SHORT FEATURE: THE BODY ELECTRIC

This week for Aleteia I took in Rush, Ron Howard’s latest biopic in which, for the first time in a long while, he doesn’t completely butcher history. It’s a pretty good movie, but I have to admit, the first time I heard Howard was making a biographical film entitled Rush, the old D&D playing nerd in me got my hopes up for this…

Wait, no, not that! I meant this…

What can I say? If you rolled a d20 back in the 80s, you listened to Rush. Bytor and the Snowdog. The Trees. The entire first side of 2112. Their lyrics were a musical goldmine for fantasy/sci-fi geeks. So much so, that in 1985, Canadian television aired a half hour animated sci-fi tale featuring not only themes based on Rush’s lyrics, but also a soundtrack composed entirely of Rush songs. Go ahead and watch it, but don’t blame me if you feel the urge to dig out your dusty old dice bag before it’s over.

I’m thinking someone from Nintendo must have watched this when it first aired, because that nerdy kid was totally messing with everybody with his Power Glove, even though it would be another four years before that useless thing would be released to an unimpressed public.

But I digress. Back to Rush.

You know, Rush has never been a band that was overly sympathetic to Christians. Although never too in-your-face, Neil Peart’s lyrics have at their best communicated a kind of stoic agnosticism. In fact, in his younger days he seemed to have toyed around with some of Ayn Rand’s ideas, although he appears to have rejected most of the extremes of Objectivism as he’s aged. In recent years, however, following the death of his wife and daughter within ten months of one another, there’s no denying that Peart’s lyrics have taken on a more bitterly antagonistic view of religion. The words to the song Faithless pretty much sum up where his head appears to be right now.

I don't have faith in faith
I don't believe in belief
You can call me faithless
I still cling to hope
And I believe in love
And that's faith enough for me
I've got my own spirit level for balance
To tell if my choice is leaning up or down
And all the shouting voices
Try to throw me off my course
Some by sermon, some by force
Fools and thieves are dangerous
In the temple and market place

It’s actually kind of easy to sympathize a little with Peart. As the Catechism points out, “Illness and suffering have always been among the gravest problems confronted in human life. In illness, man experiences his powerlessness, his limitations, and his finitude. Every illness can make us glimpse death. Illness can lead to anguish, self-absorption, sometimes even despair and revolt against God.” While I can’t really know what’s in his heart, Peart’s latest songs seem to suggest that the recent tragedies in his family have pushed his agnosticism closer to outright atheism. That’s what it sounds like to me anyway.

It doesn’t have to go that way, though. The Catechism goes on to note that illness and suffering “can also make a person more mature, helping him discern in his life what is not essential so that he can turn toward that which is. Very often illness provokes a search for God and a return to him.” Through his songs and writings, Peart strikes me as thoughtful guy who’s always reading, always searching. We may not have heard his final verses on the subject of faith just yet. At least I pray that’s the case, both for Peart and all those others out there plagued with doubts.

Escape to The Movies: CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS 2

"That's just a tomato."

ALSO: "Rush"

The Escapist : Escape to the Movies : Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2

NEED FOR SPEED Trailer

Whenever I think about the state of video-game movies, I have to keep reminding myself that Spawn, Steel, Barb Wire and Howard the Duck all got big feature-film adaptations before Spider-Man did. With that in mind, here's the first trailer for the next very, very important gaming franchise to rate it's own movie, "Need For Speed;" which appears to feature Aaron Paul as the less interesting version of the guy from "Drive."

Y'ever see "student films" made by bro's who switched to Film Studies their sophmore year because their buddy showed them "Boondock Saints" and they thought they'd found their creative calling?

Well, I have - and they all have this same basic music and narration. So I understand if no one else finds this trailer gut-bustingly hilarious; but this looks like the first great comedy of 2014 to me. Can. Not. Wait.

PULP CATHOLICISM #035

PODCAST 66: Eerie Horror Film Fest Interview

This week Forests & Cory sit down with Greg Ropp & John Walkiewicz from the Eerie Horror Film Festival & Expo and discuss what to expect from the upcoming 2013 fest, also how it began and horror films in general.

CONTINUE READING

DC's Agents of G.O.T.H.A.M.

Wow, that didn't even take a day.

Effectively right after "Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." had its premiere, Deadline landed the "exclusive" news that Warner Bros. is developing a comic-movie spin-off series of their own from "Mentalist" creator Bruno Heller. Surprising absolutely ZERO living humans, the DC franchise being spun-off... is Batman.

The title: GOTHAM. The pitch: The exploits of Commissioner Gordon in pre-Batman Gotham City... so, "Law & Order"/Criminal Minds"/"CSI"/etc but (presumably) with Batman villains.



Y'know what? That's actually a really good idea - and you can tell that Warners thinks so as well by the network in question: This is going to Fox instead of traditional DC-series home The CW, which indicates that Warners is confident that people might actually want to watch this show. Fans and pros alike have been talking about bringing Batman back to live-action television for awhile* (real talk: Between the Adam West show, "The Animated Series," both "Justice League" runs and "The Brave and The Bold;" episodic television seems to be where this character works best); and this is a great way of doing that without "lowering" their now Affleck-fronted cinematic cash cow to TV.

The big question, one imagines, is whether or not this will attempt to establish some kind of connection with the still-murky history of the new version of Batman set to debut in "Superman vs. Batman" - where they're already talking up the idea that he'll be a kind of grizzled "veteran" superhero in contrast to Superman's relative-newbie status. Not long ago that would've been an easy "no, Warner Bros. doesn't care about that;" but it's sounding more and more like the new Flash who'll be showing up on "Arrow" next season is meant to be part of the eventual "Justice League" feature, so who knows?

Continuity aside, one has to wonder what the setting for this is going to look like: James Gordon traditionally meets Batman either in middle-age or as an otherwise older man (he's a Commissioner, after all); so "before Batman" is a pretty long stretch of time. Will they go younger, with Sexy Fresh-Out-Of-The-Academy College-Age Officer Gordon learning the ropes? Middle-aged Detective Gordon? Older Gordon who'll meet Batman "any day now?" Maybe it's telling that Deadline's story only specifies that Batman won't appear - does that mean Bruce Wayne could? If so, it wouldn't be beyond the realm of logistical possibility to get Ben Affleck to throw on a three-piece suit and pull a sweeps-week cameo as "carefree playboy Bruce Wayne," hanging out on the periphery of this or that investigation while series regulars make unintentionally-ironic comments about his physicality, sleeping-habits, etc.

We'll see. Incidentally, "S.H.I.E.L.D." was good. Solid, good cast, sharp writing that only occasionally feels a little too Whedon for it's own good. Feels like almost every important character had two separate introductions - one for "this is X!" and one for "is it true about X's ominously-alluded-to mysterious backstory?," which would feel like too much ambition anywhere else but makes sense here. I'll have more to say about that tomorrow, so stay tuned.


*Young Bruce Wayne was supposed to become a part of "Smallville" at one point, but the character and storyline were rewritten into Oliver Queen instead once the run-up to "Batman Begins" got under way.

