "The Shawshank Redemption" rebounded after a disappointing theatrical release to become one of the most beloved motion pictures in the history of the medium.

Then there's Universal and "Field of Dreams." Kevin Costner was a movie star in 1989 on the strength of "The Untouchables," "No Way Out" and "Bull Durham," but two of those three hits were adult-skewing entertainments that traded heavily on his sex appeal. "Field of Dreams" was ... really, what in...

Canadian writer Margaret Atwood appeared to cryptically urge women to cast a vote in the upcoming U.S. presidential election with a repost Friday on X of a The Handmaid’s Tale-themed U.S. presidential election cartoon.

The work by Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist Mike Luckovich at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution shows women entering a U.S. polling booth attired in the red cloaks and white bonnets worn by the enslaved women forced to bear children in Atwood’s dystopian 1985 novel.

As they come out the other side, having voted, the cloaks and bonnets are flung off and they are wearing modern-day clothing.

pic.twitter.com/a0vjVJuL9w

— Margaret E Atwood (@MargaretAtwood) November 1, 2024 Margaret Atwood repost

Atwood saw her profile and that of The Handmaid’s Tale rise during Donald Trump’s first term in office after its adaptation by Hulu captured the zeitgeist of a rising anti-abortion movement in the U.

Starfleet Academy has found its Chancellor. Academy Award winner Holly Hunter has become the first cast member of the highly anticipated Paramount+ series, Star Trek: Starfleet Academy.

The casting was announced on the official Star Trek on Paramount+ X profile. "All cadets, rise for your captain! Academy Award winner Holly Hunter has officially been cast as the captain and chancellor of the upcoming [Paramount+] series [Starfleet Academy]," read the post's caption, which ended with an emoji of the Vulcan salute. With Star Trek executive producer Alex Kurtzman sharing in March 2024 that filming would begin on Starfleet Academy this summer, fans can surely expect more casting announcements to be made in the coming weeks.

Related Star Trek III: The Search for Spock Will Return to Theaters for 40th Anniversary Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, directed by Spock himself Leonard Nimoy, is heading back to theaters in time for its 40th anniversary. All cadets,...

Today, Paramount+ announced that Academy Award winner Holly Hunter will star in the upcoming original series Star Trek: Starfleet Academy as the captain and chancellor of Starfleet Academy.

The series will follow the adventures of a new class of Starfleet cadets as they come of age in one of the galaxy’s most legendary places. Produced by CBS Studios, it will begin production later this summer.

“It feels like we’ve spent our entire lives watching Holly Hunter be a stone-cold genius,” said co-showrunners Alex Kurtzman and Noga Landau. “To have her extraordinary authenticity, fearlessness, sense of humor, and across-the-board brilliance leading the charge on Starfleet Academy is a gift to all of us and to the enduring legacy of Star Trek.”

Star Trek: Starfleet Academy introduces viewers to a young group of cadets who come together to pursue a common dream of hope and optimism. Under the watchful and demanding eyes of their instructors,...

The “Star Trek: Starfleet Academy” series at Paramount+ has cast Holly Hunter in a lead role, Variety has learned.

Hunter’s character will serve as the captain and chancellor of the Academy, presiding over both the faculty and a new class of Starfleet cadets as they learn to navigate the galaxy in the 32nd century.

“It feels like we’ve spent our entire lives watching Holly Hunter be a stone-cold genius,” said co-showrunners Alex Kurtzman and Noga Landau. “To have her extraordinary authenticity, fearlessness, sense of humor, and across the board brilliance leading the charge on ‘Starfleet Academy’ is a gift to all of us, and to the enduring legacy of ‘Star Trek.'”

“Starfleet Academy” will begin shooting in Toronto later this summer, featuring the largest contiguous set ever constructed for a “Star Trek” series, a central academic atrium that will span two stories and include an amphitheater, classrooms,...

Since 1967, a total of 20 unique pairs of lead female TV movie or limited series costars have been pitted against each other at the Primetime Emmys. While this amount is roughly on par with the corresponding male category’s, it stands as the third lowest overall, behind those of the Best Comedy Actor and Actress groups. Scroll through our chronological photo gallery to learn more about each Best TV Movie/Limited Series costar battle.

This acting Emmy category differs from all others in that it has yet to see a case of directly opposing nominations during the 2020s. A total of four actresses appear on the list multiple times apieces, with Jessica Lange standing out with three separate entries for “Grey Gardens” (2009), “American Horror Story: Coven” (2014), and “Feud: Bette and Joan” (2017). Those who show up twice each are Patty Duke, Sally Field, and Meryl Streep.

Duke and Lange, who each triumphed...

