john cameron mitchell Tagged Articles at Cinematical
Aaron Eckhart Falls Into a 'Rabbit Hole' with Nicole Kidman
Filed under: Drama », Casting », Deals »
It may be a whopping two years since Nicole Kidman signed on, but now it looks like the big-screen adaptation of Rabbit Hole is kicking back into gear -- and believe it or not, she's still involved! No backing out for Kidman, at least, not yet. Production Weekly's Twitter feed reports that Aaron Eckhart will fall into the Hole with Kidman, and that John Cameron Mitchell will direct. Yes, that's Mr. Shortbus.As Erik explained a few years ago, this is one heck of a tear-jerker project. Think Lovely Bones without the heavenly aspect. David Lindsay-Abaire's play focuses on a couple who lose their four-year-old child in a car accident and try to cope with the loss. Along the way, family members try to help them through their pain, which gets complicated when the driver who killed their son seeks them out to get closure.
It'll be great to see Eckhart put aside his irresistible charm for a bit and deal with some heavy, heart-wrenching pain -- Two-Face without the hideous disfigurement and law breaking. But this just ... I can't imagine how this will play out -- how Eckhart and Kidman will play off each other, and just what a tear-jerking film will look like under the hands of the Hedwig/Shortbus filmmaker. Can you?
IMDb Pretends to Proscribe Porn
Filed under: Gay & Lesbian », Independent », Celebrities and Controversy », Politics », Cinematical Indie »
Just when you thought the IMDb was the greatest asset to movie lovers, the site has gone and revealed itself to be less a service to the cinematic community and more of a privilege from another corporate power worried about its public image. It isn't clear when the site instituted this, but as of today the IMDb has a search filter that makes it difficult to locate some titles, specifically pornographic or otherwise sexually explicit titles. These titles include the usual XXX fare, but also include more mainstream films like John Cameron Mitchell's Shortbus and Caligula, which stars Golden Globe winner Helen Mirren. They aren't gone from the database, though. Shortbus can be found by way of Mitchell, who shows up when searched. The same goes for Caligula, which can be found in a roundabout way via its stars. But the IMDb isn't only filtering out the titles, it is also filtering out some performers who appear in adult titles. At least that's how it seems. The Rabbi Report experimented with the IMDb search and discovered that while most of the Shortbus cast doesn't show up, some large profile porn stars do show up. As further examples, I tested out the names Jenna Jameson, John Holmes and Ron Jeremy -- all were easily searched. Then I looked up The Brown Bunny and the documentary Inside Deep Throat -- neither was easily located.
Shortbus' Ploy for DVD Sales
Filed under: Comedy », Drama », Gay & Lesbian », Independent », Fandom », Home Entertainment », Movie Marketing », Cinematical Indie »
I was immediately intrigued when I started hearing about Shortbus. After seeing both Hedwig and the Angry Inch and his First Day of My Life video from Bright Eyes, I was intrigued. I didn't actually believe that the sex could be as graphic as promised. I was comparing the whole thing to the ridiculous uproar over Kill Bill and how fake, over-the-top violence somehow made it more violent than other movies. And then I sat down to watch the film, which John Cameron Mitchell made sure to start with an explosion ... literally.I was actually a bit disappointed in the film, as I was hoping for rampant sex with a little more responsibility -- that, and my assumptions about the Star Spangled Banner were a bit off-target. Nonetheless, Mitchell managed to make an intriguing film where the sex was long and graphic without being gratuitous. In fact, it was the inclinations that were gratuitous more than anything else. However, no matter how well it was received by some circles, it's still a film with a lot of actual sex in it, and that doesn't make for great wide-spread money making ventures. Hell, it isn't even searchable on imdb, you have to find it through Mitchell's directorial links.
To try to help the film with its DVD sales, Mitchell is taking a cue from the Weinsteins and their marketing plan for Clerks 2. Usually, a fan's street team efforts result in free discs and other sorts of fan goodies. Well, this filmmaker is taking it a step farther. CHUD has reported about the film's new DVD promotion: Any person who raises awareness of the film by sending an e-card to five friends will find their name in the DVD's credits. Talk about being immortalized in thanks. It's definitely a neat gimmick, but I'm not sure if it's the right one.
TIFF Review: Shortbus
Filed under: Comedy », Drama », Independent », Romance », ThinkFilm », Theatrical Reviews », Festival Reports », Toronto International Film Festival », Cinematical Indie »
As advertised, there's a whole lotta sex in John Cameron Mitchell's Shortbus. Men with men, women with women, women with men and all possible multiplications and permutations thereof. Which really shouldn't be surprising, since the film is quite aggressively about sex. Unlike the great majority of cinematic sex scenes -- most of which are blocked and scored so carefully that they're more like choreographed, showy dances than anything else -- those in Shortbus are no mere window dressing, and nor are they present as excuses to get pretty people to take their clothes off (and then be artfully covered by that old Hollywood favorite, the L-shaped sheet). Instead, they're crucial to the plot, and to the development of the characters in the film. And they're also a whole lot of fun, much of the time. Mitchell and his cast very successfully avoid both the falseness of mainstream sex scenes and the bow-chick-a-bow-bow absurdity of straight-up porn, arriving instead in a place of realism, where actual people have actual sex. Sweaty, awkward, joyous, sad sex that's not always either pretty or sexy.