"AGE OF ULTRON" SDCC Teaser Leaks

You'll find out what I thought of "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." tomorrow. Until then, here's a REALLY fortuitous "leak" that hit YouTube right around the same time the series was hitting TV. It offers more-or-less the first look at Ultron (SPOILER: He looks like Ultron.)

Look now, because presumably Disney will pull this down right quick:

September Expiration Watch (2013)

I may not have time for my monthly expiration roundup (it's been a busy month), but I at least wanted to call attention to what's expiring from Netflix Instant in the coming days�a list that includes such significant titles as Robert Altman's Gosford Park, the steamy French classic Betty Blue, Wong Kar-Wai's melancholy In the Mood for Love, and important films by Alfred Hitchcock, Nicholas Roeg, John Sayles, and Peter Weir. Also biting the dust: Warren Beatty, Steve Martin, Jane Fonda, and John Cusack. Check out the updated Expiring Soon list, above, to see what you'll soon be missing.

September 27

Rango (2011) 

September 28

Gosford Park (2001)

September 29

Betty Blue (1986)
The Moon in the Gutter (1983)
Mortal Transfer (2001)

September 30

Barefoot in the Park (1967)
Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid (1982)
Don't Look Now (1973) - Review
Eight Men Out (1988)
Frenzy (1972)
Heaven Can Wait (1978) - Review
Identity (2003)
In the Mood for Love (2001)
Next Stop Wonderland (1998)
The Parallax View (1974) - Review
Saved! (2004)
Witness (1985) - Review

Big Picture: MEMORIUM

Hiroshi Yamauchi, 1927 - 2013

The Escapist : The Big Picture : Memorium

LIFE’S LIKE A MOVIE: GODZILLA IN THE 60’S & 70’S

One of the first movies I ever reviewed here at the B-Movie Catechism was Gojira, the original 1954 Japanese version of Godzilla. If you’ve never seen the film in its uncut original form, you owe it to yourself to seek it out as soon as possible. Gojira is sci-fi at its finest, offering a combination of fantastical adventure mixed with insightful commentary on the human condition in Japan at the time the film was made. Viewing Godzilla in his original incarnation, it’s impossible not to see the monster as an allegorical representation of the physical and psychological damage the Japanese people suffered as a result of the atomic bombs dropped during World War II, as well as the subsequent atomic weapons tests that continued after the war ended.

But that was in 1954. Beginning with 1964's Ghidorah: The Three-Headed Monster, The Big G’s personality began to undergo a bit of a change. No longer was he portrayed as a mindless force of nature smashing his way through a helpless Tokyo. Instead, the King of the Monsters began to soften up a little towards the tiny creatures scrambling out of the way of his royal footsteps and actually started to protect them from others of his ilk. By the end of the 60’s, Godzilla was officially a good guy, a friend to children everywhere. Sure, he still managed to knock over more than his fair share of buildings while protecting mankind, but amidst the destruction he also managed to pass along lessons to his young viewership, instructing them in a wide range of topics ranging from the evils of bullying (Godzilla’s Revenge) to the dangers of pollution (Godzilla vs. the Smog Monster).

But what has that got to do with me, you might ask? More than you might guess. As longtime readers might recall, one of the primary reasons this blog was started was that it spurred me to study the Church’s teachings more, which in turn would (hopefully) make me a better teacher for the room full of high school juniors and seniors I was put in front of at my local parish. Life goes on, though, and a few years back a combination of health, work, and family issues required me to step away from my volunteer catechist duties for awhile.

Well, guess what?

That’s right, I’ve stomped my way back into the classroom. Now it’s a bit different this time around for a couple of reasons. The first one is that, ostensibly, I’m only in there as an assistant, with the duties of formulating lessons and activities being somebody else’s responsibility. This is because my own child, who has Asperger’s, is enrolled in the class, and there’s the very real possibility that I might have to leave at a moment’s notice if he starts to have a meltdown. Thank God, after two sessions, that hasn’t happened yet. In fact, so far, he’s been the best behaved kid in the room.

Which brings up the other big difference. This time around, it’s not teenagers I’m locked up with, it’s a 5th grade class. And let me tell, you, I was not prepared for the sheer level of silliness, noise, and in-your-face disrespect we’re getting from a bunch of 10 & 11 year olds. Now I do feel a little sympathy for them. After all, it’s a 4:30 weekday class and most of the kids are picked up at school and then directly dumped into faith formation with no break, so I understand there’s some cabin fever at work. But still, the behavior I’ve seen so far goes beyond simple rambunctiousness. It’s such a tough room that the main teacher is already hinting around for a transfer to a younger age group and happily passed the second half of last week’s lesson to me to finish. It’s a mess. Or as I used to call it the first time around… business as usual.

As always, everyone involved will do their best to make sure these kids not only advance in their knowledge of the Church, but hopefully in their relationship with Jesus as well. It might be sloppy and noisy and a few buildings might get knocked over in the process, but God willing, it’ll get done. Pray for the catechists at your local Parish, folks, I’m sure they would appreciate it.

NOW SHOWING AT A BLOG NEAR YOU

My latest review for Aleteia is Prisoners, Denis Villeneuve’s somber (and quite lengthy) thriller/psycho-drama featuring some surprising in-your-face explorations of the effects of sin on the human soul. Yep, you guessed it, it’s time to start rolling out the Academy Award hopefuls. Seems like that season comes sooner and sooner each year, doesn’t it, just like the Christmas decorations in the stores (Which, seriously, I’ve already seen. WTH Hobby Lobby?).

But enough of that serious drama stuff. How about we get back to the things that are our bread and butter around these parts? Hmm, let’s see, a little Doctor Who always hits the spot, and as it so happens, the Aspie Catholic is right in the middle of a survey of all the Doctors in anticipation of the venerable series’ 50th Anniversary. He’s up to Christopher Eccleston now, so all you newbies can feel right at home. If you’re more of a Trekkie than a Whovian, however, then have no fear, Scott & Julie over at A Good Story Is Hard To Find podcast are discussing the classic Trek spoof Galaxy Quest.

Speaking of parodies, Donald R. McClarey over at The American Classic has assembled a collection of Twisted Trailers, previews of existing movies which have been re-edited to alter the tone of the original. Monty Python & The Holy Grail as a big budget blockbuster? Jaws as a Disney Movie? Watch the trailers and you’ll see it’s not as unlikely as you might think. Willy Wonka as a horror movie, though, isn’t really that much of a stretch, is it?

In fact, LarryD over at Acts of the Apostasy has managed to reimagine Willy Wonka as the ultimate orthodox Catholic nightmare. Who knew Wonka’s factory was such a hotbed of liturgical lunacy? While you’re over there enjoying the fun, be sure to drop Larry some well wishes and a prayer or two. He’s been going through some discernment lately and it looks like it’s leading him to take a (permanent?) sabbatical from blogging. I’m not about to argue with God’s plans for someone, but I’ll still miss Larry’s unique take on things.