Since 1967, a total of 20 unique pairs of lead female TV movie or limited series costars have been pitted against each other at the Primetime Emmys. While this amount is roughly on par with the corresponding male category’s, it stands as the third lowest overall, behind those of the Best Comedy Actor and Actress groups. Scroll through our chronological photo gallery to learn more about each Best TV Movie/Limited Series costar battle.

This acting Emmy category differs from all others in that it has yet to see a case of directly opposing nominations during the 2020s. A total of four actresses appear on the list multiple times apieces, with Jessica Lange standing out with three separate entries for “Grey Gardens” (2009), “American Horror Story: Coven” (2014), and “Feud: Bette and Joan” (2017). Those who show up twice each are Patty Duke, Sally Field, and Meryl Streep.

Duke and Lange, who each triumphed...

The staff of Los Angeles Times won a Pulitzer Prize on Monday for its stories that uncovered recordings in which City Council members made racist remarks.

The recordings last year set off a furor at City Hall, leading to the resignation of City Council President Nury Martinez and other civic officials.

The Times‘ Christina House also won a Pulitzer for feature photography for images of a pregnant 22-year-old living on the street.

The Times‘ exposé on the City Council members conversation won in the breaking news category, beating two other finalists: Josh Gerstein, Alex Ward, Peter S. Canellos. Hailey Fuchs and Heidi Przybyla of Politico for their bombshell story on the leaked draft opinion overturning Roe v. Wade. The Pulitzer jury moved their entry to breaking news from the national reporting category. The other finalist in the category was the staff of The New York Times for its coverage of...

Despite a recent wave of cast exits, Grey's Anatomy will continue on ABC into the 2023-24 TV season.

The network on Friday renewed Grey's Anatomy for an unprecedented Season 20.

As ABC's longest-running series, Grey's Anatomy has still commanded strong ratings, meaning that a renewal was inevitable.

Typically with longer-running shows, renewals are more complicated due to cast salaries.

But Grey's Anatomy has said goodbye to Ellen Pompeo as a series regular, while Kelly McCreary will depart next month.

Also exiting is Krista Vernoff, who has served as showrunner on the series.

Executive producer Meg Marinis will take the reigns of the series.

Marinis has a long and storied history with the series, having written more than 25 episodes and served as an executive producer.

Undoubtedly, a renewal for the series has been made more attractive with the cast exits.

Grey's Anatomy Season 19 introduced a raft of new cast members as the...

A century from publication, Virginia Woolf’s Orlando: A Biography is still in vogue. Just before the pandemic, Tilda Swinton––who played Orlando in Sally Potter’s landmark film 30 years ago––curated a photography exhibition for Aperture inspired by the novel. Early last year, Megan Fernandes had Woolf’s text in mind when she wrote her eulogy for Roe vs Wade. More recently, theater director Neil Bartlett took a new adaptation to the West End, casting non-binary performer Emma Corrin in the title role. For a while, Potter’s adaptation seemed like the last word on Orlando, but Woolf’s story only grows more relevant (and more malleable) as each generation claims it for themselves.

In her review of Bartlett’s play, the theater critic Helen Shaw wrote that the novel “slots into the current gender discourse with a nearly audible click.” Enter Paul B. Preciado, the celebrated French author...

Updated: Sarah Polley’s Women Talking has been selected as the Centerpiece screening at the Hamptons Film Festival, which unspools its 30th edition October 7-16.

Based on Miriam Toews’ 2018 novel, Women Talking had its world premiere at the Telluride Film Festival and will hit theaters December 2 via Orion and MGM. Read Deadline’s review here.

The festival also said it will close with Chris Smith’s Sr, a look at the life and career of Robert Downey Sr., and that its annual “Rowdy Talks” program will be highlighted by Chris Columbus. It also revealed additional Spotlight selections and its Views From Long Island; Conflict and Resolution; Air, Land & Sea; and Compassion, Justice & Animal Rights lineups.

Previously, August 12: The Hamptons Film Festival will screen Cannes Jury Prize Winner Eo by Jerzy Skolimowski, Phyllis Nagy’s Call Jane, and Decision to Leave by Cannes Best Director winner Park Chan-wook among others...

Click here to read the full article.

The BET Awards, otherwise known as “Culture’s Biggest Night,” is adept at highlighting cultural and artistic diversity within the Black community and broader African diaspora. Many examples of this were broadcast for the world to see: host Taraji P. Henson shouting out Historically Black Colleges and Universities (specifically Howard University in celebration of fellow alum Diddy, last night’s lifetime achievement award honoree); a ballroom scene-inspired performance led by Pose‘s Billy Porter (in an austere Rick Owens frock); the fusion of old and new school sounds, as evidenced by collaborations from Ella Mai and Babyface, plus Latto and Mariah Carey; and a consistent stream of praise for musicians from the African continent, like Nigeria’s Tems and Fireboy Dml.

Some moments, however, were only visible on the red carpet and from inside the Microsoft Theatre. Here are eight trends The Hollywood...

