alan cumming Tagged Articles at Cinematical

I'll admit, I never understood why anyone thought Spider-Man would make a good musical -- even with music by Bono and The Edge. But Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark seemed inevitable, and once we got word that Evan Rachel Wood and Alan Cumming were joining the cast, the big-budgeted show seemed to be chugging along nicely towards it's 2010 release date. But all is not well in the world of Spidey, and Michael Riedel at the New York Post is reporting that the show is in serious trouble. According to Riedel, the set designers have been put on hiatus, actors might be released from their contracts, and staff is scrambling to cash their checks before the money runs out.

The production is still a long way from being finished, and according to sources, "A lot of it seems to exist only in Julie's [Taymor] head," But as far as Taymor and company are concerned, the show is on track for previews in February, 2010. According to the official website, tickets will be going on sale in October, but sources claim that agents are already trying to return the tickets that have been sold for advance previews.

After the jump: so where did it all go wrong?...

We're one cast member away from seeing how Spider-Man fares in a true live-action world. Last December, we learned that Evan Rachel Wood would play Mary Jane in Julie Taymor's Broadway web fest. Now Playbill is reiterating this, plus they're adding another wonderful name to the mix: Alan Cumming. He is once again flitting around the world of geek fare by signing on to play Norman Osborn, known in other circles as the Green Goblin. (But no German accent this time.)

Now titled Spider-Man Turn Off the Dark, the musical is supposed to be kicking off rehearsals this month. Yet while we now have the leading lady and villain, there's still no word on who will play Peter Parker. Taymor was trying to get Jim Sturgess for the part and have a whole Across the Universe reunion, but they're still not releasing whether it's him or someone else.

But Wood and Cumming are just two of the many actors who have made their way to the theatrical stage. Right now, in New York alone, Anne Hathaway is performing Twelfth Night in the Park, Nathan Lane, Bill Irwin, John Goodman, and David Strathairn are currently Waiting for Godot, and Allison Janey is working 9 to 5 -- just to name a few. On the other side of the country, Chris Pine and Chris Noth are getting presidential in LA with Farragut North.

With Kit Kittredge: An American Girl finally opening in limited release on Wednesday, it seemed like a good time to take a look at other films girls in the same age demographic might also enjoy. As a mother of three daughters, I like to seek out films that have strong female characters. So many of the roles for females in Hollywood either fall into blatant stereotypes or position young girls and women as existing on this planet primarily for the pleasures of the male half of the species, and I don't want my girls growing up believing the images of women they're exposed to through the media. Of course, everything in life doesn't have to have a political agenda -- what fun would that be? So some of these are just films my own daughters very much enjoy, that the girl in your life might like also.

Here are seven great films for fans of American Girl books and movies ... let me know what others I've missed that you like; with only seven slots to work with, I had to leave out a lot of films I otherwise would have included ...

Earlier this month, I posted about a contest for Full Grown Men. It's the story of a 30-something man and father (Matt McGrath) who can't seem to grow up, so he runs away from home -- right back to his childhood. But it's not just a case of a man taking comfort in environmental memories -- he puts on the whole kid suit, reverting back to the self-centered and pretty careless kid he once was as he tries to hook up with an old friend and find reinforcement for his idea that never growing up is okay.

I was able to see a screener of the film, which just opened in New York City, and it's not a bad indie. I will admit -- watching a man act like a selfish child can be pretty tiresome, but there are some great supporting performances that make the journey enjoyable -- Judah Friedlander as the friend, plus Alan Cumming as a "disgruntled ex-theme park employee," Amy Sedaris as "a horny bartending clown," and Debbie Harry as "a delusional mermaid."

The film is currently playing at the Cinema Village Theater in New York City, and will roll out to San Francisco, Florida, and other cities next month.

I've no idea how I never noticed this during my random searches on IMDb, but there's a new indie film coming out that sounds like it could be a lot of fun; it has a great cast that makes things even better, and there's a contest to win tickets. The film in question is Full Grown Men, and Emerging Pictures' blog has thrown up a contest to win tickets to the film's New York City opening on June 25, with further contests to follow for San Francisco and Miami.

The film stars Matt McGrath (the spurned friend in The Anniversary Party) as a man who acts more like a kid than an adult. When his wife chastises him for being a playmate to his son rather than a father, he grabs his childhood friend (Judah Friedlander) and heads for their favorite theme park in Central Florida, where they're confronted with the incongruities between their past and present. But it's also got some sweet cameos -- Alan Cumming as a "disgruntled ex-theme park employee," Amy Sedaris as "a horny bartending clown," and Debbie Harry as "a delusional mermaid."

As for the contest ... this is all about boys trapped in men's bodies, so you just have to do a little writing. "If you're in love with an overgrown boy, or it's your own inner child that's gone wild -- or if you're just noticing Peter Pandemonium everywhere" you can comment in the EP blog and grab your chance to win. And if you are in NYC, San Fran, or Miami and check it out, let us know what you thought of the movie.

There's a new indie film on the way with a pretty vague description and a fun cast, but there may be more to it. Variety reports that Adam Salky is directing a new indie film called Dare, written by David Brind. Fresh off of Dragonball, Emmy Rossum is starring, with Alan Cumming, Sandra Bernhard, Ashley Spring, Ana Gasteyer, Rooney Mara, and Cady Huffman also in the cast.

They have described it as a movie "about three privileged high school seniors who decide they can no longer ignore their deepest needs and take the biggest risk of their lives." However, it looks like there's a bit more to it, if this is anything like the short film that Brind wrote and Salky directed, also called Dare. It's about a high school senior named Ben who is crushing on Johnny, a "bad boy" that also goes to his school. "After Ben gives Johnny a ride home one night, the boys end up in Johnny's swimming pool and have an encounter that breaks the rules and blows Ben's mind." How this then translates into three, and becomes the biggest risk of their lives, I don't know. Since Rossum is starring, does this become some sort of love triangle?

The film is currently filming in Philadelphia.

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.