Look Out for Flying Pigs: Shortbus Gets US Distribution
Filed under: Independent », Deals », Cannes », IFC », Magnolia », ThinkFilm », Distribution », Newsstand », Cinematical Indie »
Back in May, when the rave reviews of Shortbus (James' included), John Cameron Mitchell's follow-up to Hedwig and the Angry Inch, were coming out of Cannes, I posted about the difficultly of arranging American distribution for a clever, charming movie that also just happens to be filled with real, explicit sex. At the time, my point of reference (as well as that of many others) was a film like The Aristocrats which, despite the fact that it consists entirely of endless retellings of a filthy joke, was a box office success for ThinkFilm. They supported the NC-17 film with a clever marketing campaign and wooed a relatively large audience, considering the number of theaters that will even book a movie with that rating. The hope at ThinkFilm, clearly, is that lightning will strike twice, because they just took the plunge and bought North American theatrical rights to Shortbus. (According to Mitchell, he had a dozen offers for the film's rights, including from big indie names like Magnolia and IFC Films.)While the lack of familiar names in Shortbus will deny it one of The Aristocrats' major selling points (Bob Saget, swearing? Sign me up!), the presence of real sex is sure to appeal to a different, equally eager audience. Plus, the fact that it's a good movie should help, too. ThinkFilm plans to begin rolling the film out this summer; I can't wait for the advertising campaign.
Cannes Photoblog #5 -- Karaoke Night at the American Pavilion!
Filed under: Cannes », Festival Reports »
Looking for an antidote to stuff, black-tie parties and red carpet reports? For the pas three years, The American Pavilion has hosted a karaoke night at Cannes -- and last night's guest of honor was none other than John Cameron Mitchell, the writer-director of Hedwig and the Angry Inch and the out-of-competition cause celebre of this year's fest, Shortbus, captured above performing "New York, New York." More photos -- and more Shortbus cast -- after the jump.
The Shortbus Dilemma
Filed under: Comedy », Drama », Independent », Cannes », Distribution », NSFW », Movie Marketing », Cinematical Indie »
One of the few movies that has been almost universally praised at Cannes thus far is John Cameron Mitchell's (he of Hedwig and the Angry Inch fame) Shortbus -- the film is screening out of competition and won't be winning any big awards, but critics have loved it. You'd think, then, that at a festival where the sales market is reportedly pathetically light on quality films, distributors would be lining up to buy Mitchell's film. There's one problem, though: The movie is charming and funny, but also happens to feature real sex, including an opening made up of "a young man performing oral sex on himself in front of a camera, another a young man masturbating as he is whipped by a dominatrix and ... a couple having acrobatic sex in their apartment." So yeah, distributors are facing a bit of a dilemma.In the US, for example, the movie will obviously be slapped (and like it) with an NC-17 rating, immediately slashing the number of theaters that will even screen the film, in addition to making mainstream advertising practically impossible. While the film could still be released by a canny distributor -- witness ThinkFilm's success with the NC-17-rated Aristocrats last year -- it nevertheless represents a very risky investment in an industry that is nothing if not profit-driven.
James' Shortbus review -- like everyone else, he dug it -- is here; distribution updates will come as we get them.
Cannes Review: Shortbus
Filed under: Comedy », Independent », Cannes », Theatrical Reviews », Festival Reports », NSFW », Cinematical Indie »
Early buzz about John Cameron Mitchell's follow-up to Hedwig and the Angry Inch was that it was going to be loaded with real sex -- not the blue-lit, horizontally docking faces of mainstream movies but not the characterless coupling of porn, either. After years of buzz, actually seeing Shortbus leaves you wanting to invent new adjectives -- Fucktastic! Cocktacular! Breastalicious! -- but it also leaves you more than a little impressed by how funny and loose and, yes, emotionally engaging the film is. All the sex makes Shortbus kinda hot, but what's surprising is how Mitchell's sensibility and comedic charm makes it warm, too.
James (Paul Dawson) and Jamie (PJ De Boy) are a gay couple dealing with the monotony of monogamy -- and, as we learn, the fact that one half of the couple is a bit more hopelessly devoted than the other. Couples Counselor Sofia (Sook-Yin Lee) is trying to help Jamie and James -- although when she reveals she's never had an orgasm with her husband Rob (Raphael Barker), the phrase "physician, heal thyself" flits through your mind. Jamie and James invite Sofia to a sex/performance space called Shortbus, where Sofia meets and befriends the Dominatrix Severin (Lindsay Beamish). Of course, these are contextual introductions: The film opens with James masturbating furiously before Jamie gets home, Rob and Sofia running through a gallery of positions like they're proofing the Kama Sutra with an imminent deadline and Severin beating the hell out of an annoying-yet-appealing client in a hotel suite overlooking Ground Zero.
Tribeca Review: Follow My Voice: With the Music of Hedwig
Filed under: Documentary », Gay & Lesbian », Independent », Music & Musicals », Tribeca », Theatrical Reviews », Cinematical Indie »
The problem with so many documentaries is a lack of cohesive focus, the result of too many ideas and intentions -- linked but incongruent -- for any certain purpose to be conveyed. Such an identity crisis can ruin the most well-meant film, but it almost seems appropriate to the homosexual and transsexual issues fumbling around in Katherine Linton's Follow My Voice: With the Music of Hedwig.
In 2003, record producer Chris Slusarenko put together a tribute album called Wig in a Box that featured popular artists such as The Breeders, They Might Be Giants, The Polyphonic Spree, Spoon and Sleater-Kinney covering the songs of Hedwig and the Angry Inch, a rock musical about a transsexual that was also made into a cult film. The proceeds from the sales of the album went toward funding for New York City's Harvey Milk School in its transformation from a youth center for gay, bisexual and transgender students into an accredited public high school.
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