Saturday Night Live’s Weekend Update focused on the cryptocurrency crash, the baby formula shortage and the Roe Vs. Wade memo leak on the show’s Selena Gomez-hosted episode.

“Is it me or does every story sound like the opening voiceover in a Mad Max movie?,” co-anchor Colin Jost said of the week’s headlines.

“The year is 2022. A virus rages across the planet. Digital money has collapsed. Infants have nothing to eat. Women are forced to breed. Men are ready to die for gasoline. And we suffer under...

Exclusive: Oscar winning actress Holly Hunter is in talks to star and produce the feature adaptation of Sue Miller’s bestselling novel Monogamy.

Killer Films and Yellow Bear Films have closed a deal for the book, I hear, with Dani Shapiro set to adapt and also produce. Miller will serve as EP.

Released by Harper last September in hardcover with the paperback version hitting store shelves today, Monogamy follows golden couple, Graham and Annie, who remain effortlessly devoted to one another after nearly 30 years of marriage. Graham is a bookseller, a big, gregarious man with large appetites—curious, eager to please, a lover of life, and the convivial host of frequent, lively parties at his and Annie’s comfortable house in Cambridge. Annie, more reserved and introspective, is a photographer. When Graham suddenly dies—this man whose enormous presence has seemed to dominate their lives together—Annie is lost. What...

For the first time since the Emmys started formally considering limited series and movies separately from continuing dramas in 1971, no movies are nominated for their acting, writing or directing. The 2019 nominations announcement revealed that this is also the first year that three of the Best TV Movie nominees — “Brexit,” “King Lear” and “My Dinner with Hervé” — have no other nominations. Each contends to be the second Best TV Movie winner without any other nominations, after “Day One,” which tied with “Roe vs. Wade” in 1989. “Black Mirror: Bandersnatch” and “Deadwood: The Movie” are nominated only in Creative Arts races.

SEEour contributors react to the nominations in a slugfest.

“Bandersnatch” is the latest installment in the “Black Mirror” anthology, which won Best Movie/Limited Writing the last two years and picked up additional above-the-line nominations last year for lead actor Jesse Plemons and supporting actress Letitia Wright. “The Movie” is the revival...

Oscar and Emmy winning actress Holly Hunter has joined the cast of the second season of drama series "Succession" in a recurring role.

Created by Jesse Armstrong, season 2 of "Succession" follows the Roy family as they struggle to retain control of their empire, and while the future looks increasingly uncertain, it is the past that threatens ultimately to destroy them, reports deadline.com.

Hunter will play Rhea Jarrell, the politically savvy CEO of a rival media conglomerate.

The Season 2 cast includes Brian Cox, Jeremy Strong, Hiam Abbass, Sarah Snook, Kieran Culkin, Alan Ruck, Nicholas Braun, Matthew Macfadyen, Peter Friedman, Rob Yang, J. Smith Cameron, Dagmara Dominczyk and Arian Moayed.

Hunter won the best actress Oscar for her performance in Jane Campion-directed "The Piano" and has Oscar nominations for "Broadcast News", "The Firm" and "Thirteen". She received the best actress Emmy for "The Positively True Adventures of the Alleged Texas Cheerleader-Murdering Mom...

Holly Hunter will celebrate her 61st birthday on March 20, 2019. The actress has had a highly successful career on the screen, stage and television earning an Oscar and two Emmys for her efforts.

Born in rural Georgia, Hunter developed an interest in acting at a young age. It would lead her to attend college at Carnegie Mellon University, one of the countries most respected drama programs. While some thought her deep southern accent would hinder her career and options for roles, Hunter chose to embrace her accent and rose to fame playing a variety of southern characters.

SEEOscar Best Actress Gallery: Every Winner in Academy Award History

A chance meeting while being stuck in an elevator with playwright Beth Henley would lead to Hunter’s Broadway debut. Henley had just won the Pulitzer Prize for her play “Crimes of the Heart,” a story of three eccentric sisters. When Mary Beth Hurt vacated one of the roles,...

Holly Hunter will celebrate her 61st birthday on March 20, 2019. The actress has had a highly successful career on the screen, stage and television earning an Oscar and two Emmys for her efforts.

Born in rural Georgia, Hunter developed an interest in acting at a young age. It would lead her to attend college at Carnegie Mellon University, one of the countries most respected drama programs. While some thought her deep southern accent would hinder her career and options for roles, Hunter chose to embrace her accent and rose to fame playing a variety of southern characters.

A chance meeting while being stuck in an elevator with playwright Beth Henley would lead to Hunter’s Broadway debut. Henley had just won the Pulitzer Prize for her play “Crimes of the Heart,” a story of three eccentric sisters. When Mary Beth Hurt vacated one of the roles, Henley cast Hunter, and it...

