Biopic Request: Boy George For His 50th

On this, the day of Boy George's 50th birthday, we propose a biopic. After all, Hollywood is quite fond of musician biopics what with their formulaic three act story beats: rise from talent-individuality-chutzpah, fall from drugs and debauchery, miniature or major comebacks as the performer finds themselves again.

So why is it that someone as fab and movie-character ready as Boy George doesn't have his own biopic? He's already written all of the wittiest lines for some future screenwriter, being one of the quippiest of '80s icons. He's already conjured the movie's most memorable costumes. He's already even provided a rough draft blueprint with his own autobiographical musical, Taboo (2004).

Now, Taboo was historically not a success on Broadway but we chalk this up to its difficult developmental period, clashing egos and press animosity (sometimes the media just turns on something and there's only a war zone from there). It's not that the show wasn't entertaining enough to be a success. It was actually a fierce show, just an intermittently clumsy overstuffed one. But my oh my the music was good. In addition to Boy George's own discography (formidable, duh) he wrote new songs for the bifurcated musical, which managed to be two biopics in one by juxtaposing Boy's rise with the life of performance artist Leigh Bowery .

The pop star did star in his own biopic but he cheekily played Leigh Bowery instead, so here's a press clip below of the show and his title track performance. [Note: I meant to write about the documentary about this very lively Broadway season Showbusiness: The Road to Broadway (2007) which also charts behemoths Wicked and Avenue Q and the wondrous Caroline or Change but the DVD didn't arrive in time, damnit.]

I remember sitting in the audience in a very cramped Broadway house. The tourist to my left turned towards me at intermission.: "IT'S OVER?!?!?" she said, panicking, clearly new to seeing live theater and there for Boy George himself (she was wearing an old Culture Club t-shirt). I pulled her back from the edge "there's more Boy to come."

For all of Boy George's personal problems, he's a smart enough star to understand his own rise and fall. There's a heartbreaking number in the show called "Out of Fashion" and, yes, Boy George still is. But in this Age of Gaga, maybe pop culture out to rediscover the gonzo theatrical originals that paved the way? There's a long line of "what will they look like next?" superstars before her: Bowie, Boy, Madonna, etcetera...

For extro-music here's Boy's video from pop culture / Oscar milestone The Crying Game (1992).

(That would've have so won the Oscar for Best Original Song had it not been a cover of an oldie.) I haven't seen The Crying Game in far too long, how about you?

50th Anniversary: "Judy Judy Judy"

10|25|50|75|100 -anniversary specials

In the annals of showbiz history few one night events are as seismic as "Judy Judy Judy" the night Judy Garland hit Carnegie Hall, 50 years ago at this very moment, for her comeback performance. She was called many things during her legendary career: Hurricane Judy, The World's Greatest Entertainer, Ms. Showbiz and a lot of those titles coincide or funnel right into or through this big night. There's not really any concert footage of this event though it was famously recorded live to fulfill her record contract and eventually became her most important album.

I can't for the life of me remember how that Garland miniseries with Judy Davis covered the event but they must have done so given that it was one of those 'from cradle to grave' bios. Garland died just 8 years after this concert at the age of 47. Do you think the proposed Anne Hathaway as Judy Garland film will stretch this far into Judy's career? Or maybe it will never get made?

Hathaway is 28 years old at the moment, just ten years younger than Judy was on this big night...

Lots more after the jump including four melodic videos because I couldn't help myself. I do get carried away with the mythic actresses, don't I?

Click to read more ...

"you'll have your links, your pretty face...♪ "

My New Plaid Pants on Jake Gyllenhaal's next project.
Pajiba on the myth of the ugly-hot woman in Hollywood; they're all hot. There is no female equivalent to Steve Buscemi.
Comics Alliance Annie Leibovitz has more of those Disney with celebrity portraits including what looks like an entirely computer generated portrait of Queen Latifah as film experience obsession Ursula. Does this mean we're supposed to imagine her battling Julianne Moore who was Ariel for Liebovitz last time? It's the 2002 Best Supporting Actress Oscar race all over again.