As it turns out, though, Larry’s not the only Catholic out there who has felt called to move on to new projects. EWTN Producer Daniel Rabourdin and his crew are hoping to film a docudrama about the little discussed religious aspects of the French Revolution, and could use a little help with the funding. Also in need of donations are a group of folks near my neck of the woods who are trying to produce a proof-of-concept trailer, a project they hope will secure backing for the first ever feature film produced by a Catholic Parish. Check them out and see if you might want to help out.

And that should be plenty of reading material for this week. See you next time around.

"Blue Is The Warmest Color" Trailer

Here's the first U.S. trailer for "Blue Is The Warmest Color," the lesbian romance from France that was this year's big winner at Cannes - a move that was seen as reflective of the film's high acclaim but also possibly a statement of support for the country's then-recent legalization of gay marriage.



Even still, there was some controversy: Not so much over the subject matter or the content (the sex scenes between the two women are apparently so NC-17 explicit that the filmmakers and actresses have been fielding "did they or didn't they" questions since the premier) but over the reception; with some chiding (straight) male critics and voters for allegedly overpraising the film because it aroused them. Meanwhile, the author of the graphic novel it's based on has expressed disagreement with the adaptation, claiming that it presents too much of stylized, male-fantasy version of a female/female relationship. Either way, it's being touted as a Best Picture contender even though a technicality makes it ineligible to compete for Best Foriegn Language Oscar.

We'll see when it comes out. I think it'd actually be amusing to have a new-millenium version of the once-common phenomenon of highbrow European dramas pulling big bank in the U.S. on the basis of explicit sexuality.

Escape to The Movies: PRISONERS

Surprise! The trailers aren't giving the whole movie away, after all!

"Intermission" talks critics and GTA V.

The Escapist : Escape to the Movies : Prisoners

End of An Epoch

Hiroshi Yamauchi, the former president of Nintendo, has passed away at the age of 85. Video-Games have lost their Walt Disney.

The importance of this man to the gaming industry cannot be overstated. He was the one who decided to change his family company's direction away from traditional toys and playing cards toward electronics and ultimately video games. He made the decision to branch out into American and European markets. This was the man who tapped then-unknown Shigeru Miyamoto to create what would become Donkey Kong.

This was the man who willed home video gaming back into existence as a viable worldwide business when it was all but dead. It's neither exaggeration nor hyperbole to suggest that the entirety of modern video-gaming - everything from the first Game & Watch titles and every single thing that came after - was built on the foundation he laid. More incredible still, he remained in charge of the company all the way into 2002 and had an active role in all major company decisions well into the GameCube era. It's impossible to imagine what this industry would've looked like without him... or if it would even have existed at all.

Gomeifuku wo inorimasu, Yamauchi-sama.

PULP CATHOLICISM #034

Flashback: SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER

With the arrival of Saturday Night Fever (1977) to Netflix Instant, I thought I'd reach back to an article I wrote a few years ago for Popshifter.com's 1970's-themed issue, "Dancing Ourselves Into the Tomb." It's more of a personal take on the film's soundtrack than an outright movie review, but my thoughts on the film do come across, so consider this a slight change of pace.

Can't Fight the Fever

(Published December 5, 2011, in slightly different form)

When the movie Saturday Night Fever was released in December of 1977, it became a smash critical and popular success that delivered disco to the masses, John Travolta to movie theaters, and a record that became the biggest-selling soundtrack of all time.

But in my household, the film�s influence was exactly...nil. Considering my family�s strict rock & roll diet and my impressionable age, I didn�t have to be told that a movie about disco was cinema non grata. (Say it with me now: �Disco sucks!") But beyond hewing to the party line, as a family we agreed those high-pitched, nasal Bee Gee voices had become annoyingly ubiquitous in the months following the film's release.

The Bee Gees and their chests

And those voices�along with the other Fever songs cramming the airwaves�were everywhere. I don't remember how many times that thumping bass and Gibb-brother whine would suddenly infect the car radio, causing one or the other Woodstock-era parent to reach violently for the tuner with a stream of R-rated invective. I knew the rules: if it had a dance beat, it was shunned�as clear as the laws of physics.

For the next half decade, my views on disco�and by extension, Saturday Night Fever�remained unchanged, even after the country's disco rage had subsided. When the movie showed up on cable in both PG and R-rated versions, I peeked in at a few key scenes to compare the levels of nudity and swearing (the '80s equivalent of watching deleted scenes), but even the charms of Donna Pescow and Karen Lynn Gorney couldn't overcome my lingering aversion to the film as a whole.

Read more �

PODCAST 65: Dinosaur Island & I Bury the Living

This week Forests takes a trip to a time when women wore very little and dinosaurs walked the earth with Dinosaur Island and Cory shares his thoughts in a very Twilight Zone-like thriller, I Bury the Living.

CONTINUE READING

SHORT FEATURE–MICKEY MOUSE’S HAUNTED HOUSE

This week’s review for Aleteia was Insidious: Chapter 2 which features the continuing adventures of the haunted Lambert family. If you like your horror movies on the silly side, you should get a kick out of this one. If not, well, that’s too bad because they’re already working on Chapter 3. What can I say, from the very beginning of motion pictures, people have liked movies about spooky old houses. Even Disney was quick to get in on the act.

Yeesh, ghosts, bats, and skeletons everywhere. Doesn’t anybody ever bother to get their house blessed anymore? They should, you know. There’s a bit more to it than just some priest slinging holy water all over everything. Ernest Graf, O.S.B. explains it this way:

“When the Church exercises her divinely given power of blessing persons and things, she bestows upon these persons or things a special consecration or holiness. The priestly blessing is akin, in its efficaciousness, to the virtue of the Sacraments in the sense that, just as in the Sacraments the carrying out of an external rite signifies and actually produces an inward grace, so the external rite or ceremony of blessing bestows upon the soul certain special, though passing, helps of grace. The priestly blessing does not directly cause an increase of sanctifying grace, for this is the effect of the Sacraments; it bestows what is called actual grace — that divine energy which the soul needs in the countless emergencies and difficulties of our daily struggle with the devil, sin, and our own fallen nature.”

In short, a house blessing (or any blessing for that matter) is like a spiritual booster shot. It’s no guarantee that evil won’t try to invade your home, but the blessing helps build up your soul’s immune system in case it tries. And the best thing is you don’t have to wait until things start to go bump (or shag or twist or Harlem shake) in the night either, you can have your happy home blessed anytime. Try it, you’ve got nothing to lose. Well, except for maybe a few stray dancing skeletons that is.

Big Picture: BOY BLUNDER

I don't like that this was newsworthy any more than you do...

The Escapist : The Big Picture : Boy Blunder

ZERO CHARISMA Trailer

ZERO CHARISMA came out of SXSW with a lot of hype behind it, and the new trailer reminds us why: This looks really, really good. Film is dark comedy about a guy who starts to go unhinged when his sole sense of power and accomplishment in life - unquestioned supremacy within his local tabletop RPG game - is threatened by the arrival of a more forwardly-mobile, sociable "hipster" nerd player who his pals are maybe starting to like better than him:

Is Justin Bieber Playing Robin???

