list http://www.spout.com/ Recent community activity around Kinsey on Spout Copyright 2005-9 Spout, LLC Spout RSS http://www.spout.com/images/SpoutLogoRSS.jpg http://www.spout.com/ 136 30 http://www.spout.com/films/Kinsey/230200/default.aspx Title: Kinsey
Year: 2004
Director: Bill Condon
Plot: Alfred Kinsey was an entomologist who taught at Indiana University and had a keen interest in an area of human behavior that had seen little scholarly research -- human sexuality. While the courtship and reproductive patterns of animals had been carefully documented, Kinsey believed that most "established facts" about human sexual behavior were a matter of conjecture rather than research and that what most people said about their sex lives was not born out by the evidence (a subject that had personal resonance for him given the troubles he and his wife Clara Kinsey had in the early days of their marriage). After introducing a course in "Marriage" at Indiana University which offered frank and factual information on sex to students, Kinsey began an exhaustive series of interviews with a wide variety of people from all walks of life in order to find out the truth about sex practices in America. When he published Sexual Behavior and the Human Male in 1948, his findings were wildly controversial, indicating that most men had a wider variety of sexual experiences than most people imagined, including a number of practices commonly thought to be dangerous or perverted (including pre-marital sex, same-sex contacts, and masturbation). An even greater outcry greeted Kinsey's next volume, Sexual Behavior and the Human Female, which contradicted common notions than most women went into marriage sexually inexperienced. Kinsey is a film biography written and directed by Bill Condon which examines Kinsey's life and work from his strict childhood until his death in 1956. Liam Neeson plays Alfred Kinsey, and Laura Linney co-stars as Kinsey's wife and colleague Clara. John Lithgow highlights the supporting cast as Kinsey's repressed and moralistic father, while Chris O'Donnell, Peter Sarsgaard, and Timothy Hutton play members of Kinsey's research team and Tim Curry appears as an IU faculty member at odds with Kinsey's teachings. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Times Tagged: 19
Number of Lists: 15
Number of blog posts: 3
Number of discussion threads: 1
SpoutRating: 3
]]>Sat, 20 Jun 2009 16:32:06 GMTKinsey2004Bill CondonAlfred Kinsey was an entomologist who taught at Indiana University and had a keen interest in an area of human behavior that had seen little scholarly research -- human sexuality. While the courtship and reproductive patterns of animals had been carefully documented, Kinsey believed that most "established facts" about human sexual behavior were a matter of conjecture rather than research and that what most people said about their sex lives was not born out by the evidence (a subject that had personal resonance for him given the troubles he and his wife Clara Kinsey had in the early days of their marriage). After introducing a course in "Marriage" at Indiana University which offered frank and factual information on sex to students, Kinsey began an exhaustive series of interviews with a wide variety of people from all walks of life in order to find out the truth about sex practices in America. When he published Sexual Behavior and the Human Male in 1948, his findings were wildly controversial, indicating that most men had a wider variety of sexual experiences than most people imagined, including a number of practices commonly thought to be dangerous or perverted (including pre-marital sex, same-sex contacts, and masturbation). An even greater outcry greeted Kinsey's next volume, Sexual Behavior and the Human Female, which contradicted common notions than most women went into marriage sexually inexperienced. Kinsey is a film biography written and directed by <a href="/players/P____85649/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Bill Condon</a> which examines Kinsey's life and work from his strict childhood until his death in 1956. <a href="/players/P____52070/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Liam Neeson</a> plays Alfred Kinsey, and <a href="/players/P____42589/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Laura Linney</a> co-stars as Kinsey's wife and colleague Clara. <a href="/players/P____42686/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>John Lithgow</a> highlights the supporting cast as Kinsey's repressed and moralistic father, while <a href="/players/P____53411/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Chris O'Donnell</a>, <a href="/players/P___237700/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Peter Sarsgaard</a>, and <a href="/players/P____34188/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Timothy Hutton</a> play members of Kinsey's research team and <a href="/players/P____16268/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Tim Curry</a> appears as an IU faculty member at odds with Kinsey's teachings. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide19Tag Target (>10)15313http://www.spout.com/ProductImages/t57483zs8vw.jpghttp://www.spout.com/films/Kinsey/230200/default.aspxFilm http://www.spout.com/blogs/pippin06/archive/2009/6/20/42739.aspx Post By: pippin06
Post To: Reel Thoughts
Post Date: 6/20/2009 12:32:06 PM