I was three years old in 1974. I’m giving away my age, but I love the fact that I can remember the 1970s and 1980s. The classic film stars who many young people today don’t recognize were still popping up on award and variety shows. One such very memorable occasion was the 1974 Academy Awards telecast. Granted I was too young to remember this awards show, and it would be another decade before my passion for movies took hold. However, it is one of the ceremonies that has multiple special moments that are still discussed on this anniversary 45 years later. And it took place during an era when over-the-top, cheesy broadcasts were in full bloom. This particular ceremony provided the only appearance by Katharine Hepburn at the Oscars, the youngest Oscar winner ever, an odd quartet of hosts with an opening musical by Liza Minnelli and a very shocking but amusing “visitor.

Washington — In one part of the Capitol on Thursday, Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh was meeting with more senators as he faces a contentious confirmation hearing. In another, the House was holding a circus-like hearing with FBI agent Peter Strzok.

In a basement meeting room of the Capitol Visitor Center, there also was a lot of media interest: Jane Fonda, the star of Netflix’s “Frankie & Johnnie” and the longtime political activist, was pressing lawmakers to expand protections for women domestic workers and farmworkers.

One of her messages: The MeToo and Times Up movement is an opportunity for Hollywood to call attention to women in other industries who face pay inequity and sexual harassment.

“We are here with the domestic workers and the women farmworkers and, as has been said, these women, often women of color, often migrants, immigrants, are very, very vulnerable and they work in a very isolated...

“This film is the real-life Handmaid’s Tale.”

That’s how Civia Tamarkin and Luchina Fisher, the filmmakers behind Birthright: A War Story, characterize their new documentary about the rapid swell of abortion restrictions in the United States.

The documentary explores the numerous ways in which the pro-life movement has continuously worked to “roll back” access to abortion and routine health care for women over the past 40 years.

“You are talking about a physical embattlement here,” Tamarkin tells People. “Women are under siege. It’s pretty clear that from the moment the Roe vs. Wade ruling came down, the anti-abortion movement declared war.

You might think that a show about stand-up comedians would, you know, make you laugh a time or two. But Showtime’s morose, cliché-riddled new drama I’m Dying Up Here — premiering this Sunday at 10/9c — is more likely to make you hate yourself, everyone around you and humanity in general.

VideosI’m Dying Up Here Trailer: Fear and Laughing in L.A.’s ’70s Stand-Up Scene

Set in L.A.’s vibrantly messy 1970s comedy scene, Dying follows the self-loathing comedians who work at Goldie’s, a stand-up comedy club owned by the no-nonsense Goldie (Melissa Leo), who...

This article originally appeared on Time.com.

Washington (AP) — President Donald Trump is reinstating a ban on providing federal money to international groups that perform abortions or provide information on the option.

The regulation has been something of a political football, instituted by Republican administrations and rescinded by Democratic ones since 1984.

Most recently, President Barack Obama ended the ban in 2009.

Trump signed it one day after the Jan. 22 anniversary of the Supreme Court’s 1973 Roe vs. Wade decision that legalized abortion in the United States, the date which is traditionally when presidents take action on the policy.

Related Video: Watch: Natasha Stoynoff Breaks Silence,...

[[tmz:video id="0_g4dqkdhj"]] Ivanka and Tiffany Trump will make it impossible for their dad to appoint Supreme Court Justices who are gunning for Roe vs. Wade ... so says the lawyer who won the case giving women a Constitutional right to an abortion. Dr. Sarah Weddington gave us her take on the future of the ruling she won back in 1973. She's actually way more worried about Pence than Trump. #HoldOnGinsburg Read more...

Republican presidential candidate Dr. Ben Carson said he would “love” to see Roe vs. Wade overturned, and he compared women who terminate their pregnancies to “slave owners.” “During slavery — and I know that’s one of those words you’re not supposed to say, but I’m saying it,” Carson said Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “A lot of the slave owners thought that they had the right to do whatever they wanted to that slave, anything that they chose to do. And what if the abolitionists had said: ‘You know, I don’t believe in slavery. I think it’s wrong,...

I am angry.

Just finished reading School Daze, Martha’s latest column.

I clicked on her last link.

Are you fucking kidding me?!

Everybody knows about Kim Davis, but how many of you know about Charee Stanley, the United Airlines ExpressJet flight attendant who refuses to serve alcohol because she is a Muslim? The problem was handled a while by the other flight attendants who shared flights with Ms. Stanley; they served the drinks while Ms. Stanley did other duties. But eventually another employee filed a complaint, and ExpressJet suspended Ms. Stanley (administrative leave for 12 months without pay) for not fulfilling her expected duties; if there is no satisfactory resolution by the end of that time period, Ms. Stanley will be terminated. She has filed a complaint with the Eeoc (Equal Opportunity Commission).

