How To Come Alive With Norman Mailer director Jeff Zimbalist: “I lament that in some ways the film is a nostalgia piece for that bygone era. But never saying that Mailer himself is a role model.”
In the second instalment with Jeff Zimbalist on How To Come Alive With Norman Mailer (co-written with Victoria Marquette and a highlight of the 14th edition of Doc NYC) we discuss a bygone era where opposite sides were coming together in debates, such as the infamous 1971 Town Hall event in New York City: A Dialogue on Women’s Liberation with Germaine Greer, Betty Friedan, Susan Sontag, Jill Johnston, Diana Trilling, Cynthia Ozick, Elizabeth Hardwick, and Jacqueline Ceballos, where Mailer was taught a lesson or two (seen from Chris Hegedus and Da Pennebaker’s Town Bloody Hall documentary), and the Gore Vidal Norman Mailer showdown on The Dick Cavett Show.
Jeff Zimbalist on Norman Mailer: “He’s incredibly prophetic.
In the second instalment with Jeff Zimbalist on How To Come Alive With Norman Mailer (co-written with Victoria Marquette and a highlight of the 14th edition of Doc NYC) we discuss a bygone era where opposite sides were coming together in debates, such as the infamous 1971 Town Hall event in New York City: A Dialogue on Women’s Liberation with Germaine Greer, Betty Friedan, Susan Sontag, Jill Johnston, Diana Trilling, Cynthia Ozick, Elizabeth Hardwick, and Jacqueline Ceballos, where Mailer was taught a lesson or two (seen from Chris Hegedus and Da Pennebaker’s Town Bloody Hall documentary), and the Gore Vidal Norman Mailer showdown on The Dick Cavett Show.
Jeff Zimbalist on Norman Mailer: “He’s incredibly prophetic.
- 12/1/2023
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
At the beginning of Baz Luhrmann’s Faraway Downs, 12-year-old Aboriginal boy Nullah (Brandon Walters) recounts the abiding lesson his grandfather taught him growing up in the wilderness of the Northern Territory of Australia: “Tell ‘em story.” Over the course of the six-part series, a reimagining of Luhrmann’s 2008 film Australia, story will emerge as one of the four cornerstones of Aboriginal identity, the others being country, song, and dreaming.
Luhrmann uses footage from the film, scenes that were lost to the cutting-room floor, and a modern soundtrack by Indigenous artists to expand the story and give it new depth. The narrative arc of the series, though, remains largely identical to that of Australia: When an English aristocrat, Lady Sarah Ashley (Nicole Kidman), travels to Australia to convince her husband to sell the titular ranch, she comes into the orbit of a cattle drover named Drover (Hugh Jackman), and after embarking on a journey together,...
Luhrmann uses footage from the film, scenes that were lost to the cutting-room floor, and a modern soundtrack by Indigenous artists to expand the story and give it new depth. The narrative arc of the series, though, remains largely identical to that of Australia: When an English aristocrat, Lady Sarah Ashley (Nicole Kidman), travels to Australia to convince her husband to sell the titular ranch, she comes into the orbit of a cattle drover named Drover (Hugh Jackman), and after embarking on a journey together,...
- 11/27/2023
- by Amelia Stout
- Slant Magazine
A female student bravely investigates who is behind deepfake images of her online in this compelling documentary
Germaine Greer famously said that women have no idea how much men hate them. Her maxim has a new relevance in the light of this terrifying (and enraging) documentary about the explosion of deepfake porn targeting women: famous women, of course, like Greta Thunberg and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez who dare to get above themselves, but also private women who are just trying to live their lives and have been hit with this revenge-hate tactic from fantasists, ex-boyfriends, would-be boyfriends, a range of misogynists and incels.
Deepfake porn is booming and making serious money for the porn sites who refuse to take these images down and are under no legal compunction to do so. Last year, the YouTuber who goes by the name Gibi Asmr spoke publicly about experiencing a loathsome attack. Another Body’s heroine is,...
Germaine Greer famously said that women have no idea how much men hate them. Her maxim has a new relevance in the light of this terrifying (and enraging) documentary about the explosion of deepfake porn targeting women: famous women, of course, like Greta Thunberg and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez who dare to get above themselves, but also private women who are just trying to live their lives and have been hit with this revenge-hate tactic from fantasists, ex-boyfriends, would-be boyfriends, a range of misogynists and incels.
Deepfake porn is booming and making serious money for the porn sites who refuse to take these images down and are under no legal compunction to do so. Last year, the YouTuber who goes by the name Gibi Asmr spoke publicly about experiencing a loathsome attack. Another Body’s heroine is,...
- 11/22/2023
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
Ahead of the UK Digital release of The Heiress on March 15th, actress Candis Nergaard talks about the harrowing research for her lead role, causing a stir on Newsnight, her Romany roots and coping with lockdown.
You star in a new British supernatural horror film, The Heiress. Tell us how you got the part and what is was about the script that appealed to you.
I was contacted early on the process by the director Chris Bell who’d had me in mind as an option for Claire. I read an early draft of the script and absolutely loved the part, it’s rare for me to be scared by horror but the script alone conjured such vivid imagery that I was haunted by it, I knew it would work. When The Heiress was ready to go, I was offered the role of Claire, I couldn’t wait to get my teeth into it.
You star in a new British supernatural horror film, The Heiress. Tell us how you got the part and what is was about the script that appealed to you.
I was contacted early on the process by the director Chris Bell who’d had me in mind as an option for Claire. I read an early draft of the script and absolutely loved the part, it’s rare for me to be scared by horror but the script alone conjured such vivid imagery that I was haunted by it, I knew it would work. When The Heiress was ready to go, I was offered the role of Claire, I couldn’t wait to get my teeth into it.
- 3/2/2021
- by Phil Wheat
- Nerdly
Julianne Moore as Gloria Steinem and Bette Midler as Bella Abzug in The Glorias. Courtesy of Ld Entertainment and Roadside Attractions
Three big names of the ’60s -’70s Second Wave feminism were Betty Friedan, author of “The Feminine Mystique,” Germaine Greer, author of “The Female Eunuch,” and Gloria Steinem, journalist, activist and co-founder of Ms Magazine. While all were authors who helped launch that movement, it is Gloria Steinem, photogenic and with a journalist’s precision with words, who was a favorite of the media and has stuck in the public imagination. In The Glorias, Germaine Greer isn’t mentioned and Betty Friedan only in passing, but that is not surprising given that this is a biopic of Gloria Steinem, based on her autobiography “My Life On The Road.”
In fact, this drama from director/writer/producer is Julie Taymor has a lot of references to roads. Taymor was...
Three big names of the ’60s -’70s Second Wave feminism were Betty Friedan, author of “The Feminine Mystique,” Germaine Greer, author of “The Female Eunuch,” and Gloria Steinem, journalist, activist and co-founder of Ms Magazine. While all were authors who helped launch that movement, it is Gloria Steinem, photogenic and with a journalist’s precision with words, who was a favorite of the media and has stuck in the public imagination. In The Glorias, Germaine Greer isn’t mentioned and Betty Friedan only in passing, but that is not surprising given that this is a biopic of Gloria Steinem, based on her autobiography “My Life On The Road.”
In fact, this drama from director/writer/producer is Julie Taymor has a lot of references to roads. Taymor was...
- 10/8/2020
- by Cate Marquis
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Town Bloody Hall
Blu ray
Criterion
1979 / 85 min.
Starring Norman Mailer, Germaine Greer, Jill Johnston
Cinematography by D.A. Pennebaker
Directed by D.A. Pennebaker, Chris Hegedus
No matter the subject, Norman Mailer was the star of whatever he produced—in Advertisements for Myself, a mix of self-criticism and self-congratulation—he could have been talking to himself. He took to using the third person in The Armies of the Night. He sometimes adopted a new name—in Of a Fire on the Moon he was “Aquarius.” He directed and acted in a handful of independently made films and plastered his mug on campaign posters that papered New York when he ran for mayor in 1969. His career was one big selfie. But what an ambitious self portrait it was—Hemingway, Faulkner, Dos Passos—he tried to top them all.
He worked hard to be a new kind of empathetic writer, sinking into the psyche of all creatures bright,...
Blu ray
Criterion
1979 / 85 min.
