Everything is coming up parties and games this week. I've been busy making a kickass birthday cake for a friend, planning for the party, and finally picking up a belated gift of Scrabble for another friend. Top that off with news stories about Kevin Kline and chess, and getting sent pictures of really cool Blue Velvet cakes, and, well, I've got games and parties on the brain.

Picking this week's films was a bit of a challenge, but it all depended on the angle. Did I just want movies with games in them? Did they have to be performed at parties? Would I consider the likes of Bobby Fischer or Jumanji? Nah. Instead, we've got two films that boast insanely great ensemble casts, have some pretty fierce competition, and yet are wonderful for completely different reasons: The Anniversary Party and Clue.

This time of year brings the cold weather, the gobbling preparations for turkey, and the beginning of the Christmas takeover as people start accosting each other with mistletoe and advertising shouts at you to BUY BUY BUY! This is also the time for Canada's oldest and largest LBGT film fest, image+nation. Last year, films like Yair Hochner's Good Boys and Ash Christian's Fat Girls reigned supreme. This year, the festival is celebrating its twentieth year, and kicks off tonight in Montreal.

It's also doing so with one heck of a lineup of films -- a collection of buzzed-about festival favorites and others that you've probably never heard of. While XXY is surprisingly missing from the line-up, there's lots of other flicks to make up for it. You can check out the full list over at their website, but here's a few that have popped up on Cinematical before:

Itty Bitty Titty Committee -- Ah, the latest comedy from Jamie Babbit, the woman behind the cult favorite But I'm a Cheerleader. This time around, she focuses on an all-American girl who joins a group of radical feminists. Our EIC Erik Davis reviewed the film from Berlin earlier this year, and also sat down for a chat with the women behind the flick, and James Rocchi added a second review from SXSW.

The Picture of Dorian Gray -- Back in 2005, Duncan Roy proclaimed that he put the "gay" back into Dorian Gray, with his Oscar Wilde adaptation, while also boasting about Ryan Phillipe's failed attempt to start up a rival picture. Unfortunately Variety's review says it has "a cavalier disregard for narrative logic, character development, and Wildean wit." Since it's been out for a bit without DVD release, this might be your last chance to see it...if you still want to, of course.

Suffering Man's Charity -- Even though our Scott Weinberg didn't give it a great review, I'm still dying to see Alan Cumming's latest feature, which stars himself, David Boreanaz, and a number of other tasty actors. This screening comes on heals of Cumming winning a Golden Apple at the Big Apple Film Fest, which Erik just blogged about.

Breakfast with Scot -- James Rocchi reviewed Laurie Lynd's film from TIFF this year, and called it a film "as agreeably, tastefully, charmingly slight and lame and trivial as anything the hetero mainstream could make out of the same plotline." It's about an ex-hockey player and his partner, who take in his brother's dead ex-lover's kid.

Black, White & Gray: A Portrait of Sam Wagstaff and Robert Mapplethorpe -- Not surprisingly, James Crump's film about Wagstaff, Mapplethorpe, and Patti Smith made the cut, but even if you don't get a chance to see it in Montreal, Fortissimo is lining up to distribute it.

A Walk into the Sea: Danny Williams & the Warhol Factory -- This documentary, made by Williams' niece Esther Robinson, focuses on one of the forgotten members of Warhol's infamous troupe of characters. As I described from Hot Docs this year, it contains some great, exclusive clips of Warhol, Edie, and the rest, as shot by Williams -- a man who had an affair with Warhol, but whose life and death are steeped in mystery.

[via indieWIRE]

Pictured: Alan Cumming receives the 2007 Golden Apple Award and talks about Suffering Man's Charity at the film's New York premiere during the 4th Annual Big Apple Film Festival.

Last night I attended opening night of the Big Apple Film Festival at Tribeca Cinemas here in New York City. It was a good time, the place was packed for both opening night films -- Owl and the Sparrow and Suffering Man's Charity -- and actor/director Alan Cumming was on hand to receive their annual Golden Apple award. Nice guy, and one who should be commended for coming out to support a homegrown fest like this, currently in its fourth year. You'd be surprised at how many celebs feel they're too good, too important, too awesome to come mingle with the locals or attend an event without any paparazzi. And Cumming, who was also attending the premiere of his new Sci-Fi show Tin Man uptown, went out of his way to leave that event and drive clear across the city to show up and speak to a bunch of moviegoers about his film, his career and his life. No press. No media red carpet. Just a filmmaker and his fans. Bravo. If only more folks were like that. But anyway ...