This comes from Justin Bieber's official Instagram feed, tweeted along with the hashtag #robin??

It is almost-certainly bullshit (the prevailing theory is he's promoting a Funny Or Die sketch), and the giveaway is the script itself: At this stage there very likely isn't a full script, if there was it wouldn't be out in the wild with a full-detail cover page using the actual title, the logos both look "off," etc.

That said... I wouldn't be at all upset about this. I'm too old to like (or even understand the appeal of, truth be told) the kid's music... but I also too old to be personally affronted by it or by his existence. Yes guys; nonthreatening, vaugely-effeminate boys who can sing are popular with teenage girls. That's not a new thing. Get over it.

To be honest, I would be "for" this strictly on the sole and sufficient basis that it would indicate a massive tonal and target-demo shift away from both "Man of Steel" and "Dark Knight," and also because it would make horrible, horrible Batfans' heads explode, and that's a great service indeed. I love me some Batman, folks, but at some point his fandom morphed into probably the most vile and awful of geek subcultures (and I'm NOT the only guy who noticed this) and at this point I'm inclined to support anything they'd hate on general principle. Remember, these are people who are petitioning the White House to prevent Batman from being played by an actor who is guilty of having been photographed smiling and appearing in comedies.

But, whatever. It is VERY unlikely to be real. What IS likely (plausible, at least) is that it's a brilliantly coordinated stunt. There's a vocal contingent of Batfandom that hates Robin on principle (they're the same guys raging about Ben Affleck, mostly), and this little bit of Bieber self-promotion could serve as way of inoculating them: The genius of Justin Bieber's career is that he embodies the sliver of overlap between "irrational-cannot-shut-up-about-it-LOVE" and "irrational-cannot-shut-up-about-it-HATE" in teenybopper pop-music, and if Warner Bros. was to announce a Robin in the near future whoever it was would no longer be the worst possible choice. Everybody wins.

Honestly? Since it's become pretty clear that WB isn't looking at their shared-universe DC movies to be source-material mash-notes a'la Marvel's crop up to this point, it might be a more interesting idea to let supporting-players like Robin be opportunities to experiment with unconventional casting, a'la "Man of Steel's" Jenny Olsen (who probably would've been more controversial if that film had given two shits about anybody in Metropolis.) A female Robin (Carrie Kelly, Stephanie Brown, somebody new, etc) would be quite the attention getter, especially since non comic-reading people likely have no idea that there have been female Robins. Plus, it would remind embittered manchildren of the "The Dark Knight Returns" - the Living Gospel of the Grim n' Gritty era, so there's also that.

The Scarecrow

A "Viral Sensation" of Fiona Apple crooning an ironic-sad cover of a "Willy Wonka" song over maudlin "Captain Planet"-level wordless moralizing about "natural" food that's actually a longform advertisment for an iPhone game that is itself actually an advertisement for Hipster Taco Bell?



Yeah. I'm gonna go have some Qdoba...

Escape to The Movies: INSIDIOUS: CHAPTER 2

Boo!

Intermission is kind of a purge.

The Escapist : Escape to the Movies : Insidious: Chapter 2

WRITTEN REVIEW: Leaf Blower Massacre

By CORY CARR

This isn’t any lame ass Pennsylvania Leaf Blower Massacre, or some limp-wristed Texas Leaf Blower Massacre. This is the one, the only Leaf Blower Massacre! A homage to ‘80’s slasher movies with a Texas Chainsaw Massacre flair, by filmmaker Anthony Cooney.

CONTINUE READING

"HOMEFRONT" - Statham vs. Franco

Below, the trailer for the previously unheard-of "HOMEFRONT," which features Jason Statham as a rural blue-collar All American dad (who I'm going to assume speaks with a heavy British accent as just one more level of daring people to mess with him) whose daughter gets into a scuffle at school and - having apparently inherited kung-fu genetically - earns her family the ire of the white-trashy family whose bully son she throttled. Standard stuff? Okay, maybe... except Bad Guy Dad happens to be Evil Redneck Meth Kingpin James Franco!

Oh, and also: Screenplay by Sylvester Stallone. So... yeah.

Escape From Tomorrow

You might remember hearing about "Escape From Tomorrow" during Sundance, usually in the context of the idea that no one outside Sundance was ever going to get to see it. It's a surrealistic indie/underground psychological horror movie ("David Lynch doing 'The Shining'" is a description I've heard) about a middle-aged guy during the last day of his family vacation at a huge theme park. Having received a phone call from his boss that his job will not be waiting for him when he returns home, he tries to hold things together (and keep the news from his family) while taking his daughter to the rides and attractions... where he begins to have nightmarish visions (or are they) of dark, sinister and even supernatural "things" happening in the park. So... corporatism, evil-under-surface-of-family-values, mass-market entertainment as opiate, you get the idea.

The hook? The theme park in question is Disney World, and much of the film was actually shot there. Covertly. Guerilla-style. Without any permission or consent from Disney. Using consumer-grade cameras, phones and actors blending into the "regular" crowds. Because of this, everyone figured this would become a permanent underground fixture and nothing more, since surely Disney would sue over unlicensed use of their... everything, pretty-much. But, as it turns out, the Mouse House has opted to go "hands-off" on this one (so far) and now "Escape From Tomorrow" is hitting theaters and VOD on 10/11. Below, the first official trailer:



I'm actually not especially surprised that Disney hasn't gone hardline on this one. As a company, they have a quixotic policy when it comes to their copyrights - you can find oceans of clearly-infringing fan videos, mash-ups, etc. on YouTube, but they seldom get pulled down. Their view seems to be that the pennies hypothetically saved on wrangling such material are worth foregoing in the longer-term goal of keeping fans onboard the highly-lucrative brand love-train.

I haven't seen the film itself yet, but I want to and I'm curious to see what the reaction will be. Most of the Sundance reviews seemed to ultimately concede that the actual film isn't precisely a masterpiece (guerilla-shoots like this rarely are) in terms of it's storyline, pacing etc; and from descriptions a lot of the "family-theme-park-as-den-of-evil" shtick sounds a bit warmed-over. So it'll be interesting to see how it's received by audiences outside the industry/press festival circuit who aren't likely to be as immediately appreciative of the logistics and audacity behind a shoot like this.

PULP CATHOLICISM #033

PODCAST 64: Frailty & Savage Streets

This week Forests supports one of the most underrated films of the past decade as he reviews Frailty, and Cory gushes over Linda Blair's breasts in the sleazy '80's exploitation flick, Savage Streets.

CONTINUE READING

GIVEAWAY: Bounty Killer - Win the DVD!

Hey there you filthy animals, we've got another giveaway for you! Take a quiz, leave a comment and you could win a DVD copy of the totally new action/exploitation flick Bounty Killer. "The Road Warrior meets Kill Bill!"

CONTINUE READING

Big Picture: "THE BIG LETDOWN"

Once more with "Man of Steel."

