In this morning’s roundup of movie news ‘n’ notes from around the web, the Aussies nix softcore, a Weinstein orphan may have a new home, and “Star Wars” takes the summer crown.
The director’s name alone should be a tipoff that this isn’t a typical film: “L.A. Zombie,” from an Australian director named Bruce LaBruce, has been pulled from the Melbourne Film Festival at the behest of Australian’s Film Classification Board, a division of the Office of Film and Literature Classification. Bryce Renninger has the details on the film, which turns out to be a “gay zombie porn” film, though LaBruce had submitted the softcore version to Melbourne. Renninger points out that the banned version includes “no explicit anal penetration or non-prosthetic erect penises” … which, I guess, means that it does include prosthetic erect penises, which I guess are supposed to be less objectionable. The film is still scheduled for the Locano International Film Festival, the Le’Etrange Film Festival in Paris, and the Sitges Fantasy Film Festival, all of which are apparently more accepting of zombie porn in the service of what LaBruce says one programmer called “a masterpiece of melancholia.” (indieWIRE)
For more than two-and-a-half months, Cinematical has been conducting a head-to-head tournament to determine “the Best Summer Movie of All Time.” Now the voters have spoken, and the winner is the movie formerly known as “Star Wars,” and now saddled with the significantly clunkier “Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope.” The final matchup paired that film (which edged “The Dark Knight” in the semifinals) against “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” which one round earlier had beaten “The Empire Strikes Back” by a single vote. Considering that he starred in three of the four semifinalists, I guess that makes Harrison Ford the Best Summer Actor of All Time. (Cinematical)
“All Good Things,” a based-on-a-true-story crime drama starring Ryan Gosling, Kirsten Dunst and Frank Langella, has been in limbo for a couple of years. Now S.T. VanAirsdale reports that the film, which has been in the hands of the Weinstein Company since 2008, may be released by Magnolia Pictures instead. Weinstein confirms that it sold the rights back to producer Andrew Jarecki, but Magnolia president Eamonn Bowles denies that his company is quietly releasing the film next week; still, the title showed up (briefly, at least; now it’s gone) on the schedule of Laemmle’s Town Center 5 in Encino, a small suburban multiplex frequently used for quiet one-week Oscar qualifying runs. (Movieline)
Jeff Wells wants to know which 10 of this year's films are going to be nominated for Best Picture. Actually, he needsto know, he says. I don’t know if he really thinks that kind of prediction is possible in mid-July – I mean, would anybody have picked “The Blind Side” and “District 9” over “Nine” and “Invictus” at this point last year? (The answer, given that all but “D9” were unseen, is no.) But Wells starts with “Inception” and “Toy Story 3,” adds “The Kids Are All Right,” throws in “The Social Network” and “The Conspirator,” includes “Biutiful” and “Fair Game” because he really likes them, and then tries to figure out the final three. It’s an impressive exercise, but it’s nuts to think it means anything. (Hollywood Elsewhere)
Time Out London assembles a curious list that they call “cinema’s 50 greatest flops, follies and failures,” with a definition of failureso broad that it includes an awful lot of very good movies. Their lineup incorporates camp classics (“Showgirls”), famous flops (“Ishtar,” “The Postman,” “1941”), movies that got rave reviews but didn’t draw many fans (Steven Soderbergh’s “Che”), and stunning films that they put on the list because the filmmakers never had a chance of earning their money back (“Reds,” “The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford”). “The Wizard of Oz” is on there, too, because it didn’t make money upon its initial release; I’d say that entry alone is enough to cast doubt on the whole enterprise. “Heaven’s Gate” ranks second, beaten by the rock musical genre, even though they admit that genre includes the wonderful-by-any-standards “A Hard Day’s Night,” as well as smash hits like “Mamma Mia!” and “Purple Rain.” (Time Out)