Body: What's an Oscar Flashback (tm)? Read here: Next on my Netflix queue was Kinsey, for which Laura Linney was nominated for the Best Supporting Actress Oscar (film year, 2004; awarding year, 2005). The other nominees for Best Supporting Actress in this category were: The Aviator - Cate Blanchett (Winner) Closer - Natalie Portman Hotel Rwanda - Sophie Okonedo Sideways - Virginia Madsen This movie also represents the fourth of five LGBT-themed Oscar movies at the top of my Netflix queue (thanks to my stream of consciousness queuing). Just in case you were keeping track. It's been at least a week since I've seen this film, but for some reason (well, for good reason), I remember it distinctly. After all, it's a movie about sex! Well, it's actually a movie about Alfred Kinsey, the first and most renowned scientific researcher of sex and sexuality in humans, but since the topic is what it is, there was quite a bit of talk about sex without, you know, venturing into pornographic territory. It's hard to forget a film like that. Kinsey is, naturally, a biopic. Liam Neeson plays the title character and real-life scientist, and the film follows Kinsey from childhood with his strict, religious, and authoritarian father (John Lithgow), who wanted him to become an engineer and was sorely disappointed when Al chose insects and entomology, to his death. His primary research centered on the study of a specific genus of wasp, and he was very gifted, attracting the attention of equally gifted student Clara (Linney). His scientific attentions began to shift to the behavior patterns of human sexuality, partially borne out of his and Clara's own awkward courtship and ensuing difficulty in engaging in post-wedding sexual intercourse. His interest led him to postulate that most "evidence" of such behavior patterns was rooted in conjecture rather than research and documentation, and so, he devised a plan to poll research subjects and write a definitive treatise on the subject. Beginning with a "marriage" course at Indiana University, where sex was discussed openly, Kinsey began a series of frank interviews with persons of all types, aided by research assistants played by Chris O'Donnell, Peter Sarsgaard, and Timothy Hutton. He also devised the now renowned Kinsey scale of sexuality and eventually published Sexual Behavior in the Human Male, which was greeted with controversy, since it revealed that male sexual experiences were wider and more varied than expected, including practices contemporarily considered dangerous or perverted in the 40s, such as pre-marital sex and masturbation. When Kinsey attempted to publish a book with a female equivalent, his work was met with greater opposition. In the meantime, his own home life was complicated by his often frank and uncompromised discussion of sex and sexualtiy, his bisexual relationship with his assistant (Saarsgard), and his often dangerous yen to experiment sexually. Kinsey was a fascinating film in many ways. Written and directed by Bill Condon, who has many film credits to his name (including Gods and Monsters as director and Chicago as screenwriter), the film is a fairly comprehensive discussion of Kinsey and his work. Unfortunately, because his work was so complicated and so controversial, two hours of film did not leave enough room to fully flush out dynamics that were briefly touched upon but never given full treatment or resolution and that, frequently, detracted from the film's focus. For example, the film did well to portray some of the difficulties Kinsey and wife Clara had navigating open sexual waters, but, while Laura Linney was given scenes in which to display some of her sincerest emotional reactions, oftentimes, the end result of their troubles was never shown or was complicated by other complications in their lives that were never completely flushed out. There was also narrative time devoted to the struggles Kinsey's assistants had with open sexuality, particularly as they themselves aimed to commit to stable, heterosexual relationships, but these detours often seemed scattered. In many ways, there was too much going on all at once to make heads or tails of what the focus of the film ought to be, even as the focus should clearly have been Kinsey's life in the wake of his chosen life's work. That's not to say that the film itself wasn't a decent exploration of Kinsey and a decent biopic in and of itself. When the focus was more streamlined to connect Kinsey's work to the public response (including a subtly hilarious turn by Tim Curry as a university colleague opposed to Kinsey's teachings), the film was at its strongest. When the film juxtaposed Kinsey's arguably courageous choice of study against his austere father's traditionalist tendencies, the film was at its strongest. The film seemed to lose itself otherwise in the quagmire of emotions connected to everyone associated with Kinsey, which were all valid points of context for Kinsey's work and should have been included, even as their cohesion eroded throughout the film. His family was a logical focal nucleus, but even his children's struggles to cope with having such an unusual father were given only a scene's worth of treatment without re-addressing them later in the film. Is this broad exploration into Kinsey's associates and relations a flaw in the film, since the subject of Kinsey's work was such a broad and emotional topic that eventually, in some ways, spiralled out of control for the man who would pioneer these studies? Yes, in so far as such exploration bogged the film down, particularly as the film detoured into the personal lives of the assistants and their lovers or partners. Still, the performances were excellent and totally believable by every single cast member, and this film was engaging from beginning to end. Particularly impressive was Mr. Neeson, who tends to have a commanding presence in most of his films and who inhabits his characters (and he's played many real-life historical figures) with true passion and carefully researched skill and nuance. Linney is always good, but as I've officially seen all of the nominees in this category except for Sideways, at this juncture, I can safely say that Cate Blanchett deserved the award that year (and was a shoo-in at the time) for nailing a spot-on, truly eerie performance as Katharine Hepburn in the Aviator, even if I enjoyed this film far more than that one (for the record, The Aviator is my least favorite Scorsese film to date). I digress. Kinsey took on a heady (no pun intended) topic and, despite some narrative convolution, was actually an interesting and fascinating portrait of an interesting and fascinating man. Thus, in patented ratings-scale world, I believe it is fair to rate Kinsey a 7.5, for being between shaky/entertaining and having minor flaws but being very good. As for the test, I can't really see myself watching it repeatedly (and, therefore, it does not pass). It's an interesting film, but it's not the kind of film you can pull out for a giggle, unless you're truly a disciple of the man it's discussing. Still, as the only known film to broach this particular biography, I would recommend Kinsey, for the film's bravado and for the bravado of the inspiration behind it.
