Filed under: film, gay rights, pop culture | Tags: carpetbagger, david carr, film, gay, gus van sant, milk, sean penn
Just caught a video of the NYT’s arts columnist David Carr interviewing Sean Penn. I like Carr, aka “The Carpetbagger”–he’s somewhat cranky, approachable yet smart, and an all-around good guy. When I’m watching the videos that he produces for the Times, he always seems to be amazed that he gets to interview movie stars and write about film for a living.
In his video from the New York Film Critics’ awards, he interviews Penn about his buzzworthy performance in Milk. I’m not shy to post again about Gus Van Sant’s fantastic–and important–film about Harvey Milk, the man who stood up for civil rights in San Francisco, before he was assasinated by a jealous colleague. My guess is that Sean Penn will score an Oscar nomination, but fall short of winning the actual Best Actor award because of Hollywood’s (or the general public’s?) fear of recognizing the contributions of gay men and women.
Or maybe I’m just seeing the glass as half full. Oscar nominations come out on Thursday, January 22.
And for God’s sake, if you haven’t seen Milk yet, what are you waiting for?
Filed under: film | Tags: gay, gus van sant, harvey milk, marriage, sean penn
I’m fairly excited by the opening of Gus Van Sant’s Milk in theatres today. A little giddy to be honest, like the night that Brokeback Mountain opened and the Coolidge Corner Moviehouse (the best theatre in Boston) was packed with gay men and lesbians, coming together to witness a ground-breaking moment for mainstream America. Even reminds me a bit of the historic moment when Cambridge City Hall opened its doors at midnight to officiate the nation’s first gay marriages in May 2004 (check it out Rush Limbaugh–it’s been four years of same-sex marriage and our nation hasn’t been swallowed up in an apocalypse).
The timing of Milk’s opening is great; what else do Americans have to do tonight? Why not treat a straight friend to the cinema tonight instead of slouching on the sofa with a bag of Cheetos?
Towleroad has collected extensive coverage of the film, including Sean Penn’s eloquent comments on the leadership of Harvey Milk:
Penn said, in an interview late last week, “I think less people would have died of AIDS [if Harvey Milk had not been assassinated]. I think Ronald Reagan would have been forced to address it. [Milk] was a leader, and he happened to be focused on the gay movement. He would have advanced that argument a lot sooner. I think people are dead because he died too soon.”
Penn also condemned Prop 8: “If we could have no excuse for being ignorant in human history, then the punishment for support of Proposition 8 would be minimally manslaughter. There will be teenage boys who will hang themselves [because of this].”
If you haven’t heard yet, avoid Cinemark theaters because the movie chain’s Mormon owner donated thousands to discriminate against same-sex marriage.
Get out there and support this important film!
