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To paraphrase an IM conversation I just had with a friend regarding the trailer for Gus van Sant's forthcoming biopic, Milk: he thought the trailer was "incredible", whereas I felt it painted openly gay elected official Harvey Milk in a bit too saintly a light, at least within those two-and-a-half minutes, much to his chagrin.

I'm not saying that the real-life Milk wasn't a key figure in the fight for gay rights; I'm not saying that he deserved to be assassinated by Dan White (Josh Brolin); I'm not saying that Sean Penn doesn't look or sound just like the guy (that, I cannot speak for) and won't turn in an impressive performance. All I can speak for is the trailer itself and how I felt towards it.

So, as I go to put the 1984 Oscar-winning doc The Trials of Harvey Milk in my Netflix Queue, in the name of knowing better, would any of you care to attest for both the accuracy and anticipation behind this project?

While the big-screen adaptation of Gabriel García Márquez's Love in the Time of Cholera could not, unfortunately, live up to the text's expectations, the famous writer is getting another shot. This time, however, it's an old screenplay. The Guardian reports that Mexican actor and producer Rodolfo de Anda says that he has picked up the rights to a screenplay written by the author over 40 years ago.

Titled Frontera, the script follows "an ageing pistolero and his much younger partner." De Anda says that he heard about the screenplay years ago, but assumed that it was written by Alcoriza. When he bought the rights "about a month ago, I discovered the surprise that the story was not in fact by Alcoriza, but by Gabriel García Márquez." "Nobody knew it existed, and the most surprising thing is that it is a Western." De Anda says he will take on the role of the older partner, and is, not surprisingly, thinking of casting one of the two Y tu mamá también stars -- Gael García Bernal or Diego Luna -- as the young sidekick.

It's not an adaptation of a translation, so hopefully this will fare better than the last Gabriel offering. But which of the two young stars would you pick for the feature -- Gael or Diego?

The writer/director Harmony Korine might have been -- and might still be -- one of the most audacious and terrifying new American talents in some time. At the age of 19, he wrote the script for Larry Clark's Kids (1995) and made his own directorial debut with Gummo (1997), a film so astonishing that most reviewers panned it simply to get it out of their heads. He then made the first official American Dogme 95 film, Julien Donkey-Boy (1999), and cast one of his biggest fans, director Werner Herzog, in a starring role.

All three films conjured up images that inspired the gag reflex. It was hard to look away, though. They were odd and sad and not a little repulsive. From there, he retreated into other art forms, such as photography and music (he directed music videos for Cat Power and Sonic Youth), returning to features only to write Clark's Ken Park (2002), which was so lurid it failed to secure a U.S. distributor. Indeed, like many of the most cutting edge American directors, most of Korine's fans, and financiers, currently reside outside the U.S.

Slashfilm now has the first on-set photos from Gus Van Sant's Harvey Milk biopic, Milk. As we all know, Bryan Singer's competing Milk film, The Mayor of Castor Street, has been parked in development hell. Now it looks like Van Sant's film will be the first Hollywood life-story of the legendary mayor of San Francisco, so get ready for a little stroll down memory lane since most of these photos are of the local spots in the area being given a 1970's makeover.

For those of you not familiar with Milk's legacy, he was, "an American politician and gay rights activist, was the first openly gay city supervisor of San Francisco, California, and therefore, according to Time magazine, 'the first openly gay man elected to any substantial political office in the history of the planet.'" The perpetually dour Sean Penn will play Milk, and most gossip had Matt Damon in the role of Milk's murderer and co-worker, Dan White. Now it's looking like Josh Brolin will step in. Other cast members include Emile Hirsch, James Franco, and Diego Luna

While most of the focus had been on whether Penn could pull off the congenial and upbeat Milk, I have to admit I'm a little nervous on the directing end of things as well. As much as I respect Van Sant, I wonder whether he is willing to make a more 'conventional' biopic. It might be the only way to introduce as many people as possible to this invaluable figure in gay rights, rather than alienating them with something a little more along the lines of Last Days. Milk is set to open in theaters later this year.