]]>Sat, 20 Jun 2009 16:32:06 GMTpippin06Reel Thoughts6/20/2009 12:32:06 PMWhat's an Oscar Flashback (tm)? Read here: Next on my Netflix queue was Kinsey, for which Laura Linney was nominated for the Best Supporting Actress Oscar (film year, 2004; awarding year, 2005). The other nominees for Best Supporting Actress in this category were: The Aviator - Cate Blanchett (Winner) Closer - Natalie Portman Hotel Rwanda - Sophie Okonedo Sideways - Virginia Madsen This movie also represents the fourth of five LGBT-themed Oscar movies at the top of my Netflix queue (thanks to my stream of consciousness queuing). Just in case you were keeping track. It's been at least a week since I've seen this film, but for some reason (well, for good reason), I remember it distinctly. After all, it's a movie about sex! Well, it's actually a movie about Alfred Kinsey, the first and most renowned scientific researcher of sex and sexuality in humans, but since the topic is what it is, there was quite a bit of talk about sex without, you know, venturing into pornographic territory. It's hard to forget a film like that. Kinsey is, naturally, a biopic. Liam Neeson plays the title character and real-life scientist, and the film follows Kinsey from childhood with his strict, religious, and authoritarian father (John Lithgow), who wanted him to become an engineer and was sorely disappointed when Al chose insects and entomology, to his death. His primary research centered on the study of a specific genus of wasp, and he was very gifted, attracting the attention of equally gifted student Clara (Linney). His scientific attentions began to shift to the behavior patterns of human sexuality, partially borne out of his and Clara's own awkward courtship and ensuing difficulty in engaging in post-wedding sexual intercourse. His interest led him to postulate that most "evidence" of such behavior patterns was rooted in conjecture rather than research and documentation, and so, he devised a plan to poll research subjects and write a definitive treatise on the subject. Beginning with a "marriage" course at Indiana University, where sex was discussed openly, Kinsey began a series of frank interviews with persons of all types, aided by research assistants played by Chris O'Donnell, Peter Sarsgaard, and Timothy Hutton. He also devised the now renowned Kinsey scale of sexuality and eventually published Sexual Behavior in the Human Male, which was greeted with controversy, since it revealed that male sexual experiences were wider and more varied than expected, including practices contemporarily considered dangerous or perverted in the 40s, such as pre-marital sex and masturbation. When Kinsey attempted to publish a book with a female equivalent, his work was met with greater opposition. In the meantime, his own home life was complicated by his often frank and uncompromised discussion of sex and sexualtiy, his bisexual relationship with his assistant (Saarsgard), and his often dangerous yen to experiment sexually. Kinsey was a fascinating film in many ways. Written and directed by Bill Condon, who has many film credits to his name (including Gods and Monsters as director and Chicago as screenwriter), the film is a fairly comprehensive discussion of Kinsey and his work. Unfortunately, because his work was so complicated and so controversial, two hours of film did not leave enough room to fully flush out dynamics that were briefly touched upon but never given full treatment or resolution and that, frequently, detracted from the film's focus. For example, the film did well to portray some of the difficulties Kinsey and wife Clara had navigating open sexual waters, but, while Laura Linney was given scenes in which to display some of her sincerest emotional reactions, oftentimes, the end result of their troubles was never shown or was complicated by other complications in their lives that were never completely flushed out. There was also narrative time devoted to the struggles Kinsey's assistants had with open sexuality, particularly as they themselves aimed to commit to stable, heterosexual relationships, but these detours often seemed scattered. In many ways, there was too much going on all at once to make heads or tails of what the focus of the film ought to be, even as the focus should clearly have been Kinsey's life in the wake of his chosen life's work. That's not to say that the film itself wasn't a decent exploration of Kinsey and a decent biopic in and of itself. When the focus was more streamlined to connect Kinsey's work to the public response (including a subtly hilarious turn by Tim Curry as a university colleague opposed to Kinsey's teachings), the film was at its strongest. When the film juxtaposed Kinsey's arguably courageous choice of study against his austere father's traditionalist tendencies, the film was at its strongest. The film seemed to lose itself otherwise in the quagmire of emotions connected to everyone associated with Kinsey, which were all valid points of context for Kinsey's work and should have been included, even as their cohesion eroded throughout the film. His family was a logical focal nucleus, but even his children's struggles to cope with having such an unusual father were given only a scene's worth of treatment without re-addressing them later in the film. Is this broad exploration into Kinsey's associates and relations a flaw in the film, since the subject of Kinsey's work was such a broad and emotional topic that