Starring Norman Mailer, Germaine Greer, Jill Johnston
Cinematography by D.A. Pennebaker
Directed by D.A. Pennebaker, Chris Hegedus
No matter the subject, Norman Mailer was the star of whatever he produced—in Advertisements for Myself, a mix of self-criticism and self-congratulation—he could have been talking to himself. He took to using the third person in The Armies of the Night. He sometimes adopted a new name—in Of a Fire on the Moon he was “Aquarius.” He directed and acted in a handful of independently made films and plastered his mug on campaign posters that papered New York when he ran for mayor in 1969. His career was one big selfie. But what an ambitious self portrait it was—Hemingway, Faulkner, Dos Passos—he tried to top them all.
He worked hard to be a new kind of empathetic writer, sinking into the psyche of all creatures bright,...
- 8/22/2020
- by Charlie Largent
- Trailers from Hell
J.K. Rowling has completed her transformation into official poster child of TERFs, or “trans-exclusionary radical feminists.” The term has become a catch-all phrase for a narrow-minded concept of gender, touted by certain old-school feminists, such as Germaine Greer and now Rowling, that would rather preach “inherent biological differences in the sexes” than recognize someone’s humanity. The “Harry Potter” author has made her transphobic views known for years both in tweets and interviews, and recently penned a 4,000-word essay to her personal website expanding on her position. She published the essay following Daniel Radcliffe’s statement, posted to The Trevor Project website, which declared very plainly that “trans women are women” and denounced the author’s views.
Though they are no doubt exhausted and pained by yet another transphobic attack on their right to exist, prominent trans talent in Hollywood spoke out against Rowling’s statements. The most powerful of which may be Jen Richards,...
Though they are no doubt exhausted and pained by yet another transphobic attack on their right to exist, prominent trans talent in Hollywood spoke out against Rowling’s statements. The most powerful of which may be Jen Richards,...
- 6/11/2020
- by Jude Dry
- Indiewire
Thom Powers with Anne-Katrin Titze on Doc NYC Lifetime Achievement Visionary Tribute honourees Michael Apted and Martin Scorsese: “We feel very blessed in our tenth year to have two filmmakers who are working at the peak of their craft and the peak of this industry.” Photo: Doc NYC
2019 marks the tenth anniversary of Doc NYC and it is dedicated to the memory of the great Da Pennebaker. Barbara Kopple: “On August 1st 2019 I lost someone irreplaceable in my life, my friend and inspiration Da Pennebaker.” Andrew Rossi: “Da Pennebaker was such a monumental influence on so many filmmakers. It's not just because his films were so poetic and historically important, putting him on the Mt. Rushmore of documentarians like Maysles, Wiseman and Varda.”
Andrew Rossi puts Da Pennebaker, Albert Maysles, Frederick Wiseman and Agnès Varda on the Mt. Rushmore of documentarians Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
Chris Hegedus and...
2019 marks the tenth anniversary of Doc NYC and it is dedicated to the memory of the great Da Pennebaker. Barbara Kopple: “On August 1st 2019 I lost someone irreplaceable in my life, my friend and inspiration Da Pennebaker.” Andrew Rossi: “Da Pennebaker was such a monumental influence on so many filmmakers. It's not just because his films were so poetic and historically important, putting him on the Mt. Rushmore of documentarians like Maysles, Wiseman and Varda.”
Andrew Rossi puts Da Pennebaker, Albert Maysles, Frederick Wiseman and Agnès Varda on the Mt. Rushmore of documentarians Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
Chris Hegedus and...
- 11/8/2019
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Robert Greene is a documentary filmmaker whose credits include the Sundance-acclaimed “Bisbee ‘17” and “Kate Plays Christine.” He teaches at the Murray Center for Documentary Journalism at the Missouri School of Journalism.
The first word that comes to mind while watching D.A. Pennebaker’s 1953 debut film “Daybreak Express” is love – love of light, love of movement, love of music, love of ideas. In five wildly inventive minutes, the great filmmaker, who died earlier this week in his home at the age of 94, uses various cinematic techniques to capture and recreate the rush of a New York City subway commute. Edited to an exuberant score by Duke Ellington, “Daybreak Express” was part of a groundbreaking group of films that revealed the abstract and musical potential of the observational camera. It was created by a man who loved the act of making things and loved pushing the documentary form forward.
A few years later,...
The first word that comes to mind while watching D.A. Pennebaker’s 1953 debut film “Daybreak Express” is love – love of light, love of movement, love of music, love of ideas. In five wildly inventive minutes, the great filmmaker, who died earlier this week in his home at the age of 94, uses various cinematic techniques to capture and recreate the rush of a New York City subway commute. Edited to an exuberant score by Duke Ellington, “Daybreak Express” was part of a groundbreaking group of films that revealed the abstract and musical potential of the observational camera. It was created by a man who loved the act of making things and loved pushing the documentary form forward.
A few years later,...
- 8/4/2019
- by Robert Greene
- Indiewire
When Morrissey decided to cover the Pretenders’ “Back on the Chain Gang” for an upcoming double-vinyl reissue of his Low in High School album, he wanted to play it loose with the lyrics. “I didn’t ever see the lyrics correctly printed because I wanted to sing them as I had always thought they were,” he tells Rolling Stone via e-mail. “This is tricky with [Pretenders singer] Chrissie [Hynde] because sometimes she’ll sing into a misty wobble. So, I decided to wobble also.”
Other than a few switched-up words, though, it’s mostly a reverent cover.
Other than a few switched-up words, though, it’s mostly a reverent cover.
- 11/1/2018
- by Kory Grow
- Rollingstone.com
An apologia, playwright Alexi Kaye Campbell reminds us in his play so titled, is a defense, not an apology. With that in mind, would any play need an apologia beyond the words “Stockard Channing?”
You wouldn’t think so, and you’d be close to right, but Apologia, directed by Daniel Aukin and opening tonight at the Roundabout Theatre Company’s Off Broadway Laura Pels venue, could use some bolstering nonetheless.
Channing reprises a role she created in London, and we can mostly see what’s held her interest through the voyage. Her Kristin Miller is an irascible, razor-edged leftist and second-wave feminist, a 60-something, take-no-prisoners survivor of an era when being Germaine Greer was a viable career option.
Such trailblazing doesn’t come without sacrifice, though. Or, in Kristin’s case, sacrifices, to be more accurate. An art historian by trade, social critic by temperament and pioneer by circumstance,...
You wouldn’t think so, and you’d be close to right, but Apologia, directed by Daniel Aukin and opening tonight at the Roundabout Theatre Company’s Off Broadway Laura Pels venue, could use some bolstering nonetheless.
Channing reprises a role she created in London, and we can mostly see what’s held her interest through the voyage. Her Kristin Miller is an irascible, razor-edged leftist and second-wave feminist, a 60-something, take-no-prisoners survivor of an era when being Germaine Greer was a viable career option.
Such trailblazing doesn’t come without sacrifice, though. Or, in Kristin’s case, sacrifices, to be more accurate. An art historian by trade, social critic by temperament and pioneer by circumstance,...
- 10/17/2018
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
Last October, model and actress Zoe Brock joined dozens of women accusing Harvey Weinstein of sexual misconduct in a powerful essay about her encounter with the mogul at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival. Now that Weinstein has been arrested on three felony charges of rape and a criminal sexual act, Brock reflects on her experience. (Weinstein has pleaded not guilty.)
I’ll never forget the first time someone told me they thought I was brave for speaking out. I remember feeling awkward and confused, as if I was being given a compliment I didn’t deserve. I was dismissive and brushed the sentiment away. I probably even came across as rude. You see, I didn’t feel brave, not one iota, I felt compelled. There was zero bravery in any of my actions because there was zero forethought.
And that was naive on my part.
I told my story on October...
I’ll never forget the first time someone told me they thought I was brave for speaking out. I remember feeling awkward and confused, as if I was being given a compliment I didn’t deserve. I was dismissive and brushed the sentiment away. I probably even came across as rude. You see, I didn’t feel brave, not one iota, I felt compelled. There was zero bravery in any of my actions because there was zero forethought.
And that was naive on my part.
I told my story on October...
- 5/28/2018
- by Zoe Brock
- The Wrap
Jamie Andrew Jun 16, 2017
Can lovely, innocent Blind Date really exist in the same tawdry world as Take Me Out?
Blind Date is coming back this weekend. So much has changed since the 1980s, both on TV and in society itself, that what returns to our screens may not be a straight-forward, fully-intact teleport of the format, but rather a mutant mish-mash: a half-fly Jeff Goldblum of a show just begging to be put out of its misery. The truth of this inevitable transformation can be seen in the steps already taken up the light-entertainment evolutionary ladder, most notably in the DNA of ITV's long-running post-Blind Date offering, Take Me Out.