The Escapist : The Big Picture : The Big Letdown

OUTTAKES #046

Stop DISNEY From Ruining Movie Theaters

I'm not a fan of how watered-down and toothless the internet has rendered the "mobilizing" consumer outrage via letter-writing, petitions, boycotts, etc - it's so damn easy to now legitimate greivances now fight for attention with (and get afforded the same weight as, i.e. NONE) asinine fan petitions to change the casting of Batman. That having been said, when a corporation makes an ASININE decision that promotes something truly stupid... yeah, I've got ZERO problem saying they should get inundated with angry letters, phonecalls, etc.

With that in mind, lets ALL bug the ever-living HELL out of Walt Disney Inc. for THIS abomination: They want to start encouraging people to bring their iPads to movie theaters to play games along with the film.

Before everyone jumps down my throat: Yes, I can tell that (by all appearances) this is for a special-engagement thing where doing this is the "point" of the screening (a re-release of Little Mermaid, in this case.) But the precedent is just all-around bad news. "iPad/Phone-enhanced" screenings is one stop away from "iPad/Phone-ALLOWED" screenings, which is another step towards kissing the idea of asking the mongrel hordes of Joe & Jane Sixpack and their 2.5 rugrats to behave like civilized human beings in movie theaters goodbye.

Hell, time was bringing kids to a movie theater was a good way to teach them how not to be assholes in public: "Sit down, behave yourself and shut the fuck up because there's a movie up there for you to watch" was good training for "sit down, behave yourself and shut the fuck up because we're in court/church/a-nice-restaurant." Now, "family moviegoing" seems more an more like a way for exhausted parents to inflict their brood on everyone else for a few hours ("No, fuck YOU everyone else whose different life choices I desperately envy right about now!")

This should get nipped in the bud. "People who value a good theater experience are attacking Disney in waves!" should be a story on Deadline/Variety/etc tomorrow. At the very least, they should be shamed into having to issue an apologetic/clarifying "this is only for specific showings" press-release - at BEST, they should have to do a "face-saving" move of putting a message about how you SHOULDN'T bring you're goddamn iPad into a "normal" theater before the screenings.

Appropriately, it's not easy to find where to send a complaint to the Disney Corporation. For now, here's their guest services page. If I find whatever email/number it is people use to lob complaints at this particular monolith, I'll post it then.

26th European Film Awards - Long List

As the European Film Academy just announced in Berlin, there are 46 films in this year’s EFA Selection, the list of films recommended for a nomination for the European Film Awards 2013. With 32 countries represented, from Austria to United Kingdom, the list once again illustrates the great diversity in European cinema. The selected films also cover a wide range of genres and themes from comedies to family, political and historical dramas, from thrillers to literature and theatre adaptations.

In the coming weeks, the 2,900 members of the European Film Academy will vote for the nominations in the categories European Film, Director, Actor, Actress and Screenwriter. The nominations will then be announced on 9 November at the Seville European Film Festival in Spain. A 7-member jury will decide on the awards recipients in the categories European Cinematographer, Editor, Production Designer, Costume Designer, Composer and Sound Designer.

The 26th European Film Awards with the presentation of the winners will take place in Berlin on 7 December.

The EFA Selection 2013

8-PALLO (8-BALL), Aku Louhimies, Finland, 108 min
TΟ ΑΓΟΡΙ ΤΡΩΕΙ ΤΟ ΦΑΓΗΤΟ ΤΟΥ ΠΟΥΛΙΟΥ - TO AGORI TROI TO FAGITO TOU POULIOU (BOY EATING THE BIRD’S FOOD), Ektoras Lygizos, Greece, 80 min
Η ΑΙΏΝΙΑ ΕΠΙΣΤΡΟΦΉ ΤΟΥ ΑΝΤΏΝΗ ΠΑΡΑΣΚΕΥΆ - I AIONIA EPISTROFI TOU ANTONI PARASKEUA (THE ETERNAL RETURN OF ANTONIS PARASKEVAS), Elina Psykou,Greece, 88 min
LOS AMANTES PASAJEROS (I'M SO EXCITED!), Pedro Almodóvar, Spain, 90 min
ANNA KARENINA, Joe Wright, UK, 124 min
ARAF (ARAF- SOMEWHERE IN BETWEEN), Yeşim Ustaoğlu, Turkey/France/Germany, 124 min
ÄTA SOVA DÖ (EAT SLEEP DIE), Gabriela Pichler, Sweden, 104 min
BERBERIAN SOUND STUDIO, Peter Strickland, UK, 92 min
THE BEST OFFER, Giuseppe Tornatore, Italy, 130 min
BLANCANIEVES, Pablo Berger, Spain/France, 104 min
BORGMAN, Alex van Warmerdam, The Netherlands/Belgium/Denmark, 113 min
THE BROKEN CIRCLE BREAKDOWN, Felix van Groeningen, Belgium, 100 min
THE CONGRESS, Ari Folman, Israel/Germany/Poland/Luxembourg/France/Belgium, 120 min
ЦВЕТЬТ НА ХАМЕЛЕОНА - CVETAT NA HAMELEONA (THE COLOUR OF THE CHAMELEON), Emil Christov, Bulgaria, 111 min
DANS LA MAISON (IN THE HOUSE), François Ozon, France, 105 min
DJÚPIÐ (THE DEEP), Baltasar Kormákur, Iceland/Norway, 92 min
ДОЛГАЯ СЧАСТЛИВАЯ ЖИЗНЬ - DOLGAYA SCHASTLIVAYA ZHIZN (A LONG AND HAPPY LIFE), Boris Khlebnikov, Russia, 77 min
DOM ÖVER DÖD MAN (THE LAST SENTENCE), Jan Troell, Sweden, 120 min
EPIZODA U ZIVOTU BERACA ZELJEZA (AN EPISODE IN THE LIFE OF AN IRON PICKER), Danis Tanović, Bosnia & Herzegovina/France/Slovenia, 74 min
LA GRANDE BELLEZZA (THE GREAT BEAUTY), Paolo Sorrentino, Italy/France , 140 min
GRENZGÄNGER (CROSSING BOUNDARIES), Florian Flicker, Austria, 88 min
GRZELI NATELI DGEEBI (IN BLOOM), Nana Ekvtimishvili & Simon Gross, Germany/Georgia/France, 104 min
HANNAH ARENDT, Margarethe von Trotta, Germany/Luxembourg/France/Israel, 110 min
HOŘÍCÍ KEŘ (BURNING BUSH), Agnieszka Holland, Czech Republic, 234 min
IMAGINE, Andrzej Jakimowski, Poland/France/Portugal, 105 min
LO IMPOSIBLE (THE IMPOSSIBLE), Juan Antonio Bayona, Spain, 114 min
L'INCONNU DU LAC (STRANGER BY THE LAKE), Alain Guiraudie, France, 110 min
ИЗМЕНА - IZMENA (BETRAYAL), Kirill Serebrennikov, Russia, 115 min
KAPRINGEN (A HIJACKING), Tobias Lindholm, Denmark, 99 min
KON-TIKI, Joachim Rønning & Espen Sandberg, Norway/Denmark/UK/Germany/Sweden, 113 min
KRUGOVI (CIRCLES), Srdan Golubović, Serbia/Germany/France/Croatia/Slovenia, 112 min
החלל את לאםל - LEMALE ET HA’HALAL (FILL THE VOID), Rama Burshtein, Israel, 90 min
הגבעה מעל - MEHAL HAGIVA (A STRANGE COURSE OF EVENTS). Raphaël Nadjari, Israel/France, 98 min
MÔJ PES KILLER (MY DOG KILLER), Mira Fornay, Slovakia/Czech Republic, 90 min
OH BOY!, Jan Ole Gerster, Germany, 83 min
OIKOPEDO 12 (BLOCK 12), Kyriacos Tofarides, Cyprus/Greece, 94 min
ONLY GOD FORGIVES, Nicolas Winding Refn, Denmark/France, 90 min
PARADIES: GLAUBE (PARADISE: FAITH), Ulrich Seidl, Austria/Germany/France, 113 min
POZITIA COPILULUI (CHILD’S POSE), Călin Peter Netzer, Romania, 112 min
ROSIE, Marcel Gisler, Switzerland, 106 min
THE SELFISH GIANT, Clio Barnard, UK, 90 min
SOM DU SER MEG (I BELONG), Dag Johan Haugerud, Norway, 112 min
SVECENIKOVA DJECA (THE PRIEST'S CHILDREN), Vinko Brešan, Croatia/Serbia, 93 min
SYNGUÉ SABOUR, PIERRE DE PATIENCE (THE PATIENCE STONE), Atiq Rahimi, France/Germany/Afghanistan, 102 min
W IMIĘ (IN THE NAME OF), Małgośka Szumowska, Poland, 96 min
WHAT RICHARD DID, Lenny Abrahamson, Ireland, 87 min