eventually, in some ways, spiralled out of control for the man who would pioneer these studies? Yes, in so far as such exploration bogged the film down, particularly as the film detoured into the personal lives of the assistants and their lovers or partners. Still, the performances were excellent and totally believable by every single cast member, and this film was engaging from beginning to end. Particularly impressive was Mr. Neeson, who tends to have a commanding presence in most of his films and who inhabits his characters (and he's played many real-life historical figures) with true passion and carefully researched skill and nuance. Linney is always good, but as I've officially seen all of the nominees in this category except for Sideways, at this juncture, I can safely say that Cate Blanchett deserved the award that year (and was a shoo-in at the time) for nailing a spot-on, truly eerie performance as Katharine Hepburn in the Aviator, even if I enjoyed this film far more than that one (for the record, The Aviator is my least favorite Scorsese film to date). I digress. Kinsey took on a heady (no pun intended) topic and, despite some narrative convolution, was actually an interesting and fascinating portrait of an interesting and fascinating man. Thus, in patented ratings-scale world, I believe it is fair to rate Kinsey a 7.5, for being between shaky/entertaining and having minor flaws but being very good. As for the test, I can't really see myself watching it repeatedly (and, therefore, it does not pass). It's an interesting film, but it's not the kind of film you can pull out for a giggle, unless you're truly a disciple of the man it's discussing. Still, as the only known film to broach this particular biography, I would recommend Kinsey, for the film's bravado and for the bravado of the inspiration behind it. http://www.spout.com/blogs/spoutblog/archive/2009/1/30/40091.aspx Post By: SpoutBlog
Post To: SpoutBlog on spout.com
Post Date: 1/30/2009 1:00:46 PM
Body: It was shut out of the Oscar race for Best Documentary Feature, but Blessed is the Match: The Life and Death of Hannah Senesh, now playing in New York City, could easily inspire a Hollywood film about the life of its heroic subject. And that dramatic version could potentially garner multiple Academy Award nominations. It wouldn’t be the first time a figure documented in a nonfiction film was later portrayed in an Oscar-nominated movie. In fact, one of this year’s Best Picture contenders, Milk, is almost like a remake of the 1984 Oscar-winning documentary The Times of Harvey Milk. Actual dramatic remakes of documentaries include Werner Herzogs’ Rescue Dawn, which revisits the subject of his earlier nonfiction film Little Dieter Needs to Fly, Michael Caton-Jones’ Memphis Belle, which fictionalizes the story of William Wyler’s doc The Memphis Belle: A Story of a Flying Fortress, and Martin Bell’s American Heart, which is loosely based on one of the subjects of his Oscar-nominated doc Streetwise. Also, the upcoming HBO dramatic film Grey Gardens was inspired by the Maysles brothers’ doc of the same name, and Hollywood has toyed with or announced remakes of the films The King of Kong, Murderball, Bra Boys and Sherman’s March. To carry on the tradition, we’ve selected nine nonfiction films in addition to Blessed is the Match that would make great dramatic features. Beyond the Call (2006) This little-seen documentary has played at a number of film festivals (I reviewed it at Tribeca) and seems to have been quite popular at each, yet it isn’t likely that it’ll ever come to a theater near you. It may never even be available for your Netflix queue. But you’ve just got to see the work of the three old men who call themselves Knightsbridge, even if it has to be in a fictionalized form. So pray that someone in Hollywood grabs onto their story, which is filled with dangerous humanitarian aid missions and lots of humor. According to the doc’s official synopsis, the film is “an Indiana Jones meets Mother Theresa adventure,” and that’s just the kind of tagline that would suit a summer blockbuster based on this true story. Blessed is the Match: The Life and Death of Hannah Senesh (2008) One of the few Holocaust-related docs to not garner an Academy Award nomination, Roberta Grossman’s film is about Hannah Senesh, a Jewish poet who became part of a dangerous rescue mission to save Hungarian Jews and was eventually caught, tortured and executed by the Nazis. A dramatic film, which would be far more Hollywoodized than the doc’s re-enactment scenes, might be like a cross between Oscar-nominated films Defiance and Sophie Scholl – The Final Days. Brother’s Keeper (1992) Fratricide has made for great stories, from The Bible onward, but mainstream audiences may not run out to see a movie based on Brother’s Keeper, even if it does hold onto the Biblically influenced title. However, while homosexual incest and illiterate old country folk are difficult subjects to sell to moviegoers, murder mysteries will always fascinate people, and anyway the story of the Ward brothers could be more like a male Grey Gardens meets Capote than a dark, depressing drama that would only appeal to Sundance crowds. Changing Our Minds: The Story of Dr. Evelyn Hooker (1992) Now that the life of Harvey Milk has been turned into an Oscar-nominated dramatic feature, Hollywood should take on a biopic about Dr. Evelyn Hooker, whose life and work are depicted in this Oscar-nominated documentary from