See related Tom Hiddleston interview: The Avengers, modern myths, playing Loki and more Tom Hiddleston interview: The Avengers, War Horse, Greek mythology and more Why Thor: Ragnarok may be a pivotal film in Marvel's phase 3
Ah, nostalgia. When I...
Can lovely, innocent Blind Date really exist in the same tawdry world as Take Me Out?
Blind Date is coming back this weekend. So much has changed since the 1980s, both on TV and in society itself, that what returns to our screens may not be a straight-forward, fully-intact teleport of the format, but rather a mutant mish-mash: a half-fly Jeff Goldblum of a show just begging to be put out of its misery. The truth of this inevitable transformation can be seen in the steps already taken up the light-entertainment evolutionary ladder, most notably in the DNA of ITV's long-running post-Blind Date offering, Take Me Out.
See related Tom Hiddleston interview: The Avengers, modern myths, playing Loki and more Tom Hiddleston interview: The Avengers, War Horse, Greek mythology and more Why Thor: Ragnarok may be a pivotal film in Marvel's phase 3
Ah, nostalgia. When I...
- 6/15/2017
- Den of Geek
Author: Competitions
On 9th February, Power of Film and Moving Image, a global platform and series of thought-proving discussions, exploring how the power of film and moving image can change the world, will be taking place at the Royal Institute. To celebrate, we have a pair of tickets to give away to 1 winner.
John Gordon (founder of Intelligence Squared, how to: Academy) and Finch & Partners Corporate Creative, the global strategic brand and content agency, are delighted to announce the launch of an international incentive Power Of Film And Moving Image. Designed as a global incentive to enact positive change, Power Of Film And Moving Image will be an annual cultural happening and digital platform to see, expose and explore the ever-growing power and influence of film and moving image to define the modern world and the way we think. Through a series of thought provoking discussions the project will identify...
On 9th February, Power of Film and Moving Image, a global platform and series of thought-proving discussions, exploring how the power of film and moving image can change the world, will be taking place at the Royal Institute. To celebrate, we have a pair of tickets to give away to 1 winner.
John Gordon (founder of Intelligence Squared, how to: Academy) and Finch & Partners Corporate Creative, the global strategic brand and content agency, are delighted to announce the launch of an international incentive Power Of Film And Moving Image. Designed as a global incentive to enact positive change, Power Of Film And Moving Image will be an annual cultural happening and digital platform to see, expose and explore the ever-growing power and influence of film and moving image to define the modern world and the way we think. Through a series of thought provoking discussions the project will identify...
- 1/20/2017
- by Competitions
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
The 58 recipients of Screen Australia's Gender Matters: Brilliant Stories and Brilliant Careers.funding, designed to address.the gender imbalance.in the screen industry, have been unveiled..
$3 million.will be shared.among 45 female-helmed film, TV and online projects and 13 career boosting initiatives. The announcement marked the largest cohort of projects funded in a single.day in Screen Australia's history. ..
Screen Australia started the Gender Matters program.late last year in response to the industry.s gender inequity.in key creative roles..In film, women make up around 32 per cent of producers, 23 per cent of writers and 16 per cent of directors. .
Screen Australia chief operating officer Fiona Cameron said Gender Matters was unashamedly providing .express lane. access to female business ideas and stories...
.The funding boost provided by Screen Australia has been a game-changer, providing the industry with an opportunity to get behind some very commercial and creative prospects. It.s now time for action,...
$3 million.will be shared.among 45 female-helmed film, TV and online projects and 13 career boosting initiatives. The announcement marked the largest cohort of projects funded in a single.day in Screen Australia's history. ..
Screen Australia started the Gender Matters program.late last year in response to the industry.s gender inequity.in key creative roles..In film, women make up around 32 per cent of producers, 23 per cent of writers and 16 per cent of directors. .
Screen Australia chief operating officer Fiona Cameron said Gender Matters was unashamedly providing .express lane. access to female business ideas and stories...
.The funding boost provided by Screen Australia has been a game-changer, providing the industry with an opportunity to get behind some very commercial and creative prospects. It.s now time for action,...
- 7/12/2016
- by Jackie Keast
- IF.com.au
Announcement of $3m for female-led screen projects marks biggest cash injection in a single day in the agency’s history
The stories of a young Germaine Greer, the Melbourne Cup winner Michelle Payne and the suffragette Vida Goldstein will be brought to the screen by female producers, directors and writers after a record $3m grant from government funding body Screen Australia.
The Brilliant Stories program awarded 45 women-led story ideas for film, TV and online as well as 13 industry projects as part of sweeping reform to ensure at least half of Screen Australia’s funding goes to women by the end of 2018.
Continue reading...
The stories of a young Germaine Greer, the Melbourne Cup winner Michelle Payne and the suffragette Vida Goldstein will be brought to the screen by female producers, directors and writers after a record $3m grant from government funding body Screen Australia.
The Brilliant Stories program awarded 45 women-led story ideas for film, TV and online as well as 13 industry projects as part of sweeping reform to ensure at least half of Screen Australia’s funding goes to women by the end of 2018.
Continue reading...
- 7/12/2016
- by Amanda Meade
- The Guardian - Film News
Before Casino Royale took James Bond down a darker path, there was Timothy Dalton's final 007 outing, Licence To Kill...
So this is the anti-Bond. Stripped of the requisite wit and mischief. Short of temper, heavy of touch. The SPECTREs of yore replaced by a drugs cartel. World domination downgraded to a heroin monopoly. Glamour smothered by grit. Joy drowned in the bloodshed. The icon of British cinema reduced to an American cop show – MI6 Vice, Hawaii 007 – timeless style swamped by the vulgarity and cash of the late-1980s, a case of ‘Sayonara, Mr Bond’ and everything you stand for. Derivative, needlessly violent, no identity, no soul – it’s just Not Bond, dammit! All nonsense, of course. The open-minded know this brutal, brilliant outing is about as good as the series can get.
The Villain: Franz Sanchez is unquestionably the great forgotten villain of the franchise. He possesses all the vital characteristics: charm,...
So this is the anti-Bond. Stripped of the requisite wit and mischief. Short of temper, heavy of touch. The SPECTREs of yore replaced by a drugs cartel. World domination downgraded to a heroin monopoly. Glamour smothered by grit. Joy drowned in the bloodshed. The icon of British cinema reduced to an American cop show – MI6 Vice, Hawaii 007 – timeless style swamped by the vulgarity and cash of the late-1980s, a case of ‘Sayonara, Mr Bond’ and everything you stand for. Derivative, needlessly violent, no identity, no soul – it’s just Not Bond, dammit! All nonsense, of course. The open-minded know this brutal, brilliant outing is about as good as the series can get.
The Villain: Franz Sanchez is unquestionably the great forgotten villain of the franchise. He possesses all the vital characteristics: charm,...
- 7/5/2015
- by simonbrew
- Den of Geek
Jonathan Ross reveals he had an altercation with an angry goat in tonight's (March 10) episode of Alan Davies: As Yet Untitled.
Ross explains that he was faced with the unusual situation while visiting a zoo with his young son Harvey.
"This goat ran, hit [Harvey] full in the chest and sent him flying," Ross said. "Before I knew what I had done, I punched that goat and he went right over on his side."
Ross also said that the zoo employees got the wrong idea from his reaction.
He said: "The bloke came over and said, 'Get out of the pen - he's attacking the goats!'
"I said, 'No, no, the goat's attacking the boy'. They weren't interested in Harvey, they thought I was going on some sort of goat rampage."
Germaine Greer, Tom Wrigglesworth and Lucy Beaumont also feature in tonight's episode, where topics range from '60s underground porn,...
Ross explains that he was faced with the unusual situation while visiting a zoo with his young son Harvey.
"This goat ran, hit [Harvey] full in the chest and sent him flying," Ross said. "Before I knew what I had done, I punched that goat and he went right over on his side."
Ross also said that the zoo employees got the wrong idea from his reaction.
He said: "The bloke came over and said, 'Get out of the pen - he's attacking the goats!'
"I said, 'No, no, the goat's attacking the boy'. They weren't interested in Harvey, they thought I was going on some sort of goat rampage."
Germaine Greer, Tom Wrigglesworth and Lucy Beaumont also feature in tonight's episode, where topics range from '60s underground porn,...
- 3/10/2015
- Digital Spy
Alexander O'Neal has revealed his reasoning for quitting Celebrity Big Brother following his dramatic departure over the weekend.