To read info about each film go here. Have seen quite a few but the best is that was reminded about many that I have forgotten. Great! But perhaps what calls more my attention is that there are not many films by "established" directors as with a few remarkable exceptions, most directors with films in the list are still building their careers.

WRITTEN REVIEW: Insidious: A Fashionably Late Review

By HARVEY GREER

This review’s been a long time coming for me. It was probably about a year ago that I promised Cory and Forest I’d give them a guest review for the film Insidious. As has become my style, I guess, I’m now finally living up to my word – albeit a little late. But with

CONTINUE READING

NOW SHOWING AT A BLOG NEAR YOU

The continent of Europe finally came back from vacation, which means I’m back in front of the big screen for Aleteia. This week I took in Riddick, the latest chapter in the nearly forgotten Chronicles of Riddick series. How was it? Well, if you’ve seen one Riddick movie… then you’ve seen enough.

One of the main problems I had with Riddick is the complete lack of likable characters. I don’t mind a decent anti-hero every now and then, but the loathsome Riddick barely even qualifies for that title. Donald R. McClarey has noticed the dearth of real heroes in movies lately as well, something which has caused him to break out his old Statler Brothers records and ask Whatever Happened to Randolph Scott?

Still, I bet I got more enjoyment out of Riddick than Scott W. from Romish Graffiti did from Gangster Squad. Or Jason Dietz got from Non-Modern got from This Is 40 for that matter. Or Red Cardigan from And Sometimes Tea got from just about any children’s movie released over the past decade.

Who knew Christians were such a tough crowd? Fortunately Fr. Joe over at Southern Fried Catholicism recently ran across a trailer for the upcoming movie Nicaea. That should make Catholics happy at least. Unfortunately, it’s only in pre-production right now, so who knows if it will ever even see the light of day.

Until then, we can always take the time to watch Warm Bodies again like Nancy French at The French Revolution and discover even more theological lessons buried within everyone’s favorite zom-rom-com, or perhaps even catch up on old scary episodes of Doctor Who like Sherry Antonetti from Chocolate For Your Brain.

If you want to see something really scary, though, then by all means head over to Cinetropolis where Tim Pelan discusses John Boorman’s attempts to make a Lord of the Rings movie back in the early 70s. Read about if you dare!

And on that forbidding note, we’ll leave you until next time. See you then.

Escape to The Movies: "RIDDICK"

Whatever.

Intermission: "Summer School - Part II"

The Escapist : Escape to the Movies : Riddick

70th Venice International Film Festival Award Winners

The post has become final and if you wish to read the top awards at the official site please go here while most of the other awards can be found here.

Was not able to watch live the closing ceremony which is annoying as did see the opening ceremony but perhaps what called my attention are the many twitter comments about the low press coverage of the awards which indeed suggests that this year fest was less "interesting" than let's say, last year. If you consider what I just commented then is NO Big surprise that top award went to a documentary, an Italian documentary. Still there are a couple of films that definitively are great must be seen for me: Philomena and Via Castellana Bandiera. Great.

VENEZIA70

Golden Lion for Best Film: Sacro Gra, Gianfranco Rosi, Italy and France (documentary)

Grand Jury Prize: Jiaoyou (Stray Dogs), Tsai Ming-liang, Taiwan and France

Silver Lion for Best Director: Alexandros Avranas for Miss Violence, Greece

Volpi Cup for Best Actress: Elena Cotta in Via Castellana Bandiera, Emma Dante, Italy and Switzerland
Volpi Cup for Best Actor: Themis Panou in Miss Violence, Alexandros Avranas, Greece
Marcello Mastroianni Award for Best New Young Actor or Actress: Tye Sheridan in Joe, David Gordon Green, USA

Osella for Best Screenplay: Steve Coogan and Jeff Pope for Philomena, Stephen Frears, UK, USA and France

Special Jury Prize: Die Frau des Polizisten, Philip Gröning, Germany

Lion of the Future – Luigi de Laurentiis Award for Best Debut Film: White Shadow, Noaz Deshe, Tanzania, Italy and Germany (from Settimana Internazionale della Critica)

Orrizzonti Awards
Best Film: Eastern Boys, Robin Campillo, France
Best Director: Uberto Pasolini for Still Life, UK and Italy
Special Jury Prize: Ruin, Michael Cody and Amiel Courtin-Wilson, Australia
Special Jury Prize for Innovation: Mahi Va Gorbeh, Shahram Mokri, Iran
Best Short Film: Kush, Shubhashish Bhutiani, India

Venezia Classici Awards
Best Documentary: Double Play: James Benning and Richard Linklater, Gabe Klinger, France, Portugal and USA
Best Restored Film: La proprietà non è più un furto, Elio Petri, 1973

European Short Film Award: Houses With Small Windows, Bülent Öztürk, Belgium

Autonomous Sections

10th Giornate degli Autori - Venice Days
Europa Cinemas Label: La Belle Vie (The Good Life), Jean Denizot, France
Special Mention: Alienation, Milko Lazarov, Bulgaria
Premio al Film evento delle Giornate degli Autori 2013 (International Award): Kill Your Darlings, John Krokidas, USA