Richard Schmiechen (who also won an Oscar for producing The Times of Harvey Milk). Hooker’s research in the 1950s led to the discovery that homosexuality is not a disease. And subsequent study and activism resulted in the eventual removal, in 1974, of homosexuality from the American Psychiatric Association’s manual of mental disorders. A remake of Changing Our Minds would be like a cross between Milk and Kinsey. (note: the video above is not from Changing Our Minds, but is the best available alternative I have to present a clip of Hooker). Crazy Love (2007) In the typical Hollywood romance, female audiences see the same old reinforced fantasy about finding a man: while most guys lie, cheat, etc., there are Prince Charmings out there. Well, a dramatized version of Crazy Love might be the perfect romantic comedy for men to drag their girlfriends to. No, not to show them that they’d better not leave or they’ll get acid in the face. Rather, to say, “Look, no matter what I do, at least I’m not the kinda guy who blinds and disfigures the love of his life.” (Or, in other words, a lie to your face is not as bad as lye in your face.) Besides the appeal to boys who will be boys, however, a romantic comedy in which the couple meet, fall in love, are separated when the guy goes to prison for having the girl crippled, are reunited many years later, and eventually marry, is just crazy enough to hit a chord with moviegoers tired of the usual Renee Zellweger/Reese Witherspoon/Drew Barrymore crap. Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father (2008) In her review of this documentary, Karina writes that it “sets up a foundation which it knows it’s going to pull out from under us, and that makes it every bit as emotionally manipulative as a studio film.” Perfect, the film already offers Hollywood a structure for the dramatic version. Other than that, though, the remake would potentially focus on Shirley Turner, who murdered her boyfriend and then gave birth to his child, rather than on the character of Kurt Kuenne, who documents the story in the original. Then again, it could stick with Kuenne, and, though not be as personal as the nonfiction film, might be along the lines of an investigative drama, such as Zodiac. Either way, due to his name appearing in Karina’s review, M. Night Shyamalan has to direct it. Deliver Us from Evil (2006) With Doubt a big success as far as Oscar nominations go (if not as far as box office is concerned), it might be an okay time for Hollywood to make a film that’s more directly focused on the subject of pedophilic priests. It could hardly make less money than Doubt, and if a great actor were to portray Father O’Grady, it could be as popular with the Academy, which already nominated the original film for Best Documentary Feature. Golden Venture (2006) Another little-seen documentary that played Tribeca a few years ago (I reviewed the film then), Golden Venture depicts a failed attempt at an illegal alien smuggling operation and its aftermath. In its first ten minutes, the film offers enough action involving a sea voyage from China to New York City, during which there was mutiny, gang violence and ultimately a Coast Guard rescue, that a dramatic version might not even have time to get to the aftermath part. But as much as turning the doc into an action movie could work, the more interesting stuff relating to immigration and population control should be integrated, too. Like the original film, the dramatized version could separately follow the paths of four characters, each of whom has a different outcome. Tim Robbins, who narrated the doc, could direct it. Street Fight (2005) Newark Mayor Cory Booker’s name has been tossed about on news channels over the past few months due to his similarities with newly elected President Barack Obama. So, considering entertainment magazines predict the new administration will have an effect on pop culture, why not honor that idea by making a dramatic film about Booker’s battle with incumbent Sharpe James for City Hall. It would be a little like Milk, only without the gay rights angle or the tragic ending. And to make it more crowd-pleasing than Marshall Curry’s doc, the new movie wouldn’t end with Booker’s loss in 2002 but would see him all the way to the Mayor’s office in 2006. Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson (2004) Hollywood has never tired of boxing movies and it always loves a good civil rights struggle, so it’s amazing that no studio has tackled an official biopic about Jack Johnson, the first African-American Heavyweight Champion of the World. Sure, there’s The Great White Hope, which is somewhat based on Johnson’s life. And sure, if people want the truth they can check out this doc from Ken Burns (or, if it’s ever released on video, the earlier Oscar-nominated film Jack Johnson). But again, Hollywood never tires of boxing movies, and it always loves a good civil rights struggle, so perhaps it’s just a matter of time before we see this story dramatized for real. Originally posted on:SpoutBlog