The singer became embroiled in two unpleasant confrontations with showbiz blogger Perez Hilton, which resulted in a formal warning from Big Brother over O'Neal's use of an offensive term.
Speaking to CBB host Emma Willis on Celebrity Big Brother's Bit On The Side, Alexander revealed why he walked, saying: "I did it for myself and for my housemates."
He added that "the stress became unbearable" prior to his exit, and was subsequently forced to accept that the 'Perez problem' was not going to go away.
But Alexander is not the only disgruntled celebrity housemate to voluntarily leave, and we doubt he'll be the last.
Some, like Claire King, withdrew from the show due to illness, while others have been removed by producers.
But can you remember some of the former CBB stars...
The singer became embroiled in two unpleasant confrontations with showbiz blogger Perez Hilton, which resulted in a formal warning from Big Brother over O'Neal's use of an offensive term.
Speaking to CBB host Emma Willis on Celebrity Big Brother's Bit On The Side, Alexander revealed why he walked, saying: "I did it for myself and for my housemates."
He added that "the stress became unbearable" prior to his exit, and was subsequently forced to accept that the 'Perez problem' was not going to go away.
But Alexander is not the only disgruntled celebrity housemate to voluntarily leave, and we doubt he'll be the last.
Some, like Claire King, withdrew from the show due to illness, while others have been removed by producers.
But can you remember some of the former CBB stars...
- 1/20/2015
- Digital Spy
Award-winning author, renowned poet, civil rights activist and one of the most respected voices in America, Dr. Maya Angelou, has died. She was 86. A statement from her family was posted on her Facebook page Wednesday morning: "Dr. Maya Angelou passed quietly in her home before 8:00 a.m. Est. Her family is extremely grateful that her ascension was not belabored by a loss of acuity or comprehension. She lived a life as a teacher, activist, artist and human being. She was a warrior for equality, tolerance and peace. The family is extremely appreciative of the time we had with her...
- 5/28/2014
- by Stephen M. Silverman
- PEOPLE.com
If older women are given TV and film roles at all, their bodies are still subject to one of the last sex taboos
Diane Keaton recalled her mother's advice – "don't grow old" – as useless, however pertinent for Keaton's chosen career as an actress. It's a truism that interesting roles for older actresses are hard to come by. While signs of physical ageing are routinely played down in leading male actors, who regularly take roles as still vigorous and desirable characters (whether heroes or villains), the opposite applies to older actresses, if they are allowed to appear on screen at all.
Are things changing? It was Keaton herself who seemed to herald a shift when she played in the popular 2003 film about love in later life, Something's Gotta Give. At the time she expressed astonishment at being offered the role of romantic heroine, at 58, despite being partnered by Jack Nicholson, already a decade older.
Diane Keaton recalled her mother's advice – "don't grow old" – as useless, however pertinent for Keaton's chosen career as an actress. It's a truism that interesting roles for older actresses are hard to come by. While signs of physical ageing are routinely played down in leading male actors, who regularly take roles as still vigorous and desirable characters (whether heroes or villains), the opposite applies to older actresses, if they are allowed to appear on screen at all.
Are things changing? It was Keaton herself who seemed to herald a shift when she played in the popular 2003 film about love in later life, Something's Gotta Give. At the time she expressed astonishment at being offered the role of romantic heroine, at 58, despite being partnered by Jack Nicholson, already a decade older.
- 12/16/2013
- by Lynne Segal
- The Guardian - Film News
Comedies from Matchbox Pictures, Princess Pictures, Working Dog and The Bondi Hipsters are among the highlights of ABC-tv.s 2014 schedule.
The drama slate includes the previously announced Anzac Girls (Screentime), which stars Georgia Flood, Antonia Prebble, Laura Brent, Anna McGahan and Caroline Craig in the saga of five young military nurses from Australia and New Zealand during the Gallipoli and Western Front campaigns; The Code (Playmaker Media), a political thriller about two brothers who stumble across information that people in power will kill to keep secret, starring Ashley Zukerman and Dan Spielman; and Old School (Matchbox), which features Bryan Brown and Sam Neill as a retired crim and ex-cop who solve crimes and unravel scams while avoiding the wrath of the police and the underworld.
Among the other dramas are Janet King (Screentime), a legal drama starring Marta Dusseldorp; crime thriller The Broken Shore (Essential Media); second series of The...
The drama slate includes the previously announced Anzac Girls (Screentime), which stars Georgia Flood, Antonia Prebble, Laura Brent, Anna McGahan and Caroline Craig in the saga of five young military nurses from Australia and New Zealand during the Gallipoli and Western Front campaigns; The Code (Playmaker Media), a political thriller about two brothers who stumble across information that people in power will kill to keep secret, starring Ashley Zukerman and Dan Spielman; and Old School (Matchbox), which features Bryan Brown and Sam Neill as a retired crim and ex-cop who solve crimes and unravel scams while avoiding the wrath of the police and the underworld.
Among the other dramas are Janet King (Screentime), a legal drama starring Marta Dusseldorp; crime thriller The Broken Shore (Essential Media); second series of The...
- 11/26/2013
- by Don Groves
- IF.com.au
Us screenwriter Ellen Fontana knew almost instantly when she first met Emma Booth two weeks ago that the actress is an inspired choice to play one of the main protagonists in the film Shallows.
Booth will play the fiercely independent Queenie in the drama based on the Tim Winton novel which looks at successive generations of a whaling family in Albany, Western Australia, starting in the 1830s.
Queenie gets caught up in the Greenpeace movement which arrived in town in the 1970s, sparking protests which led to the closure of the whaling station.
Fontana is adapting the screenplay, her second involvement with Winton after co-writing with him Cloudstreet,. the miniseries directed by Matt Saville.
.Emma has so many of the qualities, everything I had intuited about Queenie,. Ellen told If on the line from her home in Los Angeles. .She hides nothing; she is a completely authentic person. She.s...
Booth will play the fiercely independent Queenie in the drama based on the Tim Winton novel which looks at successive generations of a whaling family in Albany, Western Australia, starting in the 1830s.
Queenie gets caught up in the Greenpeace movement which arrived in town in the 1970s, sparking protests which led to the closure of the whaling station.
Fontana is adapting the screenplay, her second involvement with Winton after co-writing with him Cloudstreet,. the miniseries directed by Matt Saville.
.Emma has so many of the qualities, everything I had intuited about Queenie,. Ellen told If on the line from her home in Los Angeles. .She hides nothing; she is a completely authentic person. She.s...
- 10/27/2013
- by Don Groves
- IF.com.au
Review Juliette Harrisson 27 Jun 2013 - 06:08
Juliette reviews a documentary about one of tennis' most infamous matches of the 1970s...
‘The Battle of the Sexes’ is a title used for several exhibition tennis matches in which male players played female players. This entertaining documentary is focused on the most famous of them, the best-of-five-sets match played between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs in 1973.
There’s always a risk in any kind of sports film that it will only be of interest to fans of the sport, but that shouldn’t be the case here. It is assumed that viewers are familiar with the basic rules of tennis – the significance of King and Riggs’ match being played to five sets is not explained in detail – but the film does a good job of contextualising the match for viewers unfamiliar with the story, providing plenty of background on the struggle for...
Juliette reviews a documentary about one of tennis' most infamous matches of the 1970s...
‘The Battle of the Sexes’ is a title used for several exhibition tennis matches in which male players played female players. This entertaining documentary is focused on the most famous of them, the best-of-five-sets match played between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs in 1973.
There’s always a risk in any kind of sports film that it will only be of interest to fans of the sport, but that shouldn’t be the case here. It is assumed that viewers are familiar with the basic rules of tennis – the significance of King and Riggs’ match being played to five sets is not explained in detail – but the film does a good job of contextualising the match for viewers unfamiliar with the story, providing plenty of background on the struggle for...
- 6/27/2013
- by simonbrew
- Den of Geek
Student revue group helped launch careers of Peter Cook, Stephen Fry and Emma Thompson
Considering how successful Cambridge has been as a theatrical training ground for writers and performers, outsiders may be surprised to find that the university has no drama school.
The whole thing, Marlowe Society and Adc (Amateur Dramatic Club) presenting the classics, and Footlights tickling the comic muse, is kept going by the initiative of generation after generation of undergraduates. There are of course senior members of the university to advise and guide, but the various clubs lurch from flop to triumph with only ticket sales and members' enthusiasm and talent to sustain them.
