Due to the criticism and controversy of an alleged date-rape scene in Observe and Report, we bring you yet another list of sex scenes, this one focused on cinematic moments that stirred protest, censorship, bans and boycotts. Whether groundbreaking for their time or still questionable today, these scenes could probably have been included in our past highlights of films sold on a sex scene and films remembered primarily for a sex scene. But these are not leftovers. Many of them have merits and memorability outside of their “upsetting” depictions of a sexual act, though many of their objectors wouldn’t know since they never actually saw the films themselves.
One disclaimer must be made, because we’re sure commenters will jump in otherwise asking why A Clockwork Orange and other films with controversial rape scenes have not been included. Besides the fact that many readers will argue that such scenes are not rightly labeled “sex scenes,” there’s also the matter that too many films feature gratuitous rape scenes, and most of the time these are met with criticism. Of course, there are also a number of controversial consensual sex scenes that we’ve had to leave out, so feel free to name any excluded titles after reading the list. …Read more
A prolific director of intimate, vitrolic, globally minded narrative shorts, Topaz Adizes got a taste of star studded Hollywood productions, having worked on Ridley Scott’s Kingdom of Heaven and Paul Thomas Anderson’s There Will Be Blood, before embarking on a terrific run of directorial efforts, including City (2006) and Letting Go (2008). Currently at work on his first feature, a globe trotting multi-strand piece titled Americana, he’s at Sundance this year with a short initially envisioned as a passage in that longer film, Trece anos, which can be seen above. We discuss the usual after the jump. …Read more
When I received the press release announcing The Film Society of Lincoln Center’s series “Lindsay Anderson: Revolutionary Romantic” (running from 8/15-8/21) I thought, well, that should be a fascinating retro. But then I noticed that Anderson’s quintessential discovery Malcolm McDowell would also be on hand to premiere his and Mike Kaplan’s Never Apologize: A Personal Visit with Lindsay Anderson and I thought, well, that should be…hot!
For over 20 years I’ve had a thing for McDowell – or, more precisely, the proudly nihilistic Alex he brought to life from the notorious Burgess book, if not as much so for Mick Travis, the embryonic Alex he created in Anderson’s classic trilogy. I first saw A Clockwork Orange around the age of ten (note to liberal academics attempting to enlighten their young offspring through art films – Kubrick? Not a good idea) and again later in high school. It was this teenage viewing of McDowell as the violent anarchist leader of a group of hoods, who is ultimately “rehabilitated” by an equally sadistic society, that stuck with me. So much so, that as all the other chicks in my small town dressed as Wonder Woman or Elvira or some similar character with adolescent sex appeal for Halloween, I anointed myself leader of my own band of droogs, eyelash and codpiece included. If you could overlook the raping and pillaging, Alex was one undeniably steamy paradox: a brilliant, sophisticated thug with precise lilting diction and a taste for Beethoven. And I wanted to be a – nonviolent – troublemaker outsmarting evil authority, too!
Though I first buzzed about an Academy Award nomination for Heath Ledger in The Dark Knightmore than a month before his death, I now want to take it all back. I feel all the talk of Ledger’s posthumous Oscar chances will cloud my mind when I finally do see it, and it will probably also cloud the Academy’s judgment, too. Six months from now, when the nominations are announced on January 22 (coincidentally the one-year anniversary of Ledger’s death), if Ledger is not recognized for his role as The Joker, there will surely be an uproar — actually, Hollywood might just up and self-implode.
I’m not the only one annoyed by all the Oscar buzz. Terry Gilliam, who directed Ledger in The Brothers Grimmand the upcoming The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, is calling “bullshit” on the whole thing, particularly against Warner Bros., which Gilliam accuses of exploiting Ledger’s death and chance of a posthumous Oscar for publicity purposes. Considering most Oscar campaigns for live actors are really just part of movie marketing, he has a good point.