]]>Fri, 30 Jan 2009 18:00:46 GMTSpoutBlogSpoutBlog on spout.com1/30/2009 1:00:46 PMIt was shut out of the Oscar race for Best Documentary Feature, but Blessed is the Match: The Life and Death of Hannah Senesh, now playing in New York City, could easily inspire a Hollywood film about the life of its heroic subject. And that dramatic version could potentially garner multiple Academy Award nominations. It wouldn’t be the first time a figure documented in a nonfiction film was later portrayed in an Oscar-nominated movie. In fact, one of this year’s Best Picture contenders, Milk, is almost like a remake of the 1984 Oscar-winning documentary The Times of Harvey Milk. Actual dramatic remakes of documentaries include Werner Herzogs’ Rescue Dawn, which revisits the subject of his earlier nonfiction film Little Dieter Needs to Fly, Michael Caton-Jones’ Memphis Belle, which fictionalizes the story of William Wyler’s doc The Memphis Belle: A Story of a Flying Fortress, and Martin Bell’s American Heart, which is loosely based on one of the subjects of his Oscar-nominated doc Streetwise. Also, the upcoming HBO dramatic film Grey Gardens was inspired by the Maysles brothers’ doc of the same name, and Hollywood has toyed with or announced remakes of the films The King of Kong, Murderball, Bra Boys and Sherman’s March. To carry on the tradition, we’ve selected nine nonfiction films in addition to Blessed is the Match that would make great dramatic features. Beyond the Call (2006) This little-seen documentary has played at a number of film festivals (I reviewed it at Tribeca) and seems to have been quite popular at each, yet it isn’t likely that it’ll ever come to a theater near you. It may never even be available for your Netflix queue. But you’ve just got to see the work of the three old men who call themselves Knightsbridge, even if it has to be in a fictionalized form. So pray that someone in Hollywood grabs onto their story, which is filled with dangerous humanitarian aid missions and lots of humor. According to the doc’s official synopsis, the film is “an Indiana Jones meets Mother Theresa adventure,” and that’s just the kind of tagline that would suit a summer blockbuster based on this true story. Blessed is the Match: The Life and Death of Hannah Senesh (2008) One of the few Holocaust-related docs to not garner an Academy Award nomination, Roberta Grossman’s film is about Hannah Senesh, a Jewish poet who became part of a dangerous rescue mission to save Hungarian Jews and was eventually caught, tortured and executed by the Nazis. A dramatic film, which would be far more Hollywoodized than the doc’s re-enactment scenes, might be like a cross between Oscar-nominated films Defiance and Sophie Scholl – The Final Days. Brother’s Keeper (1992) Fratricide has made for great stories, from The Bible onward, but mainstream audiences may not run out to see a movie based on Brother’s Keeper, even if it does hold onto the Biblically influenced title. However, while homosexual incest and illiterate old country folk are difficult subjects to sell to moviegoers, murder mysteries will always fascinate people, and anyway the story of the Ward brothers could be more like a male Grey Gardens meets Capote than a dark, depressing drama that would only appeal to Sundance crowds. Changing Our Minds: The Story of Dr. Evelyn Hooker (1992) Now that the life of Harvey Milk has been turned into an Oscar-nominated dramatic feature, Hollywood should take on a biopic about Dr. Evelyn Hooker, whose life and work are depicted in this Oscar-nominated documentary from Richard Schmiechen (who also won an Oscar for producing The Times of Harvey Milk). Hooker’s research in the 1950s led to the discovery that homosexuality is not a disease. And subsequent study and activism resulted in the eventual removal, in 1974, of homosexuality from the American Psychiatric Association’s manual of mental disorders. A remake of Changing Our Minds would be like a cross between Milk and Kinsey. (note: the video above is not from Changing Our Minds, but is the best available alternative I have to present a clip of Hooker). Crazy Love (2007) In the typical Hollywood romance, female audiences see the same old reinforced fantasy about finding a man: while most guys lie, cheat, etc., there are Prince Charmings out there. Well, a dramatized version of Crazy Love might be the perfect romantic comedy for men to drag their girlfriends to. No, not to show them that they’d better not leave or they’ll get acid in the face. Rather, to say, “Look, no matter what I do, at least I’m not the kinda guy who blinds and disfigures the love of his life.” (Or, in other words, a lie to your face is not as bad as lye in your face.) Besides the appeal to boys who will be boys, however, a romantic comedy in which the couple meet, fall in love, are separated when the guy goes to prison for having the girl crippled, are reunited many years later, and eventually marry, is just crazy enough to hit a chord with moviegoers tired of the usual Renee Zellweger/Reese Witherspoon/Drew Barrymore crap. Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father (2008) In her review of this documentary, Karina writes that it “sets up a foundation which it knows it’s going to pull out from under us, and that makes it every bit as emotionally manipulative as a studio film.” Perfect, the film already offers Hollywood a structure for the dramatic version. Other than that, though, the remake would potentially focus on Shirley Turner, who murdered her boyfriend and then gave birth to his child, rather than on the character of Kurt Kuenne, who documents the story in the original. Then again, it could stick with Kuenne, and, though not be as personal as the nonfiction film, might be along the lines of an investigative drama, such as Zodiac. Either way, due to his name appearing in Karina’s review, M. Night Shyamalan has to direct it. Deliver Us