Newsflash, people. The United States of America is not a theocracy.

So the simple answer to Kim Davis...

An Original Voice

“We didn’t get mad, we got smart,” HBO CEO Michael Fuchs said about hitting The Wall, looking back at HBO stalling in 1984 from the vantage of the early 1990s. Actually, a lot of the rank and file didn’t get mad or smart; we’d seen 125 of our friends and colleagues get shown the door when the company had suddenly flatlined after eight years of phenomenal growth, and what we got was scared.

But it’s to the credit of HBO’s execs that whatever anxieties they may have had, they showed no panic or even nervousness in public. Instead, they poured any concerns into energetically and immediately addressing the question of, “What do we do now?” The world we knew had changed and there was no going back to the Gold Rush days of the late 1970s and early 1980s. The company required a humongous...

A couple weeks ago, I suggested that the Under the Dome writers had accidentally made Big Jim the hero of their story, but even I didn't expect to see him become such a progressive force in Chester's Mill government: between his drug decriminalization efforts and his common sense gun control initiative, the guy is becoming a regular Dennis Kucinich.

It's a relatively interesting evening under the dome this week, particularly as the show alternately explores Big Jim's sketchy past in illegal drug manufacturing and his present effort to reduce gun violence -- the former is a bit obvious at this point, but at least the story's moving now; the latter is most interesting on a meta level for its obliviously apolitical take on a hot-button issue, like an abortion-themed episode that politely acknowledges Roe vs. Wade but never engages with it. Quibbles aside, I'll take a plot line that's interesting...

Over at www.geekmom.com, Corinna Lawson’s June 21st Cliffs of Insanity column once again wondered why Wonder Woman doesn’t get any respect; this was instigated by the news that DC is producing a new comic, Superman’s Girlfriend Wonder Woman – the title is mine – which will “focus on the relationship between the characters.” (Apparently a DC editor considers Lois Lane nothing but a “trophy wife.”) This is occurring, as Corinna rightly points out, “in an environment where women are still fighting for some basic rights, even to the point of having to listen to politicians talk about ‘legitimate rape.’” And, may I add, in which Texas, North Carolina, and ten other states, along with the House of Representatives, have ignored Roe vs. Wade and declared abortion illegal past 20 weeks and making the procedure not only incredibly difficult to obtain, but incredibly denigrating to the individual woman who seeks it.

Ray Richmond contributes to Deadline’s TV and awards coverage. By her own admission, Holly Hunter has never been a traditional star. For one thing, she never tried to cash in on her fame and cache’ by forming her own production company and becoming a creator. That was true even after she earned her first of five Oscar nominations for Broadcast News in 1988, or after winning one for The Piano in 1994. Hunter has also atypically found comfort in shifting between leading lady and character actress, as well as between film and television. In fact, the same year she shot The Piano (1993), she was starring as the lead in HBO’s The Positively True Adventures Of The Alleged Texas Cheerleader-Murdering Mom. That role earned Hunter her second of two Emmy wins, the first having come in 1989 for her work in the NBC telepic Roe vs. Wade. Related: Emmys: Movies/Miniseries Overview...

I’ve read some overriding impressions of this year’s Sundance, Peter Knegt’s on Sex and Sundance naturally caught my attention immediately. While I agree with his observations and would add that CAA’s party was the cherry on top of it all, I actually think that whatever one’s concerns of the moment are, that subject will be addressed for that person by more than one film at Sundance. After all, the reason sex sells so well is that everyone is concerned with sex just about every minute of the day (according for Freud, that is)

The Wrap cites “a Sundance for bold, kinky subject matter, for lots of sex (onscreen), for indie directors ramping up the excess and melodrama in a way that would have seemed completely out of place back in the days when the phrase ‘a Sundance movie’ usually meant something restrained and naturalistic like ‘Frozen River’ or ‘In the Bedroom’."

Sundance might also be said to be skewed this year toward: Women (on the rise), Violence (by gun, government, war), or, for me personally, reality.

Whether the loss of reality as in Escape from Tomorrow, Crystal Fairy or Magic Magic, or even The World According to Dick Cheney, or God Loves Uganda in which the person’s grasp on reality was lost in the normal course of living, or the thin border between reality and fiction as expressed in the panels on documentaries or “true fiction” or the Sloan Foundation panel on Science and Film, I found that most of what I was watching and hearing was concerned with “reality”. For those who know me, they are aware that my concerns at this time are dealing with the shifting realities of my life. And that is what I found being addressed by the events of Sundance.

I did not see the acquisitions films. I concentrated on World Cinema and mostly Latino and Eastern European cinema, though I was lucky to catch What They Don’t Talk About When They Talk About Love from Indonesia. The reality of the deaf, mute and blind differs from ours though love is the same and is summed up when one person says, “the male loves what he sees and the female loves what she hears”.