28th Settimana Internazionale Della Critica - Venice International Film Critics Week
Raro Video Audience Award: Zoran, il mio nipote scemo (Zoran, My Nephew the Idiot), Matteo Oleotto, Italy and Slovenia

Collateral Awards

FIPRESCI
Best Film from Venezia70: Tom à la ferme (Tom at the Farm), Xavier Dolan, Canada and France
Best Film from Orizzonti and International Critics' Week: Anna Odell for Återträffen (The Reunion), Sweden

CICAE Award: Still Life, Uberto Pasolini, UK and Italy

SIGNIS Award: Philomena, Stephen Frears, UK, USA and France
Special Mention: Ana Arabia, Amos Gitai, Israel and France

FEDEORA Awards (Federation of Film Critics of Europe and the Mediterranean)
Venezia70
Best Euro-Mediterranean Film: Miss Violence, Alexandros Avranas, Greece
Giornate Degli Autori
Best Film: Bethlehem, Yuval Adler, Israel, Belgium and Germany
Best Young Director: Milko Lazarov for Alienation, Bulgaria
Special Mention: La Belle Vie (The Good Life), Jean Denizot, France
Settimana Internazionale della Critica
Best Film: Razredni sovražnik (Class Enemy), Rok Biček, Slovenia
Best Cinematography: Inti Briones for Las Niñas Quispe (The Quispe Girls), Sebastián Sepúlveda, Chile, France and Argentina
Special Mention: Anna Odell for Återträffen (The Reunion), Sweden

Online Critics Award
Mouse d'Oro for Best Film in Competition: Philomena, Stephen Frears, UK, USA and France
Special Mention: Jiaoyou (Stray Dogs), Tsai Ming-liang, Taiwan
Mouse d'Argento for Best Film out of competition: At Berkeley, Frederick Wiseman, USA (documentary)
Special Mention: Die andere heimat – Cronik einer sehnsucht, Edgar Reitz, Germany and France

Francesco Pasinetti Award
Best film: Still life, Uberto Pasolini, UK and Italy
Best Actors: Elena Cotta, Alba Rohrwacher e Antonio Albanese
Special Mention: Maria Rosaria Omaggio in Walesa. Man of Hope, Andrzej Wajda, Poland
Special Mention: Il terzo tempo, Enrico Maria Artale, Italy

Leoncino d'Oro Agiscuola Award: Sacro Gra, Gianfranco Rosi, Italy (documentary)
Cinema for Unicef Award: Philomena, Stephen Frears, UK, USA and France
La Navicella - Venezia Cinema Award:
Queer Lion: Philomena, Stephen Frears, UK, USA and France

ArcaCinemaGiovani Award
Best Film Venezia70: Miss Violence, Alexandros Avranas, Greece
Best Italian Film Venezia70: L'Arte della Felicità, Alessandro Rak, Italy

FEDIC Award: Zoran, il mio nipote scemo (Zoran, My Nephew the Idiot), Matteo Oleotto, Italy and Slovenia
Special Mention: The Zero Theorem, Terry Gilliam, USA and Romania

Lina Mangiacapre Award: Via Castellana Bandiera, Emma Dante, Italy and Switzerland
Special Mention: Traitors, Sean Gullette, USA and Morocco
Special Mention: All female cast in Ukrania Ne Bordel (Ukraine is Not a Brothel), Kitty Green, Australia and Ukraine

Future Digital Award: Gravity, Alfonso Cuarón, USA and UK
Special Mention: The Zero Theorem, Terry Gilliam, USA and Romania

UK-Italy Creative Industries Award - Best Innovative Budget
Il Terzo Tempo, Enrico Maria Artale, Italy
Medeas, Andrea Pallaoro, Italy, Mexico and USA
Kush, Shubhashish Bhutiani, India (short)

Vittorio Veneto Film Festival Youth Jury Award: Philomena, Stephen Frears, UK, USA and France
Special Mention: Via Castellana Bandiera, Emma Dante, Italy and Switzerland

Soundtrack Stars Award
Best Sound: Via Castellana Bandiera, Emma Dante, Italy and Switzerland
Special award Best Contemporary Actor: Ryuichi Sakamoto

Ambiente WWF Award: Amazonia, Thierry Ragobert, Brazil and France (documentary)
Brian Award: Philomena, Stephen Frears, UK, USA and France
CICT-UNESCO Enrico Fulchignoni Award: Joe, David Gordon Green, USA
Cinema for Unicef Award: Philomena, Stephen Frears, UK, USA and France
Christopher D. Smithers Foundation Award: Joe, David Gordon Green, USA
Civitas Vitae Award: Still Life, Uberto Pasolini, UK and Italy
Fondazione Rotella Award: Gianni Amelio for L'Intrepido, Italy
Gillo Pontecorvo Arcobaleno Latino Award: Con Il Fiato Sospeso, Costanza Quatriglio, Italy (short)
Green Drop Award: Ana Arabia, Amos Gitai, Israel and France
INTERFILM Award: Philomena, Stephen Frears, UK, USA and France
Lanterna Magica Award (GCS): L'Intrepido, Gianni Amelio, Italy
Open Award: Venezia Salva, Serena Nono, Italy
Padre Nazareno Taddei Award: Philomena, Stephen Frears, UK, USA and France
Schermi di qualità Award: Zoran, il mio nipote scemo (Zoran, My Nephew the Idiot), Matteo Oleotto, Italy and Slovenia

Career Golden Lion: William Friedkin
Fondazione Ente dello Spettacolo Robert Bresson Award: Amos Gitai
Jaeger-LeCoultre Glory to the Filmmaker 2013 prize: Ettore Scola
L'Oreal Paris per il Cinema Award: Eugenia Costantini
Persol Award: Andrzej Wajda
Premio Bianchi: Enzo d’Alò
Premio Gillo Pontecorvo Arte e Industria: Walter Veltroni

7th Queer Lion Lineup and Winner

A few minutes ago the winner was announced and to my surprise this year Queer Lion winner is a film that I'm really looking forward to watch, which is highly unusual!

... and the winner is:

Philomena, Stephen Frears, UK, USA and France (G)

The jury, headed by Angelo Acerbi and composed by Queer Lion founder Daniel N. Casagrande and Marco Busato, general delegate of cultural association CinemArte, unanimously awarded the prize "For the ability of giving proper relevance to issues such as homosexuality, AIDS and homophobia in a movie focused on the painful topic of a 50 years long search for a son, and for emphasizing, with the light touch of a comedy, how an humble woman with a deep Catholic faith can show outright and loving acceptance for the essential, important aspects of the sexual identity and same-sex family of a 'just re-discovered' son."

---///---
8/21
Today finally was published the list of the nine (9) films that will compete for the 2013 Queer Lion and here they are with a small summary for each film.