from Evil (2006) With Doubt a big success as far as Oscar nominations go (if not as far as box office is concerned), it might be an okay time for Hollywood to make a film that’s more directly focused on the subject of pedophilic priests. It could hardly make less money than Doubt, and if a great actor were to portray Father O’Grady, it could be as popular with the Academy, which already nominated the original film for Best Documentary Feature. Golden Venture (2006) Another little-seen documentary that played Tribeca a few years ago (I reviewed the film then), Golden Venture depicts a failed attempt at an illegal alien smuggling operation and its aftermath. In its first ten minutes, the film offers enough action involving a sea voyage from China to New York City, during which there was mutiny, gang violence and ultimately a Coast Guard rescue, that a dramatic version might not even have time to get to the aftermath part. But as much as turning the doc into an action movie could work, the more interesting stuff relating to immigration and population control should be integrated, too. Like the original film, the dramatized version could separately follow the paths of four characters, each of whom has a different outcome. Tim Robbins, who narrated the doc, could direct it. Street Fight (2005) Newark Mayor Cory Booker’s name has been tossed about on news channels over the past few months due to his similarities with newly elected President Barack Obama. So, considering entertainment magazines predict the new administration will have an effect on pop culture, why not honor that idea by making a dramatic film about Booker’s battle with incumbent Sharpe James for City Hall. It would be a little like Milk, only without the gay rights angle or the tragic ending. And to make it more crowd-pleasing than Marshall Curry’s doc, the new movie wouldn’t end with Booker’s loss in 2002 but would see him all the way to the Mayor’s office in 2006. Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson (2004) Hollywood has never tired of boxing movies and it always loves a good civil rights struggle, so it’s amazing that no studio has tackled an official biopic about Jack Johnson, the first African-American Heavyweight Champion of the World. Sure, there’s The Great White Hope, which is somewhat based on Johnson’s life. And sure, if people want the truth they can check out this doc from Ken Burns (or, if it’s ever released on video, the earlier Oscar-nominated film Jack Johnson). But again, Hollywood never tires of boxing movies, and it always loves a good civil rights struggle, so perhaps it’s just a matter of time before we see this story dramatized for real. Originally posted on:SpoutBlog http://www.spout.com/blogs/cinemarian/archive/2008/5/12/28733.aspx Post By: CinemaRian
Post To: CinemaRian Blog
Post Date: 5/12/2008 10:05:33 PM
Body: What kind of guy decides to become the world's first sex scientist? A brave pioneer, who merely wants to learn what no one else studied before, or a serious perv who just wants to learn more because, he's, uh, entertained by learning it? According to Bill Condon's movie, Alfred Kinsey was somewhere in the middle. He was indeed capable of studying sex with a clinical detachment, but he certainly had no qualms in his personal life. I found him to be a sort of male version of that creepy old woman who hosts that sex show on TV. You are glad that someone is telling you the stuff you always wondered about, but you aren't really sure that this is the guy you want to learn in it from. It is hard to anyone living in today's sex-drenched society to try to understand how groundbreaking Kinsey's work was. Without exaggeration, he might be called the Charles Darwin of sex, and much of his conclusions are still controversial today. He discovered that homosexual, pre-marital, and extra-marital sex with far more common than originally thought. Homosexuality, in particular was astonishing- he found that one third of all men had had some kind of homosexual experience, something I have a hard time believing. He also concluded that sexuality is a continuum- inventing the Kinsey scale from zero to six, (zero being exclusively straight and six being Freddie Mercury) and found that most people are somewhere in the middle (in the movie, he says he considers himself a three). More broadly, he found that sex desires are somewhat like fingerprints- each individual person has a different level of desire, from the middle aged guy who says he climaxed once in his entire life (and is okay with it), to the women who says that she and her husband have sex three times daily (and is really, really okay with it). Needless to say, this stuff angered a great many people in one of the most conservative times in American history, and today many social conservatives and evangelicals hate Kinsey's guts and some even accuse him of being a pedophile. (Some real scientists have empirical problems with his findings, saying that his findings may be biased with an unrepresentative sample.) Nonetheless, the public at large was taken with it- Sexual Behavior in the Human Male became a best-seller, something few other books about science can claim. And I have now spent the majority of the review describing the real Kinsey instead of the movie. Condon's film takes an interesting approach- keeping the film light-hearted while not totally entering the realm of comedy. Perhaps this approach was necessary because of the understandably strange