I have to give a shout out to two guys who came up to me in the theater lobby afterwards. I've been writing for Cinematical for over two and a half years now, and I've never actually met one of our many many readers in person. But this guy came up to me, all giddy and whatnot, because he had found out that I wrote for Cinematical. The smile on his face -- man, I felt like I was a celebrity. He was a huge fan, and when he walked out with two other people, another guy ran back in: "Hey, sorry, but he just told me who you were and I needed to shake your hand." I felt like saying, "Dude, I write a movie blog. But when I save the world, I'll be sure to let you know." Regardless, I was really blown away by their enthusiasm for the site, for my writing and for the hard work all of us put into bringing you tons of movie news each and every single day. A week does not go by without reading at least four comments from people who either a) want me dead or b) want me to stop writing and go shovel sh*t for a living. So, I just wanted to thank those two guys (who never told me their names) for reminding me why we do what we do. Cheers!

For those of you in and around the New York City area, might I suggest swinging by Tribeca Cinemas later this week for the fourth annual Big Apple Film Festival. For the first time in our history, Cinematical is co-sponsoring a film fest, which means we'll be in attendance, watching films, sitting on panels and getting our drink on at some of the fest's rockin' after parties. Did you say panels? Yes, I did. This coming Saturday, yours truly will be sitting on a panel at Tribeca Cinemas (at 12PM) along with Peter Goldwyn (Vice President Acquisitions Samuel Goldwyn Films), Clémence Taillandier (Head of Theatrical Sales, Zeitgeist Films) and Brian Chirls (Four Eyed Monsters), in which we'll be talking about film distribution in the new age. I'll be the guy in the Cinematical t-shirt who's quietly pretending to know what he's talking about.

Apart from the panel discussion, The Big Apple Film Fest will open this year's slate on Wednesday with a pretty slick double billing: First up is the New York premiere of Owl and the Sparrow (LAFF Audience Award Winner) followed by the New York premiere of Alan Cumming's Suffering Man's Charity. Cumming will also be in attendance for a post-screening Q&A and to receive this year's Golden Apple Award. Other films screening throughout the week include The Last New Yorker (closing night film), Greetings from the Shore and Farm Girl in New York, as well as 54 short films from around the country and throughout the world. I'll be back later in the week with photos and what have you, but definitely swing by at some point and say hello. Some people consider Big Apple to be the true Tribeca film fest since, ya know, it actually takes place in Tribeca, but I just like to consider it one of the city's hidden gems. Do check it out.

With the wacky sounds of a Very Merry Unbirthday, I will always believe that the wonderful Ed Wynn is the Mad Hatter. Oh, how I love that insane, toy-making tea party man. But I guess if I had to deal with someone else taking on the role, there's probably not much better than Alan Cumming. (He's practically channeling Wynn in the picture to the right.) The Hollywood Reporter has posted that the zany actor is producing a new flick called Hatter, along with the film's writer James Killough and Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels executive producer Angad Paul. Not only that, but he's re-teaming with X2 co-star Rebecca Romijn to do it.

The pic is said to be based on the Mad Tea Party scene from Alice in Wonderland, although I'm not quite sure how that is. In such a strange casting move (she said tongue-in-cheek), Cumming is going to play Matt Hatter -- "a hedonistic fashion designer," while the ex-Stamos will be his adversary, Alice Allyson -- "a journalist who knows about his shady past." So far, it sounds like all they took from the scene are spoofs on the names, unless they're going to throw in some sort of bizarre tea party into the middle, or perhaps an unbirthday.

This is also looking to be a new running theme for Cumming -- taking on classic characters/people. He's got his stint as Glitch in the television miniseries Tin Man, and just voiced Hitler in the upcoming Jackboots on Whitehall. But that's all we have for you right now on this weird Wonderland redo; however, we should have more information soon, as the production is set to film in the spring of 2008. On top of all this, Cumming will receive the Golden Apple Award at this year's Big Apple Film Festival during the opening night screening of his film, Suffering Man's Charity, on November 14 at Tribeca Cinemas in NYC.