I was also lucky to have seen Fruitvale, the winner of so much acclaim. The huge disconnect between reality and fantasy is found in the security guards’ readiness to resort to violence simply by seeing the color of another man’s skin. They were either looking for a fight or were panicked by the number of revelers on the train. Either way it was a tragic ending, redeemed only by the yearly memorial held in Oscar Grant’s honor. God Loves Uganda shows an entire nation deluded by extremists who speak only the deadly evil of homosexuality. I couldn’t stand watching the degradation of a people taking place because of the glib jabber of a white right-wing evangelist purporting to be speaking for G’d. Circles deals with a reality creating events otherwise unimaginable except for their occurring within a context of race hatred and war. Crystal Fairy’s gringo protagonists live in an unreal world inspired by past emotional injuries and only come to reality through the support of compassionate and accepting friends. Magic Magic, Escape from Tomorrow, A Teacher and Houston are about complete breaks from reality by the protagonists. Il Futuro likewise, in the way of Last Tango in Paris, shows how Thanatos’ antithesis Eros create an extreme sexual acting out of grief. In Lasting, winner of the Cinematography Award, reality finally wins out and a wiser love ensues. The doc Who is Dayani Cristal shows a reality we cannot deny as people brave unreal challenges just to aspire to the American Dream. The World According to Dick Cheney shows a man so blind that he cannot think of a single fault in his own character. The havoc he caused to the U.S. as a result was so devastating that I could barely watch the film to its end. No brings the role of media to a happy conclusion, though the media hype itself was based totally in fantasy, as media most often is. I Used to be Darker is the exception as it is deals entirely with reality. Inequality For All was the only dose of realism I received and I was inspired by the film to speak out!

Fifteen films in six days is not too bad, though it doesn’t give me bragging rights to having seen the top winners of awards or acquisitions, except for Fruitvale.

A big change for me was that I attended panels along with attending my traditional Creative Coalition luncheon for inspiring teachers.

The panels also dealt with the thin line between reality and fiction, “true fiction” and documentaries, communication and sharing between science and film.

Science in Film Forum a 10 year collaboration between The Sloan Foundation and the Sundance Film Festival which aims to encourage more realistic and compelling stories about science and technology themes and characters seemed somewhat debilitated by the very issue of how scientists and filmmakers communicate. I will write more on this later, but in terms of reality and unreality, the difference between the delivery of a scientist and an actor (in this case Kate Winslet in Contagion) as they explain the phenomenology of contagion itself is dramatically different. And the questions a filmmaker asks of a scientist will determine how communicative a scientist can be in terms of making a movie more realistic. Frankly speaking, Jon Amiel and screenwriter Scott Burns made more sense to me than the scientists. More on that later as well. In Imitation of Life, the panel with Sarah Polley, Michael Polish, Segio Oksman and others, about how art mirrors life was completely about reality vs. lies, another form of unreality. The best panel was one I caught accidently about the N.Y. Times online Opinion Pages and the shorts on Op-Docs, the best of which is called The Public Square by Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady, taking place in Times Square where protesters counter an anti-Islamic speech by pastor Terry Jones, the Florida pastor who set fire to the Koran, by singing The Beatles. This is a great new venue for short films. If I were making shorts, I would aim to land here.

In the editors’ own words:

"Since Op-Docs, our forum for short, opinionated documentaries, produced with creative latitude across many subjects, started in November 2011, 46 short films and videos have been published on nytimes.com. Today (December 16), we begin a new Op-Docs feature: Scenes. It will be a platform for very short work — snippets of street life, brief observations and interviews, clips from experimental and artistic nonfiction videos — that follow less traditional documentary narrative conventions. This first Scenes video presents a classic New York moment, recorded last year." — The Editors

The morning of my last at Sundance, I went to the Marriott Headquarters and wrote, saw friends as they passed by...shared the good news of my friend Rigo’s We Are What We Are selling to eOne for six figures for the U.S. and shared his excitement for the future of this film. eOne already had acquired Canada and U.K., South Africa and Australia/ N.Z. too, so this was an affirmation of its sincere approval of the finished product. Since EOne's merger with Alliance, not only is it the largest distributor and international sales agent in Canada, with branches In U.S., U.K., Australia, and New Zealand, but it is also the Only Big One. The smaller companies now have the chance to move up to second position since the number one and two companies have merged. I have no doubt that Mr. Victor Loewy, the seller of Alliance, will still hold the position of victor, after all, his wallet is bigger than any and everybody else's. It's funny because eOne, though it seemed to pop up from nowhere (tv), the people running it are the same configuration as always: Patrice Theroux, Patrice Roy, Bryan Gliserman, Patrick Roy, consultant and former Lionsgate founder Jeff Sackman. I love it when I see him, because he has succeeded in this business without ever changing who he is. That in itself merits reward.