Next week Cambridge celebrates the centenary of the Footlights, which came into existence on June 9, 1883. The Footlights has certainly lived off its wits. And what wits they have been. Skimming through Robert Hewison's centennial history of the club, the eye catches names like Ian Hay,...
Considering how successful Cambridge has been as a theatrical training ground for writers and performers, outsiders may be surprised to find that the university has no drama school.
The whole thing, Marlowe Society and Adc (Amateur Dramatic Club) presenting the classics, and Footlights tickling the comic muse, is kept going by the initiative of generation after generation of undergraduates. There are of course senior members of the university to advise and guide, but the various clubs lurch from flop to triumph with only ticket sales and members' enthusiasm and talent to sustain them.
Next week Cambridge celebrates the centenary of the Footlights, which came into existence on June 9, 1883. The Footlights has certainly lived off its wits. And what wits they have been. Skimming through Robert Hewison's centennial history of the club, the eye catches names like Ian Hay,...
- 6/3/2013
- The Guardian - Film News
They're funny and passionate. One of them can even rock a pastel pantsuit. Hadley Freeman hails her female heroes whose accomplishments deserve some serious respect
Betty White
These days, White is mainly known for two things: 1. Being old, and 2. Being funny about it. But there is so much more to her than geriatric self-mockery. Aside from her brilliant performances on The Golden Girls and The Mary Tyler Moore Show, White was one of the first women to take control of her own acting career by co-founding a TV production company in the 1950s. She was also nominated for the first best-actress Emmy in 1950, and her book about this period of her life, Here We Go Again: My Life in Television, is as funny as it is inspirational. Still sharp as a tack in her 10th decade, she is not only a hilarious actor but a hysterical off-the-cuff guest on American talk shows,...
Betty White
These days, White is mainly known for two things: 1. Being old, and 2. Being funny about it. But there is so much more to her than geriatric self-mockery. Aside from her brilliant performances on The Golden Girls and The Mary Tyler Moore Show, White was one of the first women to take control of her own acting career by co-founding a TV production company in the 1950s. She was also nominated for the first best-actress Emmy in 1950, and her book about this period of her life, Here We Go Again: My Life in Television, is as funny as it is inspirational. Still sharp as a tack in her 10th decade, she is not only a hilarious actor but a hysterical off-the-cuff guest on American talk shows,...
- 4/23/2013
- by Hadley Freeman
- The Guardian - Film News
Those who have suggested that The Review Show's move from BBC2 to BBC4 signals the end for the programme are wrong, but the reduction to once a month is a travesty
After almost 20 years on mainstream TV, The Review Show is being shunted to BBC4, its weekly slot reduced to a monthly cameo. As John Dugdale wrote in last week's issue, the messages coming from BBC management are, in the words of my fellow panellist Anne McElvoy, "executive code for likely death". I'd known for a while of the quiet euthanasia that was being performed on the programme that I'd loved since, as a pimply teenager, I'd tuned into Tom Paulin, Tony Parsons and Allison Pearson chewing over the cultural significance of Toy Story on the Late Review. Now the world knew too, and a half-hearted #savethereviewshow campaign briefly fizzled into life on Twitter. I made the trip up to...
After almost 20 years on mainstream TV, The Review Show is being shunted to BBC4, its weekly slot reduced to a monthly cameo. As John Dugdale wrote in last week's issue, the messages coming from BBC management are, in the words of my fellow panellist Anne McElvoy, "executive code for likely death". I'd known for a while of the quiet euthanasia that was being performed on the programme that I'd loved since, as a pimply teenager, I'd tuned into Tom Paulin, Tony Parsons and Allison Pearson chewing over the cultural significance of Toy Story on the Late Review. Now the world knew too, and a half-hearted #savethereviewshow campaign briefly fizzled into life on Twitter. I made the trip up to...
- 3/16/2013
- by Alex Preston
- The Guardian - Film News
Ken Loach is upset he had to drop oaths from his film. But these words must not be tamed
How would you feel if this column started with a string of expletives? Just imagine it. First word of the piece: "C***!" There, in capital letters, no asterisks, right under my byline photo, as if scrawled there by a critic. Glaring at you from this noble, 220-year-old newspaper. Followed by about 12 repetitions of the same thing.
Would you laugh? Would you be offended? Would you, perhaps, say: "The Observer is very Glaswegian this morning"?
It could never happen. My copy editor, Stephen Pritchard, is just the wrong combination of kindly and liberal for such a revolution in the world of opening sentences. He wouldn't want to offend the readers, neither would he want to smash down the fist of censorship; he would simply remind me that he is the readers' editor,...
How would you feel if this column started with a string of expletives? Just imagine it. First word of the piece: "C***!" There, in capital letters, no asterisks, right under my byline photo, as if scrawled there by a critic. Glaring at you from this noble, 220-year-old newspaper. Followed by about 12 repetitions of the same thing.
Would you laugh? Would you be offended? Would you, perhaps, say: "The Observer is very Glaswegian this morning"?
It could never happen. My copy editor, Stephen Pritchard, is just the wrong combination of kindly and liberal for such a revolution in the world of opening sentences. He wouldn't want to offend the readers, neither would he want to smash down the fist of censorship; he would simply remind me that he is the readers' editor,...
- 5/26/2012
- by Victoria Coren
- The Guardian - Film News
Katie Price has dismissed criticism of her "nightmare" life by Germaine Greer. Following the former glamour model's victory in a Cambridge Union debate last week - during which she took on a team including Boris Johnson's sister Rachel - Greer spoke out about Price's "sad success story". Speaking during an 'Audience With' series at The Gate in Cardiff, Greer commented: "What has it cost Katie Price to be who she is? This young woman's life has become a nightmare. You may say it's of her own doing but it's still a nightmare. "What a sad success story. The tabloids are waiting to annihilate Katie Price - is that a success story?" Adding that she does not see Price "making old bones" without having experienced an "extraordinary epiphany", the Australian academic (more)...
- 2/2/2012
- by By Ryan Love
- Digital Spy
While critics and odds makers tell us that Meryl Streep is a shoe-in for Best Actress at next year's Oscars, the competition definitely is worth watching. And the next couple of weeks just may bring a new name to the race — one that we haven't heard enough lately — with the release of Another Happy Day starring Ellen Barkin.
The movie, which won Best Screenplay at Sundance, puts Barkin in a role unlike anything we've seen from her before and, according to reviewers, she gives the performance of a lifetime.
Barkin plays Lynn, a wealthy but troubled mother who travels to her parents' estate for her oldest son's extravagant wedding. The parents, played by Ellen Burstyn and George Kennedy, have a much better relationship with Lynn's ex-husband (Thomas Hayden Church) and his current wife (Demi Moore) than they do with their daughter. As the wedding unfolds, every character's dysfunction comes to the surface,...
The movie, which won Best Screenplay at Sundance, puts Barkin in a role unlike anything we've seen from her before and, according to reviewers, she gives the performance of a lifetime.
Barkin plays Lynn, a wealthy but troubled mother who travels to her parents' estate for her oldest son's extravagant wedding. The parents, played by Ellen Burstyn and George Kennedy, have a much better relationship with Lynn's ex-husband (Thomas Hayden Church) and his current wife (Demi Moore) than they do with their daughter. As the wedding unfolds, every character's dysfunction comes to the surface,...
- 11/18/2011
- by the linster
- AfterEllen.com
Here’s the first episode of our new podcast “Game Hates You!”
[See post to listen to audio]
What Culture‘s Jim Cross and co-host ‘handsome man’ Joe Richardson, drag topical video games into a living room in Kent, sit them down, ask them to explain themselves and give them a stern talking to (before slapping them on the arse on the way out).
This is regular video game discussion that leaves no stone unturned and pulls no punches.
In episode #1 (recorded 7/11/11) topics range from Germaine Greer in Gears of War 3, the infinitely talented(/less) Nolan North, Modern Warfare 3 kill streaks that should definitely be implemented and a complete inability to remember whether ‘Heavy Rain’ creator David Cage is guilty of selling out or not.
Warning: Explicit language and opinions that many fanboys may find offensive.
Have a listen and send your feedback to the twitter account below.
(Music by David Woolford)...
[See post to listen to audio]
What Culture‘s Jim Cross and co-host ‘handsome man’ Joe Richardson, drag topical video games into a living room in Kent, sit them down, ask them to explain themselves and give them a stern talking to (before slapping them on the arse on the way out).
This is regular video game discussion that leaves no stone unturned and pulls no punches.