With so many film festivals to choose from, I tend to drift toward the ones that are short in length (four to seven days, at the most) and remain in one theater throughout. For a guy that doesn't like to make too many decisions or travel too far, the Big Apple Film Festival is a perfect fit. For the first time in our history, Cinematical will be co-sponsoring a film festival this year, and we decided to pop our co-sponsoring cherry (so to speak) with a little gem currently heading into its fourth year. From the Big Apple Film Fest website: "The BAFF is dedicated to showcasing and promoting the highest quality films from the New York City independent film community, as well as additional specially selected films from across the country and around the world. Additionally, each year, we are proud to honor a variety of New York City based filmmakers, writers, actors and artists who have played an influential role in the growth of independent filmmaking in the Big Apple."

This year, the festival runs from November 14-17, and, as always, all films will be screened at the historic Tribeca Cinemas in lower Manhattan. Opening the festival will be two films that have garnered major buzz on the fest circuit so far: Owl and the Sparrow (Audience Award winner at the 2007 Los Angeles Film Festival) and Suffering Man's Charity, directed by Alan Cumming, and starring Cumming, Anne Heche and Carrie Fisher. Cumming will also be on hand to receive BAFF's annual Golden Apple Award. This year, a total of 54 films will screen over the course of four days, with everything from feature narratives, shorts, documentaries and student films to check out. In fact, yours truly will also be sitting on a panel on Saturday, November 17, where I'll talk (along with others) about new media distribution. It's a pretty fun festival, there's an opening night and closing night party held inside Tribeca Cinemas (free drinks!), and -- better yet -- you'll get to hang out with some of your favorite Cinematical peeps (that's me, right?). Tickets go on sale this November 1st, and you can check out the entire program (as well as find information of purchasing tickets) over here. See ya there!

There's this fantastical film made a few years ago called Neverwas that, aptly, almost never was. While it had an all-star cast, the movie never saw the light of day, save a screening at TIFF and some releases outside of North America. After a few years in the never-ether, the film is finally getting an absolutely bare-bones release on DVD. The directorial debut of Joshua Michael Stern, who previously penned a little-known thriller called Skeletons, Neverwas is the next generation of Hook. If you think back to 1991, you might remember when Robin Williams was a grown-up Peter Pan, heading back to Neverland. Although the green-tighted hero was played by an adult, Hook was definitely a clear-cut family film. Neverwas, on the other hand, has its grown-up hero, but it is not the children's film that it seems to be.

Aaron Eckhart plays Zach Riley, an up-and-coming psychiatrist who is adamant to take a job at a mental institution, and convinces the head doctor (William Hurt) to hire him. One of his patients is Gabriel Finch (Ian McKellen), a strange old man who is convinced that Zach is Zachary Small, a children's book hero who will help him save his kingdom of Neverwas. He is partially right -- Zach's father was the book's writer, T.L. Pierson (Nick Nolte), and he used his son as the model for the heroic character. Pierson is actually the reason for Zach's interest in the hospital. The writer suffered from depression, and killed himself while Zach was still a boy. Years later, Zach is haunted by his memories of his father, surely amplified by the reminders around him, and the fact that Pierson spent time in the same institution.

Back in November, I showed you an image from Suffering Man's Charity, Alan Cumming's first directorial feature on his own. His last, you might remember, was his collaboration with Jennifer Jason Leigh called The Anniversary Party. I was holding out all sorts of hope for the film, one that pits him against Bones star David Boreanaz -- a match which seemed strange, yet intriguing. Unfortunately, Scott Weinberg's review from SXSW wasn't very glowing. In fact, he said: "As it stands, the thing wavers between broad comedy, dark humor and mild thriller territory, never once settling on an approach ... and suffering mightily because of it."

Will the rest of us suffer the disappointment as well? I'm trying to stay hopeful, but I'm no longer sure. The movie finally has a website up that houses not only the usual throng of information and positive reviews, but also some images and 3 scenes from the film. There's a scene with Cumming and Henry Thomas quarreling about Vandermark's need to clean up questionable young men, another fight -- this one about money -- between Boreanaz and Cumming and finally, Anne Heche raving to Cumming about his manuscript (the one he stole from Boreanaz's Sebastian), while he praises grammar and syntax. Watching the clips, it seems very much like a theater presentation, from the over-acting to the still camera. Unfortunately, they don't give me much hope about the whole. Thomas and Cumming seem to be the only pair in the clips with any real chemistry. However, it's a comedic horror, so maybe this will be like But I'm a Cheerleader or any of the other strange comedies out there -- where something over-the-top can be endearing. Unfortunately, we have to continue to wait and see -- there is still no word about a release date.

