Relief!

Just sent in my final write up for this year's Festival program. Onwards to proofreading! But that is nothing compared to the tedious job of writing and editing. Kudos to my partner in crime, Jessica Wilkie, for all the crazy last-minute writing. OMG, I think I'm going to go work out to celebrate.

This also means I'm back to posting here regularly. Did you miss me?

~MG

Busy!

Sorry about the absence of more blog postings here. We are after all busy putting together another fab lineup for you this year. This is just the craziest time of the year for ImageOut Programming. Sometimes, frustration can be at an all-time high. Ugh! But we'll pop up here and there. Stay tuned.

~MG

Global Surprises

I'm not sure what those 80+ obscure foreign correspondents were thinking but it seems like either you have to be foreign, dead or Kate Winslet to win a Golden Globe film award this year. I think this is the year that the GG results will drastically differ from the Oscar choices.

In a year with a tough competitive field for female acting awards, it's hard to imagine Kate Winslet winning both Lead and Supporting categories. Love her and she is due for a major award. But the Kate-lovefest was too too much last Sunday.

I also love SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE but I did not foresee the recent landslide of awards it has been getting. I still think the Oscar would take a different route. Is this going to be another SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE?

Hooray for Mickey Rourke! Sean Penn is still #1 in my list but Rourke's win is a welcome surprise. By the way, all the actors in Rourke's category were Americans. I'm sure it would have gone to someone British if there was one among the nominees.

Can't wait for the SAG awards and the Oscar nominations!

Valky-what?

So you've probably seen the trailer for the new Tom Cruise project VALKYRIE opening this Christmas. It looks good and grand, although I have issues with the hairstyling of TC's character. But how come no one is talking about the movie. And it's not figuring prominently in the early awards. Have critics even seen it yet?

The even bigger question is: Can you still take Tom Cruise seriously?

Golden Globe 2008 Nominations

Have you seen what the Hollywood Foreign Press chose for their best in film and TV this past year? Some were expected (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Frost/Nixon, the cast of Doubt). Some were mild surprises (Revolutionary Road, The Reader, the uneven choices for Comedy or Musical categories, lack of Gran Torino and The Dark Knight nominations). But some were downright headscratchers (no love for Milk except for Sean Penn's nomination, no Taraji P. Henson for her supporting role in Benjamin Button, and Tom Cruise in Tropic Thunder over any of the Milk supporting guys).

Do not even start with the TV choices with me.

What do you think?

Check the compete list of nominees.

Note: Stay tuned for my reviews of THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON and DOUBT coming in the next few days.

~ MG

Montreal etc.

Traveled to Montreal over the Thanksgiving Holiday to attend the last half of Image+Nation, their LGBT Film Festival. Thanks to my good friends Charlie and Katharine for giving me an all-access pass on the fly. They were very accommodating. There were a couple of French films in their lineup that I have not seen anywhere and they were both wonderful! I'll have to see how they hold up for next year's ImageOut planning. But also saw a lot of shorts and a few films that I wanted to see play on the big screen and with an audience. The trip was definitely worth it.

Heard that MILK did really well over the weekend in its limited release. Miami was the only place where it did not do as great compared to SF, LA, and NYC. What were those Southern boys (and belles) thinking? Was it too nice outside? =) Can't wait to see it on Thursday when I sit in for the Rochester press screening.

But first, I'll get to see THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON tomorrow. Just another busy week at the cinema for me.

P.S. Thanks to my good (pinoy) friend Emmanuel for being a fabulous host in Montreal. See you and Rejean soon!

Cinemark Boycott

Yes, but it is apparently a dirty seat! You might have already received an email regarding the campaign to boycott Cinemark-operated theaters (which locally runs Tinseltown, IMAX, and Movies 10 -- I believe). The emails going around say that Alan Stock, CEO of Cinemark Theaters, donated $9,999 to anti-gay Prop. 8. Bad boy. Might not be easy to stay away from Movies 10 because of the very reasonable. But The Cinema also has reasonable prices. And maybe you can just watch BOLT in a regular theater instead of IMAX and check out other local theaters especially The Little and The Dryden in downtown Rochester. They have better movies anyway. =)

For more information, check out No Milk for Cinemark.

Holiday Movies

There is going to be a barrage of holiday films in the next few weeks. And a lot of them are high profile projects and are likely to be Oscar contenders. Aside from MILK (which I hope to attend a preview screening for in a couple of weeks since it will not open in Rochester until mid-December), I don't really see a lot the films with significant LGBT content. Or am I missing something? Of course, there are still a lot of films that I'm excited for including TWILIGHT (only three more days!), THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON, REVOLUTIONARY ROAD, AUSTRALIA, DOUBT, THE WRESTLER, and SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE (still not here in Rochester) and more.

What films are you most looking forward to?

Frost/Nixon at Geva

I think it's interesting that FROST/NIXON (the play) is currently being staged at Geva. Perfect timing for the film adaptation to get free publicity here in the Rochester area. I heard it's a good stage production. I'm just a bit of a snob since I saw it in NYC a couple of years ago with the original Broadway cast (Frank Langella and Michael Sheen). So I'll save my money and skip the show. Hehe.

It's a great play but I'm not sure how well it will translate onto the big screen. It's a bit too talky and is perfect for stage. I'd be interested in seeing how that works. I'm sure Langella is just as fabulous as he was in his Tony-winning performance on stage. But of course, I'm rooting for Sean Penn for MILK. It will be an interesting 3-way fight for the Best Actor trophy (including Mickey Rourke for THE WRESTLER).

Watch the MILK trailer here.

The Roger Ebert Controversy

Now that I have posted our Audience Award winners this year, I was wondering if you guys have read Roger Ebert's controversial review of TRU LOVED. He basically lambasted the film but the kicker is he only watched the first 8 minutes of the film (oh I just noticed that he has since watched the whole film and posted a new review). I think that was a bad call. What do you think? Should Mr. Ebert just retire from being a critic? Did you see the film in our festival? Do you agree with the review? Use the comments section to discuss.

Check this link for more on the issue.

To Read or Not To Read

Subtitled films have always been a hard sell -- not just for our audiences here but in many other US cities as well. Is it because people are just too lazy to read? Now I was just reading an article in the NY Times and someone said that subtitles are becoming acceptable to more people nowadays. And this welcome trend is being attributed to the popularity of text messaging, IM, and even emails to some extent. People are being forced to read more and more!

Anyway, we have tons of great foreign films and it would be a shame if you'd miss them just because you stay away from subtitles.

I'll take this opportunity to make a correction -- GRIMM LOVE as printed in the Festival program was mistakenly labeled as a subtitled film. It's actually in English! No subtitles required.

OTTO; OR, UP WITH DEAD PEOPLE is another one that is really mostly in English. I don't even remember subtitles to be honest.