In episode #1 (recorded 7/11/11) topics range from Germaine Greer in Gears of War 3, the infinitely talented(/less) Nolan North, Modern Warfare 3 kill streaks that should definitely be implemented and a complete inability to remember whether ‘Heavy Rain’ creator David Cage is guilty of selling out or not.
Warning: Explicit language and opinions that many fanboys may find offensive.
Have a listen and send your feedback to the twitter account below.
(Music by David Woolford)...
- 11/9/2011
- by Jim Cross
- Obsessed with Film
Here at WhatCulture we have something of a soft spot for Karl Pilkington, he is to philosophy what the first person who discovered milking a cow was to dairy farming – a sort of deviant, misguided sage. And his discoveries are no less profound – yes he stumbles blindly through a field of ignorance occasionally, but there are too many moments of revellation in his particular brand of naive unwillingness to accept universal truths that should have us all questioning our own established knowledge. We should follow the so-called round headed buffoon’s example and pick at every seam, because an infinite capacity to probing, even in the face of complete logic is the fundament of genius and invention.
But then, Karl is also a comedy genius – his timing in dropping his pearls of wisdom is legendary, and his capacity to find frustration in the most ridiculous places is somehow one of...
But then, Karl is also a comedy genius – his timing in dropping his pearls of wisdom is legendary, and his capacity to find frustration in the most ridiculous places is somehow one of...
- 9/23/2011
- by Simon Gallagher
- Obsessed with Film
People open up to Gillian Wearing. So the artist made a feature film in which members of the public divulge their innermost secrets – with shocking results
At the Turner prize ceremony in 1997, Gillian Wearing drank a bottle and a half of champagne before the main announcement. She was on the shortlist, but assumed she wouldn't win. The whole scene was pretty overwhelming back then, she says. Interest in young British artists was at its height, the ceremony was televised, and the fascination around the prize kept building. Two years later, there would be frenzied debate over Tracey Emin's unmade bed, and two years after that would come the screaming celebrity zenith, when Madonna turned up to hand over the award.
After Wearing's name was read out that night, she made it to the stage, thanked her family, then drew a blank. "One of my friends lives in Amsterdam," she says,...
At the Turner prize ceremony in 1997, Gillian Wearing drank a bottle and a half of champagne before the main announcement. She was on the shortlist, but assumed she wouldn't win. The whole scene was pretty overwhelming back then, she says. Interest in young British artists was at its height, the ceremony was televised, and the fascination around the prize kept building. Two years later, there would be frenzied debate over Tracey Emin's unmade bed, and two years after that would come the screaming celebrity zenith, when Madonna turned up to hand over the award.
After Wearing's name was read out that night, she made it to the stage, thanked her family, then drew a blank. "One of my friends lives in Amsterdam," she says,...
- 8/29/2011
- by Kira Cochrane
- The Guardian - Film News
The rumoured lineup for this year's Aussie Celebrity Apprentice has been revealed. The 2011 season of the reality television show, which will reportedly start filming next month, will apparently feature Home and Away actor Lincoln Lewis, The Block star Polly Porter and feminist Germaine Greer. Other famous faces who have been linked to the series by the Herald Sun include former Hawthorn footballer Shane Crawford and ex-politician Pauline Hanson. Porter and her boyfriend Waz Jones were the only couple in this year's The Block who made any profit on their renovated property, which meant that (more)...
- 8/23/2011
- by By Rebecca Davies
- Digital Spy
Our Generation examines indigenous rights in Australia through the experiences of the Yolngu community of Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory. Largely ignored by the mainstream media, the documentary offers a rare glimpse into the issues affecting Australian indigenous communities. Sinem Saban and Damien Curtis, producers of Our Generation, talk about the motivation behind the film and what they hope it will achieve
Read a review of Our Generation
Link to Our Generation photo gallery
Are people becoming more engaged with subjects they might not necessarily know about because they are becoming more familiar with the format of documentaries as a medium for gaining information?
Sinem: Definitely. For me, Michael Moore's Bowling for Columbine was perhaps the first documentary to both teach me about things that I didn't know and about things I could change myself. Sometimes documentaries are just a way of getting information; now people are becoming...
Read a review of Our Generation
Link to Our Generation photo gallery
Are people becoming more engaged with subjects they might not necessarily know about because they are becoming more familiar with the format of documentaries as a medium for gaining information?
Sinem: Definitely. For me, Michael Moore's Bowling for Columbine was perhaps the first documentary to both teach me about things that I didn't know and about things I could change myself. Sometimes documentaries are just a way of getting information; now people are becoming...
- 2/15/2011
- The Guardian - Film News
Sinem Saban and Damien Curtis's documentary examining the state of indigenous rights in Australia offers an insight into years of neglect, ignorance and stereotyping. But it also offers the hope that things could change.
Read a Q&A with Sinem Saban and Damien Curtis
Link to Our Generation photo gallery
In 2008, Australia's then prime minister, Kevin Rudd, apologised to the country's indigenous population for the "indignity and degradation" to which past governments had subjected them. Although "sorry" was only a simple word, Australia's First Peoples, the Aborigines, the indigenous population, hoped the apology would herald a new era of race relations. Sunday 13 February 2011 was the three-year anniversary of Sorry Day, but in the years since Rudd's announcement it seems little has changed.
Our Generation is a documentary feature from Sinem Saban and Damien Curtis looking at the complex issue of indigenous rights in Australia. The pair have not only the...
Read a Q&A with Sinem Saban and Damien Curtis
Link to Our Generation photo gallery
In 2008, Australia's then prime minister, Kevin Rudd, apologised to the country's indigenous population for the "indignity and degradation" to which past governments had subjected them. Although "sorry" was only a simple word, Australia's First Peoples, the Aborigines, the indigenous population, hoped the apology would herald a new era of race relations. Sunday 13 February 2011 was the three-year anniversary of Sorry Day, but in the years since Rudd's announcement it seems little has changed.
Our Generation is a documentary feature from Sinem Saban and Damien Curtis looking at the complex issue of indigenous rights in Australia. The pair have not only the...
- 2/15/2011
- The Guardian - Film News
Although he spent only two years in Hollywood before his untimely death, James Dean became the universal symbol of adolescent angst and attitude – an enduring icon of American film, one whose brooding non-conformity helped to challenge rigid notions of masculinity. He was a respected performer, often compared with such other young method actors of the period as Montgomery Clift and Marlon Brando, and his brooding good looks promised success as a movie star, but Dean’s enduring fame and popularity rests on only three lead performances.
He is a cultural icon, best embodied by the title of his second starring role and most celebrated film, Rebel Without a Cause. Originally intended as a vehicle for the fast-rising star, Marlon Brando,
His most excellent role: Jim Stark in Rebel Without a Cause
James Dean ultimately won the part of troubled Los Angeles teenager Jim Stark. The film, released soon after his death,...
He is a cultural icon, best embodied by the title of his second starring role and most celebrated film, Rebel Without a Cause. Originally intended as a vehicle for the fast-rising star, Marlon Brando,
His most excellent role: Jim Stark in Rebel Without a Cause
James Dean ultimately won the part of troubled Los Angeles teenager Jim Stark. The film, released soon after his death,...
- 1/5/2011
- by Ricky
- SoundOnSight
A great year for women? Twelve months ago we predicted that it would be. Were we right?
This time 12 months ago we promised it was going to be the biggest year in feminism ever. So was it? Er, sort of. We weren't wrong about it being a celebratory year. But our predictions of the feminist events to watch in 2010 were a bit hit and miss. Where did we strike gold? The significance of the movie Precious, the story of an overweight, illiterate teenager in 80s Harlem, pregnant by her abusive father ("primarily female cast", "a must-see", we said). Come the Oscars, the film won six nominations and two awards. What did we overestimate? The impact of Drew Barrymore's directorial debut Whip It! ("a great film"). That turned out to be a bit of a howler. The film went right under the radar, more's the pity.
So what else did we get right?...
This time 12 months ago we promised it was going to be the biggest year in feminism ever. So was it? Er, sort of. We weren't wrong about it being a celebratory year. But our predictions of the feminist events to watch in 2010 were a bit hit and miss. Where did we strike gold? The significance of the movie Precious, the story of an overweight, illiterate teenager in 80s Harlem, pregnant by her abusive father ("primarily female cast", "a must-see", we said). Come the Oscars, the film won six nominations and two awards. What did we overestimate? The impact of Drew Barrymore's directorial debut Whip It! ("a great film"). That turned out to be a bit of a howler. The film went right under the radar, more's the pity.
So what else did we get right?...