There are a number of accomplished actors who have worked with infamously bad filmmaker Uwe Boll: Sir Ben Kingsley; Geraldine Chaplin; Clint Howard. And many of those actors have worked with some great filmmakers. Yet who would think to ask Kingsley how Boll compares to Spielberg or Polanski, or Chaplin how Boll compares to David Lean or Robert Altman, or Howard how Boll compares to his brother Ron. Well, Shawn Adler of MTV Movies Blog decided that it would be really amusing if he askedLeelee Sobieski to comment on any similarities between Boll and Stanley Kubrick. Surprisingly, she managed to squeeze out a decent answer — at least considering she’s on camera to wholeheartedly promote her and Boll’s film In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale and has to say something nice about the director.
Sobieski may not be the best person to ask, though. She was only 15 when she appeared in Kubrick’s Eyes Wide Shut, and that film isn’t even considered to be on par with the filmmaker’s regular work. Still, she obviously understands the clear distinctions between “the greatest filmmaker of all time” and “the worst director of all time,” as Kubrick and Boll are respectively labeled, and she gives a good response in saying that both ask a lot of questions and both deserve respect for getting things done and not being lazy. As for the rest, its a cop-out, though a good save publicity-wise, but still makes perfect sense as an apples vs. oranges kind of comparison. Even Kingsley, who has been in his share of terrible films (only one of which is Boll’s Bloodrayne) and likely has to defend his choices all the time, would probably say something along the same lines as Sobieski’s claim that people want to be stimulated in a “plethohra” of directions and that there’s room for intellectual films and “great” action movies.
Your Christmas weekend time suck is here, in the form of indieWIRE’s massive 2007 Critics Poll. There Will Be Blood takes top honors, but as usual, the real fun lies in investigating the individual ballots and spotting the idiosyncrasies. Behold Andrew Bujalski’s single vote for Best Supporting Actor! Marvel at the critic who gave almost equal love to Ken Jacobs and Blades of Glory! But before you do, decide whether you’re thrilled or infuriated to see Southland Tales land ten full places ahead of Atonement (I’m the former. I think.)
Speaking of There Will Be Blood, critics poll participant Filmbrain has posted some “sketches, fragments, and other half-baked ideas” about what he declares is “easily the best film of the year.” His key contention: it’s a love letter to Stanley Kubrick.
Tomorrow is Burbanked’s second blogoversy, and he’s celebrating with a ten day party.
Finally, here’s another time suck, if you need a break from all that critic pollery: Marisa Tomei joins Natalie Portman in the ranks of unwitting screencap porn stars. NSFW, via The WoW Report.
Good news for fans of Eyes Wide Shut: a new DVD edition of Stanley Kubrick’s final film is on the way, complete with rated and unrated versions of the film, plus two documentaries, commentary from Sydney Pollack and historian Peter Loewenberg, and more. It will be available for purchase on its own, or as part of a nine-disc Kubrick collection, coming out in late October.
And if you read the above and immediately thought to yourself, “WHAT fans of Eyes Wide Shut?”, you should go read this appreciation of the film by Jeffrey M. Anderson. For several years I’ve thought (mostly in a lazy, cocktail chatter sort of way) of writing a book about Eyes Wide Shut — not so much the movie itself as the press surrounding its production, Kubrick’s death, the controversy surrounding preparing the film for MPAA approval, and its reception amongst both critics and audiences. Every time I gear myself up to actually do the writing, I inevitably lose confidence–something happens and I think, “Oh, nobody cares about that movie.”
Jeffrey’s post–and, especially, the comments it has engendered–has possibly convinced me otherwise. It’s one thing for a couple of critics to remain fascinated by a widely-reviled film ten years after its release, but those comments suggest a common relief among Eyes Wide Shut lovers: they’re all basically saying, “Finally, it’s okay for me to come out of the closet about this.”
We’ve had a bit of trouble getting this episode to go through the iTunes feed, so we hope this re-post will fix the problem. The original post, with episode description and embedded player, is here.
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Your Christmas weekend time suck is here, in the form of indieWIRE’s massive 
Good news for fans of 
