Interview: Peeter Rebane on the gay romantic drama "Firebird"

by Nathaniel R

Writer/Director Peeter Rebane (left) and his narrative feature debut "Firebird"

Sometimes timelessness is a curse. We don't neccessarily want period pieces about forbidden oppressed gay romances to feel especially resonate in the now. Neverthless that's what's happened with Firebird. Peeter Rebane's narrative debut, which recently opened in select cities, tells the true story of a gay soldier and his clandestine romance with a fighter pilot in a Russian airforce base in Estonia during the Cold War. The film has been in the works for ten years but in the interim Russian culture has become more virulently anti-gay (stoked by homophobic 'strong-man' Putin) and aggressive about it; please see the tremendous documentary Welcome to Chechnya if you haven't. At the moment Russia is also waging war on Ukraine which adds yet more unexpected charge to the film since one of the two leads playing Russian military men, Oleg Zagorodnii, is Ukrainian. 

When I sat down with the director Peeter Rebane, we talked about all this, as well as co-writing with his openly gay leading actor (Tom Prior), directing sex scenes, and homophobia in former Soviet countries... 

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Weekend Box Office - what have you been watching?

by Nathaniel R

The two most exciting platform releases of the moment are the French films Petite Maman (on 224 screens) and Venice Golden Lion winner Happening (opening on just 4). Go see them and support your local arthouses. Everyone was at Doctor Strange 2 which grossed a massive $187.4 in its first frame though CinemaScore grades suggest it will have a bigger drop than usual for Marvel films next week. The Sandra Bullock/Channing Tatum rom-com-adventure The Lost City is hanging on pretty well in theaters but it just debuted on Paramount+ which will likely cut its theatrical run short preventing it from reaching the $100 million mark (pity since it was an original comedy and it almost got there). More after the jump...

Weekend Box Office May 6th-8th 🔺 = new or expanding /  ★ = Recommended links if we've written about it
WIDE (OVER 800 SCREENS)	PLATFORM RELEASES
MULTIVERSE OF MADNESS	PETITE MAMAN

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FYC: The Network Sitcom Makes a Comeback

By Christopher James

ABC's breakout hit "Abbott Elementary" isn't the only network success this season.

When was the last time anxiously awaited new weekly episodes of a network TV comedy? It’s been nearly a generation since comedies like Roseanne, Friends and Seinfeld ruled the airways. It’s even been a decade since critical darlings like The Office, 30 Rock and Parks and Recreation amassed their devout followings. Ratings for network TV comedies have continued to dwindle while critics and the Television Academy lost interest. In the past 10 years, only five shows have been nominated for Outstanding Comedy Series at the Emmys: 30 Rock, The Big Bang Theory, Modern Family, black-ish and The Good Place. In short, the writing was on the wall that the network sitcom was dead.

Everybody loves a comeback, though...

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All the Pulitzer Prize Winners for 2022

If you're in NYC the important theater news today outside of the Tony nominations, of course, is that "Fat Ham" which is about to premiere at the Public (in a co-production with the National Black Theatre) just won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. That's the same prize the Tony frontrunner "A Strange Loop" previously won. The Public describes the new work like so...

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What's next for Pfeiffer?

by Nathaniel R

Michelle behind the scenes of her THR photoshoot (from her Instagram acct)

Though we've been obsessed with Michelle Pfeiffer for our whole lives we haven't had much occassion to revel in that love given her infrequent appearances on screens in the past two decadess. At last, with her kids in their 20s and her unisex fragrance line Henry Rose fully established and successful, she finally appears to be ready to act frequently again. French Exit (2020) was an excellent warm up to return to leading lady status and she's absolutely acing the great role of the influential Betty Ford in The First Lady (2022) and receiving 'best-in-show' raves for her work. We're crossing our fingers for an Emmy nod.

What's next?

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