Venezia 70 (Main Competition)
Philomena, Stephen Frears, UK, USA and France (G)
Falling pregnant as a teenager in Ireland in 1952, Philomena was sent to the convent of Roscrea to be looked after as a “fallen woman.” When her baby was only a toddler, he was taken away by the nuns for adoption in America. Philomena spent the next fifty years searching for him but with no success. Then she met Martin Sixsmith, a world-weary political journalist who happened to be intrigued by her story. Together they set off to America on a journey that would not only reveal the extraordinary story of Philomena’s son (who had become a great lawyer, front-man for the Republican Party under Reagan’s and Bush Sr.’s administrations; but who was also gay, forced by his party’s homophobic views to lead a double life, until his tragic departure, at 43, due to AIDS), but also create an unexpectedly close bond between Philomena and Martin. The film is a compelling narrative of human love and loss that ultimately celebrates life.

Tom à la ferme (Tom at the Farm), Xavier Dolan, Canada and France (G)
Tom, a young advertising copywriter, travels to the country for a funeral. There, he’s shocked to find out no one knows who he is, nor who he was to the deceased, whose brother soon sets the rules of a twisted game. In order to protect the family’s name and grieving mother, Tom now has to play the peacekeeper in a household whose obscure past bodes even greater darkness for his “trip” to the farm. Stockholm syndrome, deception, grief and secretive savageries pervade this brief and brutal pilgrimage through the warped and ugly truth.

Via Castellana Bandiera (A Street in Palermo),Emma Dante, Italy, Switzerland and France (L)
It’s a Sunday afternoon. The sirocco is blowing pitilessly in Palermo when Rosa and Clara, a lesbian couple, lose their way in the streets of the city and end up in a sort of alley: Via Castellana Bandiera. At the same moment, another car driven by Samira, crammed with members of the Calafiore family, arrives from the opposite direction and enters the same street. Neither Rosa at the wheel of her Multipla, nor Samira, the old and stubborn woman driving a Punto, is willing to give way to the other. A wholly female duel punctuated by the refusal to drink, eat and sleep; more obstinate than the sun of Palermo and more stubborn than the ferocity of the men who surround them. For, as in every duel, it is a question of life or death.

Orizzonti
Eastern Boys, Robin Campillo, France (G)
They come from all over Eastern Europe: Russia, Ukraine, Moldova... The oldest ones appear no more than 25; as for the youngest, there is no way of telling their age. They spend all their time hanging around the Gare du Nord train station in Paris. They might be male prostitutes. Daniel, a discreet man in his early fifties, has his eye on one of them, Marek. Gathering his courage, he speaks to him. The young man agrees to come and visit Daniel the following day at his place, with wholly unpredictable consequences. Daniel will have to learn to fight to defend himself and the youth from the violent reaction of the group, led by a brutal man who is determined not to loosen his grip.

Piccola Patria, Alessandro Rossetto, Italy (L)
Two young women, a hot and stifling summer, the desire to get away from a small provincial town. Luisa is full of life, uninhibited, unconventional; Renata is dark, angry, in need of love. The lives of the two women tell a story of blackmail, of betrayed love, of violence: Luisa uses Bilal, her Albanian boyfriend, Renata uses Luisa’s body to pull the strings of her vendetta. Both want to leave the small community that raised them, among local festivals and nationalist rallies, exhausted families and new generations of migrants targeted by those still feeling threatened. Luisa, Renata and Bilal will run the risk of losing themselves, of losing a precious part of themselves, of losing the people they love, of losing their life.

Giornate degli Autori
3 Bodas de Más (Three Many Weddings), Javier Ruiz Caldera, Spain (G)
Is there anything worse than being invited to your ex-boyfriend´s wedding? Sure! When it happens three times in one month, when you don´t know how to say no, when you are an awkward 30-something who loses it after a couple drinks, when the only person you can convince to be your date is the new intern, and when at one of the weddings you are up for a huge surprise, when it comes to the sentence “you may now kiss the bride”.

Gerontophilia, Bruce LaBruce, Canada (G)
18-year-old Lake has a sweet activist girlfriend, but one day discovers he has an unusual attraction for the elderly. Fate conspires to land him a summer job at a nursing home where he develops a tender relationship with Mr. Peabody. Discovering that the patients are being over-medicated to make them easier to manage, Lake decides to wean him off his medication and help him escape, resulting in a humorous and heartfelt road trip that strengthens their bond.

Julia, J. Jackie Baier, Germany and Lithuania (documentary) (T)
A story of faith and disbelief. Of uprootedness and affiliation. What makes a boy from art school decide to leave home and live as a girl on the streets of Berlin selling her body for money? For more than ten years, photographer and filmmaker J. Jackie Baier followed transsexual Julia K. from her birthplace, Klaipeda in Lithuania, to her tough life on the streets as a hooker, outlaw and nonconformist who never signed any social contract.

Kill Your Darlings, John Krokidas, USA (G)
Kerouac. Burroughs. Ginsberg. Who were they, though, before they became virtual icons of the counterculture movement? In 1944, Jack Kerouac was a washed-up college running back who had lasted all of eight days in the U.S. Navy. William S. Burroughs was a medical school dropout, former door-to-door insect exterminator and budding drug addict, hanging on the fringes of the New York bohemian scene after following a pair of friends from his native St. Louis, Lucien Carr and David Kammerer, to Manhattan. Allen Ginsberg was a nervous, straitlaced freshman at Columbia University, easy prey of Carr’s seduction games and his obsession with the charismatic Kammerer. This is the story of three future beats who fell in with each other, and a brutal murder that capped off their youthful partnership.

Settimana della Critica
L’Armée du salut (Salvation Army), Abdellah Taïa, France (G)
In Casablanca, the young Abdellah spends his days at home, living a relationship of conflicts and complicity with his father. In the city streets, he has occasional sexual intercourses with men. During a holiday, his older and venerated brother Slimane abandons him. Ten years later. Abdellah lives with his Swiss lover, Jean. He leaves Morocco and goes to Geneva, where he decides to break up and to start a new life alone. He takes shelter in a house of the Salvation Army, where a Moroccan man sings a song of his idol Abdel Halim Hafez for him.

Furthermore, NOT competing, but worthy of being mentioned for their secondary LGBT contents, are Stephen Frears’s Philomena (Venezia 70), Paul Schrader’s The Canyons (Out of Competition), Cherien Dabis’s May in the Summer (Venice Days), Moisés Sepúlveda’s Las Analfabetas (International Critics’ Week). And we cannot  forget mentioning the restored version of Nagisa Ôshima’s masterpiece Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence.

As usual, during the Festival the jury might decide to include in the competition movies not mentioned in this list.

On Saturday, September 7th, at Cinema Astra in Lido, Special Event with the screening of Il rosa nudo by Giovanni Coda, the Queer Lion 2013 award ceremony, and the debate Lotta all’omofobia: quali strumenti? (Fighting Homophobia: How?) at the presence of Sen. Josefa Idem, M.P. Alessandro Zan, and president of Gaynet Franco Grillini.

Up to this moment the jury has three members Angelo Acerbi (president), Daniel N. Casagrande and Marco Busato.

Here is a recently published document that has a bit of the award history plus several award winners in past editions. Available only in Italian.