This afternoon I met with Gamila Yistra who is in Sundance for the first time, exploring ways to extend and reconfigure The Binger Institute in Amsterdam where we began our professional teaching in its first years. From the idea to the screen, projects and their producers, writers and directors will have extensive workshopping, and the relationships will be lasting ones. As we were leaving the Marriott Headquarters to go to the Planned Parenthood party to meet Caroline Libresco who announced a special women's initiative in Sundance, we ran into Paul Federbush, Director of international for Sundance Institute's Film Program; he told her, to her surprise, that the had a meeting set for the next day.

At the party where Gamila met Caroline, we ran into Mary Jane Skalski who's Two Good Girls is playing here. Others at the Planned Parenthood reception were producer Nermeen Shaikh of Democracynow.org’s whose Daily Independent News Hour with Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez is drawing great praise. The event was marked by the 40th anniversary of Roe vs. Wade (January 22, 2013).

“As the nation’s leading women’s health care provider and advocate, Planned Parenthood understands that abortion is a deeply personal and often complex decision for a woman to consider, if and when she needs it,” said Cecile Richards, president, Planned Parenthood Federation of America. “A woman should have accurate information about all of her options around her pregnancy. To protect her health and the health of her family, a woman must have access to safe, legal abortion without interference from politicians, as protected by the Supreme Court for the last 40 years.”

I took a walk down Main Street and a walk up some stairs and discovered a jewel of a hotel for those with the money to spend. Next time you’re there, check out the Washington School House. It was like stepping into an enchanted history where you could almost imagine living in 1889 when it was built.

As my last act in Sundance, I searched the lost and found for my lost hat (didn’t find it!), and went to the 6:30 press screening of Magic Magic. Stay tuned for my interview with Sebastian Silva about this and his other film, Crystal Fairy, which as my readers know, I liked very much. How did it happen that he got two films into the limited space of Sundance is not a question answered in my interview.

After that I saw the 9:00 screening of Houston, an adult film about a German "headhunter" who is sent from Germany to Houston to recruit the CEO of a large petroleum company for a German based conglomerate. Both films' central concern was the perception of reality, especially across cultural lines.

In conclusion, I would repeat that this year's theme was the nature of reality and its fluid parameters as perceived by various individuals.

The next day I left in the morning to return my car by noon. The road became icy and the planes were unable to take off until 4pm. Lucky for me my plane was scheduled to leave at 9 pm and left on schedule. I had hours to spend at the airport and was lucky in meeting Michele Turnure-Salleo, the Director of Filmmaker 360 of the San Francisco Film Society (http://www.sffs.org/). We have been trying to catch up all year and this was our chance. At the same little table where we set up our computers, we were joined by another Sundance refugee Anecita Agustinez who is a journalist nad producer for www.onnativeground.org a news site dealing with native American issues.

Watch for further blogs on Sundance:

Interviews with:

Director Jacek Borcuch and producer Piotr Kobus of Lasting (Isa: Manana), winner of the Sundance’s World Cinema Cinematography Award Director Srdan Golubovic and producer Jelena Mitrovic of Circles (Isa: Memento) and winner of World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Prize for Artistic Vision Director Sebastian Silva of Crystal Fairy, winner of Sundance’s Directing Award, and Magic Magic (Isa: 6 Sales). Documentary and science panels

See you in L.A. Or Berlin! Or Guadajara in March!

In an attempt to appear human, right-wing political aristocrat and 2012 United States Presidental hopeful Mitt Romney admits to enjoying the Twilight phenomenon, which kind of just makes us hate him even more.

I feel bad for CNN's Gabriella Schwarz, who had to interview Mitt Romney about how he's totally a human being and watches TV, just like all the rest of us human beings who want to overturn Roe vs. Wade, but believe in the death penalty, are opposed to marriage equality, want to ban pornography, and have undying support for 'abstinence-only' programs in school.

First he admits he doesn't own an "i-Pod," (or whatever his researchers and assistants told him currently exists), and then he claims he watches TV and movies. You know, just like us ordinary peasant "people", with our gadgets and regular jobs!

Quote:

"I mean I like the Twilight series. I thought it was fun," Romney said.

Freakonomics unites a number of acclaimed documentary filmmaker’s in an ambitious attempt to adapt Steven D Levitt and Stephen J Dubner’s 2005 bestseller of the same name for cinema audiences. Comprised of 4 mini-documentaries, the film tries to be both informative and entertaining as it sets about explaining the reasons behind baby naming trends, cheating within the world of sumo wrestling, low crime levels during the 90s and, finally, how incentives might be used to improve high-school exam results.