The cinematic Harvey Milk has got himself another lover. Entertainment Weekly has reported that Diego Luna, the Mexican actor famous for his role in Y Tu Mama Tambien, has joined Gus Van Sant's upcoming biopic, Milk. He will play Jack Lira, a supporter of Milk and also his lover. We've already got Sean Penn as Milk, the first openly-gay city supervisor of San Francisco, Josh Brolin as Milk's assassin, Dan White, Emile Hirsch as gay rights activist Cleve Jones, James Franco as another lover and campaign manager Scott Smith, and further cast played by Victor Garber (Alias), Denis O'Hare (The Anniversary Party), and Stephen Spinella (24).

I have to say, I agree with Christopher Campbell's previous coverage of the film. Penn being bright and cheery? I'm not so sure. Hopefully, however, he'll surprise us, because there's a heck of an interesting group of actors attached to this movie. The film is said to focus on Milk's story as the third openly-gay elected official in America (in 1977), and how he and Mayor George Moscone were assassinated by White, who was another city supervisor.

A lot has changed in the last 30 years, but it will be interesting to see how Van Sant's film does with the movie-going public, and whether "If a bullet should enter my brain, let that bullet destroy every closet door," will become even more recognized, lauded, and followed.

I can just see it now -- fifty years from now, news, blogs or whatever the preferred communication system is, will bring word that Diego Luna and Gael García Bernal will be collaborating on their 372nd feature, perhaps an ailing buddy movie where they take a road trip and act lasciviously, like they did all those years ago in Y tu mamá también. Last month, I posed that the pair would be reuniting to play brothers for the Iñárritu, Cuarón and del Toro film Rudo y Cursi. Only a month later, they're pairing up again. Luna has just joined Bernal on the production of Pedro Páramo, which I blogged about in May.

Bernal is already starring as Páramo, the "brutal man who married Juan Preciado's mother, stole her land and money, and destroyed her town -- Comala." Luna is now about to board in a production capacity. The duo's production and distribution company, Canana, is in final negotiations to co-produce the film. I wouldn't be surprised if we soon see Luna pop up in some sort of acting capacity -- perhaps as Preciado? The film, which heads into production this September in Mexico and Spain, has also added more talent in front of and behind the screen -- a Mexican paper says Vanessa Bauche has signed on for a role, and two Pan's Labyrinth Oscar-winners for makeup, Montse Ribé and David Martí are overseeing makeup.

So, as the story has it, Alejandro González Iñárritu (Babel), Alfonso Cuarón (Children of Men) and Guillermo del Toro (Pan's Labyrinth) have set up a production company. Eager to start off with a bang, the first feature to be backed by the company is Rudo y Cursi, which to us English-folk is "Rough and Corny." Why is it a bang? First, it was written, and will be directed by, Carlos Cuarón -- Alfonso's brother and co-writer on Y tu mamá también. Second, and more notably for audiences, it will re-team Mama stars Gael García Bernal and Diego Luna. Where Mama dealt with sex and friendship, Rudo is about two brothers who play professional soccer and are embroiled in a life-long competition, while still, as Iñárritu explains: "once again exploring the same themes of rivalry."

Now, let's go over the track record of those involved. Iñárritu is responsible for Amores perros, 21 Grams and Babel; Alfonso has Mama, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Paris, je t'aime and Children of Men; del Toro has Pan's and Hellboy and Carlos has Mama. Then there are Bernal and Luna, who also have their share of cinematic success and on-screen chemistry. As CBC states, the filmmakers are responsible for 16 Academy Award nods all on their own. It's like a paved, golden road that I hope leads to more recognition, and holds up under the weight of acclaim. The film has been in production for a few weeks in the small town of Cihuatlan, near a banana plantation that the Cuarón brothers visited as kids.