We remember: Milk

Originally posted on www.differentscene.co.uk

This week for Different Scene’s We Remember section I’m going to be looking at a film that was released just a few years ago but has already had a significant impact on the gay community, and that film is Milk.

The 2008 film was directed by Gus Van Sant and written by Dustin Lance Black and was quite a critical and commercial hit. It grossed $54 million at the box office and won two Academy Awards, including best actor for Sean Penn as Harvey Milk.

Released on the cusp of the Californian voter referendum on Proposition 8, that sought to ban gay marriage, the film couldn’t have come at a better time as Milk tells the story of Harvey Milk, the first openly gay man to be elected into public office in California, demonstrating how back in the 1970s people were willing to have a gay man in office. It begins on his 40^th birthday and follows him as he settles in San Francisco and begins his journey into city politics were he waged various battles for gay rights and equality in the Castro neighbourhood and throughout San Francisco, it also looks at the political campaigns that sought to limit gay rights during the late 1970s that Milk also battled against.

As the film progresses it explores Milk’s romantic relationship with Scott Smith, which is truly touching in the movie and was played impeccably by both Sean Penn as Milk and James Franco as Smith. The film ultimately ends with the untimely tragic death of Harvey Milk who was murdered by Dan White.

The film itself is shot amazingly and the screenplay and acting is brilliant, as it flips through real life footage from the 1970s back to the present day film acting you can’t help but get engrossed. This film brought the name of a hugely influential, courageous and forward thinking man back into the mainstream, because lets face it Harvey Milk was remembered amongst a lot of people in the gay community, but there were people from a younger generation and people from the straight community who wouldn’t have known who he was, but this film brought him back to life, and for those who haven’t seen footage of the real Harvey Milk go and watch it because you will be stunned at how realistic the film is when compared.

This is why this film is in the We Remember section this week, because not only did it put gay characters back on the big screen and show that films with gay characters can and do perform well at the box office and at award shows, but it also allowed Harvey Milk’s name to live on once again, and show what great things he did for our community.

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Originally posted on www.thefancarpet.com

James Franco For Child of God

News is circulating that James Franco will be adapting the novel Child of God.

The star will be making the adaptation of Cormac McCarthy’s novel after his attempts to adapt McCarthy’s other novel Blood Meridian have seemingly hit a wall.

Child of God is a novel/film about a backwoodsman called Ballard who decides to live outside of society in a cave situated in the East Tennessee hills after being released from prison. He also decides to experiment with a little bit of necrophilia whilst he’s there. Nothing too strange then.

It isn’t clear at the moment what happened with Blood Meridian, as the film already had a producer in the form of Scott Rudin and twenty minutes of footage with Scott Glenn and Luke Perry. All that is known is that Franco has said it’s ‘on hold for now’ so it may never come to fruition in other words.

There are no further details regarding Child of God at the moment, so you will have to stay tuned for that one. But I’m guessing it may go the same way as Blood Meridian.

Lion King 3D  Tops Box Office

The house of mouse has shown its huge power once again, as The Lion King 3D soars to the top of the American box office.

The film took an incredible $29.3 million at the box office over the weekend, showing that there are still a lot of people out there with a soft spot for samba and his animated friends.

The film pushed last week’s number one Contagion down to the number two position, as it took a still impressive $14.4 million over the weekend. Coming in third was Ryan Gosling’s latest effort Drive, which took $11 million this weekend. A slightly disappointing return considering it was given quite a lot of praise from the critics, but cinemagoers had other ideas this weekend.

Coming in fourth, and slowly slipping away from the top of the box office after several weeks there was The Help, which took in $6.4 million. And coming in fifth was the reboot of Straw Dogs, which only managed to pull in $5 million.

Possibly one of the biggest disappointments was Sarah Jessica Parker’s latest effort I Don’t Know How She Does It, which only managed $4.5 million. SJP seriously needs a new Sex and the City film if she wants to up her box office cred again.

Silk To Be Remade

Taiwanese Film Silk is to be made remade for western audiences.

With remakes being big at the moment, and with Hollywood apparently having no originality about them it looks as though they have turned to foreign cinema once again to help them get a big hit.

Gold Circle Films have hired hired Marco King, Mary King and Jonathan Watters to remake the chilling tale of a dead child and seemingly barmy scientist.

The original movie, that was made in 2006 and was directed by Chao-Bin Su, and found a crippled scientist using his latest invention to capture the essence of a ghost child, who may also be a little bit vengeful. After discovering that the child was killed by his mother and buried at a nuclear power plant things start to go seriously wrong for everyone involved.

So far no details have been released as everyone is staying tight lipped about this movie, but to be honest it does sound quite exciting. Lets just hope they do it justice in the remake.

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Originally posted on www.thefancarpet.com

The Dark Knight Rises Shooting Details Revealed

It has been revealed that The Dark Knight Rises will be shooting some scenes in Pittsburgh.

The third instalment in Christopher Nolan’sBatman reboot will be shooting some of its scene at Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, with the ‘secret’ working title Magnus Rex.

If this isn’t enough for you there has also been details released regarding the scenes that would be taking place, so if you don’t want to spoil anything then stop reading now.

It has been said that the scenes shooting in Pittsburgh will involve, "an explosion, a prison break, precision stunt driving, gunfire, atmospheric smoke, and controlled pyrotechnic explosions."

Along with this it has been revealed, "One character drives a motorcycle through the fourth floor lobby, out the front doors and down the steps onto Fifth Ave."

If you are still reading then you might also like to know that it has been widely reported that, the first trailer for The Dark Knight Rises will see its own premier during blockbuster movie to be Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part 2.

So if you’re a Batman and a Harry Potter fan then this Friday is a must for you.

The Dark Knight Rises opens July 20^th 2012.

Transformers Hold on to Box Office Top Spot

Transformers: Dark Side of the Moon has held onto its pole position at the top of the American box office.

The film took in an astounding $47 million, and even though it’s a 52 percent decrease from last week, it gives the film a 12-day total of $261 million.

By this point the original Transformers had pulled in $212.3 million, while the second of the feature films Revenge of the Fallen had pulled in an almighty $293.4 million.

The film beat its nearest competitor, comedy Horrible Bosses by nearly $20 million, after it came in second place grossing a total of $28.1 million.

Although Transformers: Dark Side of the Moon is at the top spot it has failed to match the success of its predecessor, but this said it has helped the franchise gross an astonishing $645 million. Could the franchise hit the coveted $1 billion mark soon? Only time will tell.

The films position at number this week however may be its last, as it sees stiff competition next week from a certain wizard who goes by the name of Harry Potter.

Abigail Spencer Joins Sam Raimi's Oz: The Great and Powerful

Abigail Spencer has signed on to join Sam Raimi’s Wizard of OZ prequel OZ, The Great and Powerful.

The Mad Men actress will join an all star cast which so far consists of James Franco as the magician himself, Zach Braff as Oz’s assistant and Rachel Weisz, Mila Kunis and Michelle Williams as three witches.

The films storyline will centre on the origins of the wizard after he is flown away in a hot air balloon and lands up in the Land of Oz, where he teams up with the good witch Glinda (Williams) to battle the two evil witches who are currently taking over the land (Weisz and Kunis).

It has been reported that Spencer will be playing a participant in one of the wizards magic shows while he’s performing in Kansas.

The film begins filming in Michigan later this month and is expected to hit theatres on March 8^th 2013.