At its best, Freakonomics is a light-hearted examination of certain little thought about phenomenon, the kind of school-friendly documentary that plays more like a Ben and Jerry’s advert than an episode of The Sky At Night. However, with four very different film’s keeping the subject matter broad, each segment is differentially successful – no doubt proving intriguing to some while completely disengaging for others.

A psychologist by degree, the discussion...

Meg Whitman and Carly Fiorina claimed they wanted to help the world by dipping their toes into politics-but their failed races were mostly about ego. How could they have better spent a combined $217 million? How about college tuition for 23,000? Or school lunches for 15 million? The Daily Beast's Gail Sheehy crunches the numbers.

In a year that broke all the records for money spent on campaigns, some candidates threw away enough of their own wealth to make even Mayor Bloomberg blush. Take Jeff Greene, the Democratic candidate for Senate in Florida, who spent $23,808,789, with only about $4,000 coming from outside contributions. Each of the 284,948 votes cast in his favor cost $83.55.

Related story on The Daily Beast: Sarah Palin's Media Strategy

Then there are the women. This election was really a tale of three little girls who grew up to make so much money, they didn't know what to do with it.

Freakonomics is a multi-part documentary based on the immensely popular book of the same name by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner and is an eye opening examination of the various systems in place in our society. Consisting of a triage of extremely talented documentary filmmakers, Freakonomics takes an interesting approach of examining some core economic principles in the book and then permits the filmmaker to illustrate an example of the mentioned topic in their unique cinematic style. These stories take on a debunking conventional thinking approach often throwing accepted concepts at the audience and then subverting their logic in clever ways. By combining a talented roster of documentarians with a phenomenon book, Freakonomics succeeds in both educating and entertaining.

Seth Gordon (King of Kong) takes on the job of weaving together prelude chapters in-between the four short films from the other heavyweight documentary directors including Morgan Spurlock (Super Size Me...

This week! Should gay people "care" about anti-gay politicians who turn out to be gay? Why are none of them lesbians? Are U.S. soldiers anti-gay — and much more!

Have a question about gay male entertainment? Contact me here (and be sure and include your city and state and/or country!)

Q: I was thinking about those anti-gay politicians who have been revealed to be gay. Do you think the gay community should help them out or should we leave them alone? I also realized there are no female anti-gay politicians who were revealed to be lesbians. Are there any? – Eli, Melbourne, Australia

A: What do they say are two topics you should never discuss in polite company? Religion and politics. So what are two topics I return to again and again in my column?

Yup, religion and politics! Hey, I yam what I yam.

The scene of Senator Larry...

The freakiest thing about “Freakonomics” is the way in which a normally dry, esoteric means of study has become such a phenomenon. From a New York Times article in 2003 to a best-selling book to now the omnibus documentary, “Freakonomics” has become such a cultural meme that even those who have not read the book (like your humble reviewer here) are now familiar with the assertions the authors (economist Steven Levitt and journalist Stephen Dubner) have made and discussions they have provoked.

Fortunately, “Freakonomics” the documentary is not dull or dry at all. Making use of several directors to each turn a particular idea from the book into a 10- to 15-minute short piece, then weaving them together with interstitials featuring Levitt and Dubner, the film flows easily from concept to concept, like a high-end “60 Minutes” episode. Covered here: African-American vs. White names, corruption in sumo wrestling, and correlating a lowered...

The freakiest thing about “Freakonomics” is the way in which a normally dry, esoteric means of study has become such a phenomenon. From a New York Times article in 2003 to a best-selling book to now the omnibus documentary, “Freakonomics” has become such a cultural meme that even those who have not read the book (like your humble reviewer here) are now familiar with the assertions the authors (economist Steven Levitt and journalist Stephen Dubner) have made and discussions they have provoked.

Fortunately, “Freakonomics” the documentary is not dull or dry at all. Making use of several directors to each turn a particular idea from the book into a 10- to 15-minute short piece, then weaving them together with interstitials featuring Levitt and Dubner, the film flows easily from concept to concept, like a high-end “60 Minutes” episode. Covered here: African-American vs. White names, corruption in sumo wrestling, and correlating a lowered...

Oscar-winning filmmaker Louie Psihoyos.

Louie Psihoyos Keeps Watch On The Cove

By

Alex Simon

When Louie Psihoyos’ documentary The Cove was released last July by Roadside Attractions, it had already gained major buzz after nabbing the Best Documentary award at Sundance, and went on to score the Best Doc prize in some of Hollywood’s most coveted arenas: The DGA Award, The PGA Producer of the Year Award, The National Board of Review, The L.A. Film Critics, and the Bfca’s Critics Choice Award. It also won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature—not too shabby for a first-time filmmaker. The Cove was released on DVD by Lionsgate in December.

Psihoyos (rhymes with Sequoias) has been one of the world’s top nature photographers for years, cutting his teeth immediately out of college by shooting for National Geographic, where he landed an 18 year tenure. His passion for diving...