In Alan Cumming's latest (and generally disappointing) film Suffering Man's Charity, he plays an effeminate cello teacher who's slowly losing his mind. If only the rest of the movie matched up with Cumming's over-the-top performance, there might be a few more complimentary things to say about the flick. As it stands, the thing wavers between broad comedy, dark humor and mild thriller territory, never once settling on an approach ... and suffering mightily because of it.

Actor/director Alan Cumming (who last directed the very solid flick known as The Anniversary Party) seems to be going for "cult status" with Suffering Man's Charity, but it's the filmmaker's central performance that'd probably prevent any status from arriving. The guy plays a skittery, borderline manic nutjob called John Vandermark who has a soft spot for handsome young men, and quickly becomes over-smitten with any hunk who'll give him the time of day. Unfortunately, Vandermark's most recent "boyfriend" is a scheming and opportunistic young writer (David Boreanaz) who accepts John's hospitality and gives very little in return.

At first our poor protagonist gives the hunky Sebastian every benefit of every doubt, but once a handful of bills start rolling in, Vandermark reaches his boiling point ... and poor Sebastian ends up dead, which allows John to appropriate the young stud's manuscript for his very own. And so he does, becoming a wildly popular novelist in the process.

In November, Chris Ullrich brought word of a "re-imagining" of the classic flick, The Wizard of Oz. As he described, instead of a point-by-point remake, the film was going to have its own little twists. The story would revolve around D.G., a girl transported to The Outer Zone -- an area oppressed by dark magic. In the Zone, she faces a challenging journey along with Glitch (missing half his brain), Raw (wolverine-like and courage-less) and Cain (vengeful former cop with a damaged heart). The journey would lead to her facing an evil sorceress, Azkadellia, who has hidden ties to the lost girl.

While I would be inclined to agree with Chris on the potential for suck, the cast is looking decent so far. Fresh from her stint in Weeds and a bunch of upcoming films such as Bridge to Terabithia, Zooey Deschanel has signed on to star as the Dorothy-wannabe, D.G. She's joined by Alan Cumming, whose latest directorial effort, Suffering Man's Charity, is set to screen at SXSW. Cumming will play the half-brainless Glitch. There is no further word on cast, but I'm expecting John C. Reilly to sign on as Raw, and maybe Patrick Swayze to sign on as Cain.

The miniseries is coming at the hands of writing team Steven Long Mitchell and Craig Van Sickle, and this is where things get more interesting. The pair are responsible for episodes of shows like Murder, She Wrote, Alien Nation, The Pretender and most recently, 24. It's definitely not light, kiddie fare, so I imagine that the adaptation will have a lot more darkness. While it might be different enough to be enjoyable, couldn't they have just taken the base idea and come up with new names and a new scenario?

Not that I have anything against Trey Parker and Matt Stone, but their Team America: World Police flick was a disaster, in my opinion. While I'm a huge fan of South Park, I could not, for the life of me, get past the first fifteen minutes of Team America without changing the channel. And I really wanted to love it -- had heard such good things about it -- but simply couldn't discover the proper vibe within myself to enjoy the puppets ... and the guns ... and the puppet sex.

Needless to say, newbie Edward McHenry will soon give us his take on the puppet gimmick with Jackboots on Whitehall, except he'll be using action figures to accompany some top notch voice talent. Comedy spoof will tell of a fictional scenario in which the Germans win the Battle of Britain during World War II, only to be defeated by the Scots ... and Ewan McGregor. That's right, McGregor has signed on to voice a "heroic Scottish farmhand who leads the resistance against the invaders and wins the girl." Joining McGregor in this latest round of casting is Richard Griffiths; he'll be playing the Luftwaffe leader Hermann Goering.

Also on the list of Brits playing Germans are Alan Cumming as Hitler, Tom Wilkinson as Hitler's propaganda minister Goebbels and Richard O'Brien as Holocaust-header Himmler. Rosamund Pike will play the object of McGregor's affection, while Richard E. Grant and Sanjeev Bhaskar have also snagged roles. Writer-director McHenry jumps from his popular short film, Baptism of Fire, to helming a feature film with an assortment of pretty big names. How did he do it? Not sure, but I'm positive the script (which won the Swipe Films Screenplay Scholarship) had something to do with it.

I've never seen Baptism of Fire, but apparently it utilizes a lot of the same techniques found in Jackboots. Brits as Germans, action figures instead of puppets and an unknown writer-director -- what do you make of this?