Wait? The Oscar are over?
Zap2It Potty-mouthed Kate Winslet F***ing loves Melissa Leo's Oscar speech
Alt Film Guide Somehow I missed both this trivia and this stupidity: Natalie Portman is the first pregnant unmarried Oscar married and Republican Mike Huckabee has already expressed his dismay at her morality!
A Socialite's Life Our first totally silly 2011 Oscar story!  People  are pretending that Justin Bieber's documentary Never Say Never could be in the Oscar race next year. Note to the gullible: Hollywood is a powerocrocacy, anyone will suck up to someone they perceive as important at a party. It doesn't mean they'd ever vote for their movie to be nominated for an Oscar.

P.S.
I'm meeting with Ludivine Sagnier in a couple of days. She's one of my favorite French actresses with quite a few popular or must-see films under her belt: 8 Women, Peter Pan, Love Songs, A Girl Cut in Two, Swimming Pool, Water Drops on Burning Rocks, etcetera. Any questions you think I should ask her? What's your favorite Ludivine movie?

20:10 The Scariest Movie Ever

As we wrap up the 2010 film year (one last week of awards brouhaha to deal with Oscar weekend and our own awards) a few more screenshots from the 20th minute & 10th second of last year's movies.

Today's topic Documentary Hopeful INSIDE JOB

V.O.: Scott Talbot is the chief lobbyist for the Financial Services Roundtable, one of the most powerful groups in Washington, which represents nearly all of the world's LARGEST financial companies.

Interviewer: Are you comfortable with the fact that several of your member companies have engaged in large scale criminal activities?

Talbot: You'll have to be specific.

The interview responds with an incredulous "okay...uh...", preparing to get specific until Talbot realizes how evil not saying "NO" immediately may have sounded. (Hint: As evil as it actually is). He tries to recover with a more diplomatic response.

THIS IS THE SCARIEST HORROR MOVIE I'VE EVER SEEN. Or at least that I've ever seen recently. Especially in light of the warfare on the middle class and Union workers that the Right Wing is waging at this very moment. But as for Oscar predictions... I do wonder if Inside Job is too dry and informational to take the Oscar? I still doubt that Exit Through the Gift Shop is going to pull it off. It's so unlike what Oscar goes for in the documentary category, regardless of the buzz. Should I predict Wasteland instead, a frequent audience favorite? What'cha think?

The Short Films: Part III

Michael C from Serious Film here to wrap up our look at the short film categories with a tour of the Documentary shorts.

In this field we have that rarest of specimens: the genuine five-way race. I'd go so far as to put it right up there with Lead Actress as the most quality stacked category of the night. Since they are such uniformly strong contenders I'll skip the for/against format I've been using thus far and instead try to pinpoint what edge each film might have to push it ahead of the competition.

the nominees are...

KILLING IN THE NAME - USA, 39 Minutes, Dir: Jed Rothstein

Issue: Terrorism, specifically the killing of Muslims by Muslims

In 2005 Alshraf al-Khaled's wedding was interrupted by a suicide bomber who killed 27 guests including the fathers of both the bride and groom. Since then al-Khaled has devoted himself to confronting the sources of such terrorism and breaking the Muslim world's code of silence concerning Muslim on Muslim violence.

Killing in the Name makes for a powerful viewing experience. The astonishing footage it compiles includes a wrenching meeting with the father of a man responsible for one of the deadliest suicide attacks ever, an interview with an al-Queada recruiter, and, most disturbingly, al-Khaled's confrontation with a classroom full of young people indoctrinated to view these mass-murderers as heroes. Killing might be too impressive a feat of documentary filmmaking to refuse the prize.

Secret Weapon: In Alshraf al-Khaled the filmmakers have found a bona fide hero. His mission, at no small risk to himself, is equal parts inspiring and horrifying. He is the answer to every TV blowhard who seeks to paint the whole Muslim world with a single brush.

SUN COMES UP - USA, Papa New Guinea, 38 Minutes, Dir: Jennifer Redfearn

Issue: Global Warming 

Rising sea levels are slowly but surely sinking the Pacific Island paradise of Carteret. The village sends out a group of young people to the nearby war-torn island of Bougainville to see if they can find a new home for the hundreds of soon-to-be-displaced families.