sex lives of its characters, or the film would have been greeted with nervous laughter at inappropriate places. However, that tactic did not totally work with me- there came a point where I sort of stopped caring, because the movie seemed to go one too many weird places. Kinsey believed that sex could be separated from love, and I guess that Condon feels the same way, even though there are scenes where Kinsey hurts his wife (Laura Linney) by sleeping with his assistant (Peter Saarsgard) and she hurts him back the same way, both while claiming that everything was "just physical". It's also a little unsettling, like the real Kinsey, the film sometimes has an unintended shock value, with all the frank, euphemism free discussion of "banging the gong". I would not say that Kinsey is a particularly special movie, but it is interesting to a point and effective as a biopic. Kinsey (2004)
]]>Tue, 13 May 2008 02:05:33 GMTCinemaRianCinemaRian Blog5/12/2008 10:05:33 PMWhat kind of guy decides to become the world's first sex scientist? A brave pioneer, who merely wants to learn what no one else studied before, or a serious perv who just wants to learn more because, he's, uh, entertained by learning it? According to Bill Condon's movie, Alfred Kinsey was somewhere in the middle. He was indeed capable of studying sex with a clinical detachment, but he certainly had no qualms in his personal life. I found him to be a sort of male version of that creepy old woman who hosts that sex show on TV. You are glad that someone is telling you the stuff you always wondered about, but you aren't really sure that this is the guy you want to learn in it from. It is hard to anyone living in today's sex-drenched society to try to understand how groundbreaking Kinsey's work was. Without exaggeration, he might be called the Charles Darwin of sex, and much of his conclusions are still controversial today. He discovered that homosexual, pre-marital, and extra-marital sex with far more common than originally thought. Homosexuality, in particular was astonishing- he found that one third of all men had had some kind of homosexual experience, something I have a hard time believing. He also concluded that sexuality is a continuum- inventing the Kinsey scale from zero to six, (zero being exclusively straight and six being Freddie Mercury) and found that most people are somewhere in the middle (in the movie, he says he considers himself a three). More broadly, he found that sex desires are somewhat like fingerprints- each individual person has a different level of desire, from the middle aged guy who says he climaxed once in his entire life (and is okay with it), to the women who says that she and her husband have sex three times daily (and is really, really okay with it). Needless to say, this stuff angered a great many people in one of the most conservative times in American history, and today many social conservatives and evangelicals hate Kinsey's guts and some even accuse him of being a pedophile. (Some real scientists have empirical problems with his findings, saying that his findings may be biased with an unrepresentative sample.) Nonetheless, the public at large was taken with it- Sexual Behavior in the Human Male became a best-seller, something few other books about science can claim. And I have now spent the majority of the review describing the real Kinsey instead of the movie. Condon's film takes an interesting approach- keeping the film light-hearted while not totally entering the realm of comedy. Perhaps this approach was necessary because of the understandably strange sex lives of its characters, or the film would have been greeted with nervous laughter at inappropriate places. However, that tactic did not totally work with me- there came a point where I sort of stopped caring, because the movie seemed to go one too many weird places. Kinsey believed that sex could be separated from love, and I guess that Condon feels the same way, even though there are scenes where Kinsey hurts his wife (Laura Linney) by sleeping with his assistant (Peter Saarsgard) and she hurts him back the same way, both while claiming that everything was "just physical". It's also a little unsettling, like the real Kinsey, the film sometimes has an unintended shock value, with all the frank, euphemism free discussion of "banging the gong". I would not say that Kinsey is a particularly special movie, but it is interesting to a point and effective as a biopic. Kinsey (2004) http://www.spout.com/groups/Range_of_Character/Re_Range_of_Characters/235/5132/1/ShowPost.aspx Post By: porcupine
Post To: Range of Character
Post Date: 1/29/2007 10:50:56 AM
Body: Another one: Liam Neeson. What else could the following films have in common?Les Miserables The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe Batman Begins Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace Schindler's List Kinsey Sex therapist, Christ-like lion, AND Jedi? Beat that range.
]]>Mon, 29 Jan 2007 15:50:56 GMTporcupineRange of Character1/29/2007 10:50:56 AMAnother one: Liam Neeson. What else could the following films have in common?Les Miserables The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe Batman Begins Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace Schindler's List Kinsey Sex therapist, Christ-like lion, AND Jedi? Beat that range. http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/sex/MemberTagFilms.aspxsex
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