You know, when SXSW Film Festival producer Matt Dentler posted an entry to his blog on Monday about how The Lookout now has its own website ... I suspected ulterior motives. Turns out Dentler has some extra interest in monitoring that film: it's going to be the opening-night premiere at SXSW this March. The thriller is the directorial debut for writer Scott Frank, whose screenwriting credits include Minority Report, the fabulous Out of Sight (for which his script was Oscar nominated), Get Shorty, and Dead Again. It stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who's been getting a lot of attention for his role in last year's teen-noir Brick, and Jeff Daniels, who was marvelous in The Squid and the Whale. SXSW will host the world premiere of the The Lookout at The Paramount, Austin's downtown theater that holds more festival attendees than any other SXSW film venue, so hopefully there will be room for all of us. No word yet on whether Frank or any cast members will attend the premiere.

SXSW has also announced a couple of other world premieres: Manufacturing Dissent, a documentary about Michael Moore's tour with Fahrenheit 9/11; Alan Cumming's film Suffering Man's Charity; and Joe Swanberg's Hannah Takes the Stairs, making this the third consecutive SXSW in which Swanberg has premiered a movie. Cast members in Hannah Takes the Stairs include filmmakers Mark Duplass and Andrew Bujalski, so it'll be like one big indie-film love-in. Swanberg is also creating the in-house trailers for this year's film festival.

Other films announced include the U.S. premiere of Black Sheep, which Scott and Kim enjoyed at TIFF last year, and several documentaries, my favorite part of SXSW: 638 Ways to Kill Castro, the music doc The Last Days of Left Eye and a Morgan Spurlock-produced look at the commercialization of Christmas called What Would Jesus Buy?. The SXSW Film Festival runs from March 9-17 this year.

You're familiar with the Battle of Britain, right? It's when the German Luftwaffe bombed the crap out of British cities and tried to wipe out the Royal Air Force during World War II. While a statement, it was the first real defeat of Hitler and changed the tide of the war. But, what if Hitler had won? Not only that, but what if he had won, only to be defeated by the Scots? There's a new film just budding on the horizon that will tackle this very notion, but it won't do so with earnest, live-action drama, but with a Team America sort of twist.

Although Jackboots on Whitehall will have the same tone and style as its American predecessor, the Brits are cutting the strings, literally. They have "specially made 'Action Man' type action figures" that will move without the need of strings, animation, or stop motion. Edward McHenry, recent Oxford grad and co-writer of the script with his brother, Rory, once used the same techniques for a short film named Baptism of Fire. It's a great start for McHenry, who has gone from winning the Swipe Films Screenplay Scholarship with the script to directing the feature.

What's even better is the cast. Where Trey Parker and Matt Stone handled most of the voices in Team America, Jackboots is a fragrant potpurri of British names: Timothy Spall, who you might remember as Peter Pettigrew, will be the voice of Churchill, the Nightcrawling Alan Cumming is Hitler, Tom Wilkinson will be Hitler's propaganda minister, Goebbels, and there will be some Riff Raff with Richard O'Brien as leading Holocaust-header Himmler. If you actually need more reasons to watch, other voices will include Richard E. Grant, Rosamund Pike and Sanjeev Bhaskar.

Alan Cumming may be busy with multiple acting gigs and his new perfume, but somehow, he also found time to direct his second indie feature, Suffering Man's Charity. When I first saw this news, I made a high-pitched noise and dove into the net, searching for any information I could find. I loved the crisp colour in his digital collaboration with Jennifer Jason Leigh, The Anniversary Party, and I was ready for more.

Now Cumming has released a picture on his website, and I have to share my delight. He's veering from his path of characters with blurry lines of sexuality and real-life drama, and into comedic horror. But that's not the kicker. He's doing it with everyone's favourite brooding Angel, David Boreanaz.

Suffering Man's Charity tells the story of John Vandermark (Cumming), a cello teacher who harbors a secret attraction to a struggling writer named Sebastian (Boreanaz). Vandermark moves the writer into his home, and Sebastian has a fatal accident. The teacher finds the writer's unpublished manuscript, publishes it as his own, and finds himself haunted by Sebastian as the novel becomes a success.

While the quirk factor has Cumming written all over it, it's definitely new territory for Cumming's solo directorial debut. The cast is, once again, filled with great names from Jane Lynch to Carrie Fisher, but the biggest shock is the pairing of Cumming and Boreanaz. Erik Davis recently mused about the unlikely pairing of DeNiro and 50 Cent, but this duo might take the cake. The man who banks on testosterone-infused sexuality is facing off against the quintessential man of blurred sexuality. Who do you think will come out on top?