- 12/27/2010
- by Viv Groskop
- The Guardian - Film News
I was first drawn to the novel Twelve by Nick McDonell when it was first published as I had read the critical hype that surrounded the book and the favourable comparisons to one of my favourite authors, Bret Easton Ellis.
Time Out described the book as “A brilliant satirical debut”, Germaine Greer described it as “A small masterpiece” and The New York Times said Twelve was ”As fast as speed, as relentless as acid”. Sadly in my opinion the book in no way lived up to this hype. I found Nick McDonell’s debut to be incredibly underwhelming and nowhere near as good as Less Than Zero, a book it was constantly compared to.
This year Sundance premièred Joel Schumaker’s film adaptation of the book and the response to the film by many critics appeared to be similar to my response to the book.
The film stars Emma Roberts,...
Time Out described the book as “A brilliant satirical debut”, Germaine Greer described it as “A small masterpiece” and The New York Times said Twelve was ”As fast as speed, as relentless as acid”. Sadly in my opinion the book in no way lived up to this hype. I found Nick McDonell’s debut to be incredibly underwhelming and nowhere near as good as Less Than Zero, a book it was constantly compared to.
This year Sundance premièred Joel Schumaker’s film adaptation of the book and the response to the film by many critics appeared to be similar to my response to the book.
The film stars Emma Roberts,...
- 6/5/2010
- by Craig Skinner
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
Famed feminist writer Germaine Greer once enjoyed an affair with legendary Italian moviemaker Federico Fellini.
The Female Eunuch author claims to have struck up a romance with La Dolce Vita director after he invited her to Italy in 1975 to audition for a role in his 1976 movie Fellini's Casanova.
Greer turned down the part, but subsequently enjoyed a brief relationship with the critically-acclaimed filmmaker, who was married to actress Giulietta Masina from 1943 until his death in 1993.
The author revealed the affair in an article written for Britain's Guardian newspaper, insisting she decided to divulge the details of the secret romance after seeing Oscar-nominated 2009 movie Nine, which was based on Fellini's semi-autobiographical 1963 film 8 1/2.
She writes, "I caught glimpses of Penelope Cruz in a flounced red baby-doll nightie... and Sophia Loren looking like an Aztec mask, and Daniel Day-Lewis getting out of bed with his trousers on, but I was not tempted. I will not have my Fellini rewritten by Arthur Kopit, who wrote the musical, or Anthony Minghella or Michael Tolkin, who wrote the (Nine) screenplay."
She goes on to describe her first sexual encounter with the moviemaker, but admits the romance eventually fizzled out because of her hectic schedule.
She adds, "The relationship was self-limiting because I wasn't available... Sexual athletes are tuppence a dozen. Fellini was a many-sided genius. I do not hope to meet his like again."...
The Female Eunuch author claims to have struck up a romance with La Dolce Vita director after he invited her to Italy in 1975 to audition for a role in his 1976 movie Fellini's Casanova.
Greer turned down the part, but subsequently enjoyed a brief relationship with the critically-acclaimed filmmaker, who was married to actress Giulietta Masina from 1943 until his death in 1993.
The author revealed the affair in an article written for Britain's Guardian newspaper, insisting she decided to divulge the details of the secret romance after seeing Oscar-nominated 2009 movie Nine, which was based on Fellini's semi-autobiographical 1963 film 8 1/2.
She writes, "I caught glimpses of Penelope Cruz in a flounced red baby-doll nightie... and Sophia Loren looking like an Aztec mask, and Daniel Day-Lewis getting out of bed with his trousers on, but I was not tempted. I will not have my Fellini rewritten by Arthur Kopit, who wrote the musical, or Anthony Minghella or Michael Tolkin, who wrote the (Nine) screenplay."
She goes on to describe her first sexual encounter with the moviemaker, but admits the romance eventually fizzled out because of her hectic schedule.
She adds, "The relationship was self-limiting because I wasn't available... Sexual athletes are tuppence a dozen. Fellini was a many-sided genius. I do not hope to meet his like again."...
- 4/12/2010
- WENN
London, Apr 12 – Scholar Germaine Greer has for the first time confessed that she had a brief affair with Federico Fellini, the married film director. reer has described how she ended up in bed with Fellini in 1975 after she was earmarked for a small part in his film Casanova.
Writing in her column for The Guardian, she described how she arrived on the film set at the Cinnecitta studios in Rome wearing nothing but a flimsy summer dress which “instantly transfixed him”.
Later, he arrived at her home unannounced, and.
Writing in her column for The Guardian, she described how she arrived on the film set at the Cinnecitta studios in Rome wearing nothing but a flimsy summer dress which “instantly transfixed him”.
Later, he arrived at her home unannounced, and.
- 4/12/2010
- by News
- RealBollywood.com
Academic reveals 1975 liaison with director who arrived unannounced but with brown silk pyjamas with cream piping
It no secret that Federico Fellini was a philanderer who, according to one biographer, used to refer to the "insatiable dragon" he kept in his pants. What is less well known is that one conquest of the legendary Italian director was the feminist academic Germaine Greer, who in today's G2 details for the first time how she ended up lying next to the man she describes as "a many-sided genius".
In her column, Greer writes that she first met Fellini in the summer of 1975, five years after she brought out The Female Eunuch and 15 years after he scored a huge success with La Dolce Vita. He was adapting Casanova for the big screen, and Greer had been earmarked for a small part. Though not interested in the role, Greer, then 36, decided to visit the...
It no secret that Federico Fellini was a philanderer who, according to one biographer, used to refer to the "insatiable dragon" he kept in his pants. What is less well known is that one conquest of the legendary Italian director was the feminist academic Germaine Greer, who in today's G2 details for the first time how she ended up lying next to the man she describes as "a many-sided genius".
In her column, Greer writes that she first met Fellini in the summer of 1975, five years after she brought out The Female Eunuch and 15 years after he scored a huge success with La Dolce Vita. He was adapting Casanova for the big screen, and Greer had been earmarked for a small part. Though not interested in the role, Greer, then 36, decided to visit the...
- 4/12/2010
- by Helen Pidd
- The Guardian - Film News
Among the movies available during the long hours of my flight from London to Sydney was Rob Marshall's Nine, a reworking of Fellini's 8½. As I flicked back and forth through the menu, I caught glimpses of Penélope Cruz in a flounced red baby-doll nightie with a built-in push-up bra – could we have worn such things in the 1960s? – and Sophia Loren looking like an Aztec mask, and Daniel Day-Lewis getting in and out of bed with his trousers on, but I was not tempted. I will not have my Fellini rewritten by Arthur Kopit, who wrote the musical, or Anthony Minghella or Michael Tolkin, who wrote the screenplay.
In the summer of 1975, Paola Roli, one of the casting directors for Fellini's Casanova, suggested that he try me for the part of the giantess. I was a fan from way back, so, though I didn't want the part, and...
In the summer of 1975, Paola Roli, one of the casting directors for Fellini's Casanova, suggested that he try me for the part of the giantess. I was a fan from way back, so, though I didn't want the part, and...
- 4/12/2010
- by Germaine Greer
- The Guardian - Film News
Nothing empowers women more than a good education and career, but since cinema began they have been unable to resist copying the fashions that give models and Hollywood stars allure
Growing up in 1950s Britain we learned that there was something dodgy about glamour. My home-loving mother pursed her lips at the bright blond hair and confident up-slick of black eyeliner sported by a friend's mum who was into amateur theatricals.
To the headmistress of our all-girls grammar school, fashion was at odds with high-mindedness. She was famous for not allowing her teaching staff to wear lipstick. In the 1950s she waged guerrilla warfare against the wearing of "paper-nylon" petticoats, designed to give a sticking-out effect to the skirts of summer dresses. These were frequently confiscated from sixth-formers and hung like scalps on pegs outside her study, a shameful warning to those lower down the school. Glamour got a girl into trouble.
Growing up in 1950s Britain we learned that there was something dodgy about glamour. My home-loving mother pursed her lips at the bright blond hair and confident up-slick of black eyeliner sported by a friend's mum who was into amateur theatricals.
To the headmistress of our all-girls grammar school, fashion was at odds with high-mindedness. She was famous for not allowing her teaching staff to wear lipstick. In the 1950s she waged guerrilla warfare against the wearing of "paper-nylon" petticoats, designed to give a sticking-out effect to the skirts of summer dresses. These were frequently confiscated from sixth-formers and hung like scalps on pegs outside her study, a shameful warning to those lower down the school. Glamour got a girl into trouble.