Carteret Island is portrayed as a place just short of the Garden of Eden and it is heartbreaking to watch the Islanders as their worst-case scenario gradually becomes a reality. The filmmakers choose their moments well to convey the complex series of obstacles the Islanders face in their diaspora. The film is not without a few glimmers of hope at the end, but they are hard-earned and bittersweet. 

Secret Weapon: Even though all the shorts are extremely emotional (watching them back-to-back was a bit overwhelming) Sun Comes Up might just be the most touching of the lot. It is impossible not to be moved watching its inhabitants' sadness and bravery in the face of their loss. Who would have the heart to deny them the Oscar win?

THE WARRIORS OF QIUGANG - USA, 39 Minutes, Dir: Ruby Yang

Issue: Pollution, Government Corruption

The most conventional of the documentary short subjects, Warriors is the portrait of a village of simple Chinese farmers whose community is decimated by the pollution from a new factory. Their fight for change comes up against such obstacles as government corruption and threats of violence. The central figure emerges as one villager with a middle school education who becomes the reluctant leader of the cause. Teaching himself the intricacies of the law, he finds - to his own surprise as much as anyone else - that he is a formidable foe for the forces who seek to crush dissent. There are echoes of the Oscar-winning The Cove in the fight against a government aggressively trying to ignore a problem.

Secret Weapon: Scope. The familiarity of the subject matter shouldn't detract from the achievement of the filmmakers here. Not content to just point the cameras at ruined crops and hulking gray factories, they stuck with this story for years getting the full picture of the story and the society that produced it.

POSTER GIRL - USA, 38 Minutes, Dir: Sara Nesson

Issue: Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, the Iraq War, The Treatment of Veterans

Poster Girl looks at all its big issues through the portrait of Iraq War veteran Robynn Murray who at the age of 19 went from all-American cheerleader to hard boiled machine gunner roaming the streets of Baghdad. Now, years later, she suffers from crippling anxiety attacks, has trouble coping the memories of war time, and has to navigate a labyrinth of red tape in order to claim her disability checks.

More than any of the other entries of this field Poster Girl leaps off the screen with a burn through intensity, largely due to the riveting presence of Sgt. Robynn Murray. You seriously can't take your eyes off her as she boils with anger, crumbles in pain, and rages articulately with feelings of betrayal at the institutions she trusted. Poster Girl is a tough film to shake.

Secret Weapon:  As much as Academy members can sympathize with the plights facing poor foreigners Poster Girl is going to hit closer to home. For British and American Academy it is going to reopen a lot of wounds.

STRANGERS NO MORE - USA, 40 Minutes, Dir: Karen Goodman, Kirk Simon

Issue: Prejudice

Although the horrors of war exist constantly around the edges of Strangers No More, this is the most hopeful of the documentary shorts. Strangers tells the story of the Bailik-Rogozin school in the heart of Tel-Aviv bringing together displaced children from dozens of countries around the world many who have arrived in Israel fleeing for the lives.

Strangers is perhaps the least impressive nominee from a filmmaking standpoint. Its straight forward account of one school year unfolds pretty much how you would expect. At feature length I would say this doc needed to dig deeper into how this school came to be, but at forty minutes I think they were correct to focus on the children and their harrowing stories. It is a simple film, well executed.

Secret Weapon: All those great kids! It's difficult to overstate the emotional impact of watch a kid go in the space of a year from a wide-eyed refugee completely lost in his surroundings to a student speaking fluent Hebrew and cracking jokes with his friends. I have no doubt that will be enough to get a lot of voters to mark their ballots right then and there. 

Marking Your Oscar Pool: Since all the films can lay claim to social significance - and since there is no World War II focused doc to break the tie - the usual Oscar method of choosing the most important-seeming film won't work here. I could easily see any of the five shorts taking the prize, but forced to predict I'm going to go with the film that would be getting my vote and say Poster Girl is going to barely edge out Strangers No More and Killing in the Name and take the Oscar. All the shorts make an impression but Poster Girl is the one that really gets your heart pumping. 

Part I - Animation

Part II - Live Action