- 3/21/2010
- The Guardian - Film News
A black lace bra carefully lain over the curvature of a full and enticing breast, introduces us to Chloe – a “high-class” prostitute who’s fully conscious of the sexual power she holds over others. “I’m a living, breathing, unflinching dream” she tells us but it’s a nightmare for sexually frustrated gynaecologist and loving wife Julianne Moore, who suspects husband Liam Neeson of infidelity and hires, somewhat unwisely you might think, the titular male fantasy to test her man. Seyfried’s Chloe, however, seems more interested in Moore than her husband, an attraction which may or may not be reciprocated.
Atom Egoyan’s movie works best as a character study and for a time it’s an investigation worth undertaking. The set-up is the stuff of Hitchcockian masturbation. Moore’s opening conversation with a patient who can’t achieve orgasm, in which sexual pleasure is discussed in clinical terms,...
Atom Egoyan’s movie works best as a character study and for a time it’s an investigation worth undertaking. The set-up is the stuff of Hitchcockian masturbation. Moore’s opening conversation with a patient who can’t achieve orgasm, in which sexual pleasure is discussed in clinical terms,...
- 2/22/2010
- by Ed Whitfield
- FilmShaft.com
"Great LezBritian" is a fortnightly stroll through the very best of British lesbo-centric entertainment and culture. Plus there will be some jolly good interviews with the top ladies who are waving the flag for gay UK.
Parading yourself around a comedy stage for all and sundry to judge is not considered the most stable of career paths. But chucking a well timed punch line right in the face of stability, are some rather hilarious lesbian comedians.
Zoe Lyons, Susan Calman and Jen Brister have all been making a name for themselves on the British comedy circuit over the last couple of years and Great LezBritain has pissed many a pair of pants in the front row of their gigs.
We caught up with all three to find out how Zoe felt to be named as one of 2009’s influential British gays, why a group of lesbians once tried to ban...
Parading yourself around a comedy stage for all and sundry to judge is not considered the most stable of career paths. But chucking a well timed punch line right in the face of stability, are some rather hilarious lesbian comedians.
Zoe Lyons, Susan Calman and Jen Brister have all been making a name for themselves on the British comedy circuit over the last couple of years and Great LezBritain has pissed many a pair of pants in the front row of their gigs.
We caught up with all three to find out how Zoe felt to be named as one of 2009’s influential British gays, why a group of lesbians once tried to ban...
- 2/15/2010
- by Sarah and Lee
- AfterEllen.com
This looks set to be an exciting year for feminism. Here Viv Groskop rounds up the books, films, theatre and marches that will inspire us all in the coming months
This is a big year for feminist anniversaries. It was 40 years ago that the first ever National Women's Liberation conference was held in the UK, that Germaine Greer published her groundbreaking book The Female Eunuch and Kate Millett published the life-changing work Sexual Politics. The year looks set to include a whole host of celebrations then, one of which is already underway – the Ms Understood exhibition at the Women's Library in London, which traces "the sisterhood and spirit of 1970s feminism" and runs until the end of March.
But this year's feminist calendar isn't solely historical. Three major new feminist books are to be published in Britain, the TV series Mad Men continues to explore the sexual politics of the 1960s,...
This is a big year for feminist anniversaries. It was 40 years ago that the first ever National Women's Liberation conference was held in the UK, that Germaine Greer published her groundbreaking book The Female Eunuch and Kate Millett published the life-changing work Sexual Politics. The year looks set to include a whole host of celebrations then, one of which is already underway – the Ms Understood exhibition at the Women's Library in London, which traces "the sisterhood and spirit of 1970s feminism" and runs until the end of March.
But this year's feminist calendar isn't solely historical. Three major new feminist books are to be published in Britain, the TV series Mad Men continues to explore the sexual politics of the 1960s,...
- 1/8/2010
- by Viv Groskop
- The Guardian - Film News
Hippie Hippie Shake
Opens: 2010
Cast: Cillian Murphy, Sienna Miller, Max Minghella, Emma Booth, Lee Ingleby
Director: Beeban Kidron
Summary: Follows the love story of Oz editor Richard Neville and Louise Ferrier. Neville and his cohorts launch the London edition of Oz amidst the 1960s counterculture and are subsequently put on trial for distributing a sexually explicit issue.
Analysis: One of the most troubled productions in Working Title's history, 'Hippie' began development back in 1998 but failed to get beyond script stage both in 1999 and in 2002 when "Elizabeth" helmer Shekhar Kapur was attached to direct. Filming finally got underway late 2007 with director Beeban Kidron in charge and shooting seemed to proceed without issue aside from feminist author Germaine Greer being vehemently unhappy about being depicted on film.
Actually the film scored quite a bit of free press for a skinny dipping scene where full-frontal shots of actress Sienna Miller shooting the sequence...
Opens: 2010
Cast: Cillian Murphy, Sienna Miller, Max Minghella, Emma Booth, Lee Ingleby
Director: Beeban Kidron
Summary: Follows the love story of Oz editor Richard Neville and Louise Ferrier. Neville and his cohorts launch the London edition of Oz amidst the 1960s counterculture and are subsequently put on trial for distributing a sexually explicit issue.
Analysis: One of the most troubled productions in Working Title's history, 'Hippie' began development back in 1998 but failed to get beyond script stage both in 1999 and in 2002 when "Elizabeth" helmer Shekhar Kapur was attached to direct. Filming finally got underway late 2007 with director Beeban Kidron in charge and shooting seemed to proceed without issue aside from feminist author Germaine Greer being vehemently unhappy about being depicted on film.
Actually the film scored quite a bit of free press for a skinny dipping scene where full-frontal shots of actress Sienna Miller shooting the sequence...
- 12/23/2009
- by Garth Franklin
- Dark Horizons
"Stand and deliver, sir!" Dennis Hopper in Philippe Mora's Mad Dog Morgan.
Philippe Mora: Ballad Of A Mad Dog
By
Alex Simon
Born in Paris in 1949, Philippe Mora is a member of one of Australia’s best known artistic families. His parents, Georges Mora and Mirka Mora, migrated to Australia from France in 1951 and settled in Melbourne, where they quickly became key figures on the Melbourne cultural scene. Georges, a wartime resistance fighter, became an influential art dealer, and in 1967 he founded one of the first commercial art galleries in Melbourne, Tolarno Galleries. The Mora family home and restaurants were focal points of Melbourne's bohemian subculture. As a result of this, Philippe and his brothers had what he has described as a "culturally privileged childhood."
Philippe moved to London in late 1967 to pursue painting and filmmaking. He was one of many important Australian artists, writers and others who...
Philippe Mora: Ballad Of A Mad Dog
By
Alex Simon
Born in Paris in 1949, Philippe Mora is a member of one of Australia’s best known artistic families. His parents, Georges Mora and Mirka Mora, migrated to Australia from France in 1951 and settled in Melbourne, where they quickly became key figures on the Melbourne cultural scene. Georges, a wartime resistance fighter, became an influential art dealer, and in 1967 he founded one of the first commercial art galleries in Melbourne, Tolarno Galleries. The Mora family home and restaurants were focal points of Melbourne's bohemian subculture. As a result of this, Philippe and his brothers had what he has described as a "culturally privileged childhood."
Philippe moved to London in late 1967 to pursue painting and filmmaking. He was one of many important Australian artists, writers and others who...
- 12/22/2009
- by The Hollywood Interview.com
- The Hollywood Interview
You could have heard a body drop when news reached the Filmshaft office that Dagenham was hosting a cauldron of gangster violence, sexual deviance and the supernatural. “What’s the story there? Why don’t we go the whole hog and report on the f—king local buses?” was just one response but when Filmshaft informed Ed Whitfield that there were vampires and free sandwiches involved, his mood changed. “I suppose I could go and take a look…”
It’s a freezing cold November morning in Dagenham, East London and I’m lost in a labyrinthine maze of industrial hangers and silver gilded fences. “Where the f—k am I?” is my question to a stray dog and I reach for the I-phone map app. This technological marvel, coded by a bastard evidently, tells me that my destination is the other side of an imposing 12 foot wall of perforated corrugated sheeting.
It’s a freezing cold November morning in Dagenham, East London and I’m lost in a labyrinthine maze of industrial hangers and silver gilded fences. “Where the f—k am I?” is my question to a stray dog and I reach for the I-phone map app. This technological marvel, coded by a bastard evidently, tells me that my destination is the other side of an imposing 12 foot wall of perforated corrugated sheeting.
- 11/27/2009
- by Ed Whitfield
- FilmShaft.com
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