AMC Theatres To Host National Screening Of Movie Featuring Anti-Gay Activists

On May 6th, AMC Theatres will host a one-time national screening of Irreplaceable, a movie produced by Focus On The Family. Among the anti-gay talking heads in the film is Rabbi Shmuel Goldin, who is perhaps best known for his campaign against the publication of gay wedding announcements in Jewish newspapers. Also in the movie is ex-gay torture advocate Dr. Miriam Grossman, the author of You're Teaching My Children WHAT? Other anti-gay figures that appear in the film include right wing talker Eric Metaxas and film critic/Prop 8 proponent Michael Medved.

IRREPLACEABLE follows one man’s journey to determine if traditional families are still relevant to our world. The documentary explores the importance of family with a diversity of experts who enlighten audiences on whether the concept of the traditional family is meaningful, or in fact outdated. IRREPLACEABLE asks families of all faiths and backgrounds to consider the questions, “What is a family?,” “Is today’s family dynamic in trouble?,” “Are families relevant in today’s society?,” and “Is my family worth fighting for in an era where divorce is so prevalent?”

JMG reader Jim reports that a brief trailer for Irreplaceable began playing in AMC multiplexes this week. Here's a longer trailer posted by the studio in October. You'll note that there is only a fleeting mention of same-sex marriage.

RELATED: The second-largest exhibitor in the United States, last year AMC was acquired by the Chinese conglomerate Dalian Wanda Group. The $2.6B deal made the Chinese company the largest movie exhibitor in the world.

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Posted in: AMC Theaters,Focus On The Family,movies,religion

How Much Did Ender's Game Lose?

Most insiders say anti-gay activist and Ender's Game author Orson Scott Card does not have a financial stake in the performance of the movie, but still it must sting that his calling card title so stunk up the joint. The film has largely left first-run theaters, but even adding in international grosses and future video sales, at this point there's no doubt that its failure means there won't be a sequel. Pity.

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Posted in: Ender's Game,FAIL,hate groups,Hollywood,Mormons,movies,NOM,Orson Scott Card

Tired Old Queen at the Movies #122

Clip recap:

Cary Grant and Irene Dunne are at their zany best and will have you on the floor with holiday laughter in Leo McCary's classic screwball comedy THE AWFUL TRUTH (1937). Playing a couple about to divorce, they do everything possible to stay together and the result is non-stop hilarity. Ralph Bellamy lends excellent support as a hick Texas oilman and Cecil Cunningham is fabulously deadpan as Dunne's mischievous, match making Aunt Patsy. Here's to love, laughter and Happy Holidays from the entire team at "STEVE HAYES: Tired Old Queen at the Movies." Merry Christmas!

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Posted in: movies,Steve Hayes,Tired Old Queen At The Movies

Actress Joan Fontaine Dies At 96

USA Today has the obituary:

Joan Fontaine, who died Sunday night at age 96 at her home in Carmel, Calif., represented more than an Oscar-winning career spanning almost six decades: She was one of the industry's last living links to Hollywood's golden era of the 1930s and '40s. While she was nominated for two Oscars and won another, she's known as much for her relationships with Hollywood icons including Alfred Hitchcock and sister Olivia de Havilland — a bitter rival. Fontaine, who changed her last name because the family didn't want the two actresses to share one, faced her sister for an Academy Award in 1942, when Fontaine was up for Suspicion, de Havilland for Hold Back the Dawn. Fontaine took the statuette that night, though de Havilland would win two others, for 1949's The Heiress and 1946's To Each His Own. The night of Fontaine's win, she famously rejected her sister's congratulations, and the relationship became so estranged that they stopped speaking. They remain the only siblings to win acting Oscars.

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Posted in: Hollywood,movies,obituary

Actor Peter O'Toole Dies At 81

Eight-time Oscar nominee Peter O'Toole has died at the age of 81.

O'Toole got his first Oscar nomination for 1962's "Lawrence of Arabia," his last for "Venus" in 2006. With that he set the record for most nominations without ever winning, though he had accepted an honorary Oscar in 2003. A reformed -- but unrepentant -- hell-raiser, O'Toole long suffered from ill health. Always thin, he had grown wraithlike in later years, his famously handsome face eroded by years of hard drinking. But nothing diminished his flamboyant manner and candor. "If you can't do something willingly and joyfully, then don't do it," he once said. "If you give up drinking, don't go moaning about it; go back on the bottle. Do. As. Thou. Wilt."

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Posted in: Hollywood,movies,obituary

Documentary Kidnapped For Christ Describes "Ex-Gay" Teenage Torture Camp

Via Raw Story:

“Kidnapped for Christ” is a new documentary that tells the story of teenagers sent to an evangelical Christian boarding school outside the U.S. where school personnel attempt to rid them of feelings of same sex attraction or other “ungodly” influences. “They mess your mind up,” said former student Deirdre Sugiuchi to Raw Story. “Prisoners have more freedom than we had.” The “school” is Escuela Caribe, an evangelical Christian reform school that is run like a prison camp by an organization called New Horizons Youth Ministries. Many of the students are the children of Christian parents who believe their sons and daughters’ nascent feelings of same sex attraction can be eliminated by the school’s program of Bible study, brutally hard work, exercise and physical punishment to break the students down.

An important detail from the above-linked article: "The Romney family contributes heavily to the World Wide Association of Specialty Programs (WWASP), an umbrella organization for evangelical reform schools like Escuela Caribe — which was briefly closed down, then reopened under the name Crosswinds — and their Mormon equivalents." The film's website is here. It makes its debut next month at the Slamdance Film Festival.

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Posted in: brainwashing,documentaries,ex-gay,LGBT youth,movies,religion,torture

Opening Bid: $100,000

From Invaluable Auctions:

Bert Lahr “Cowardly Lion” prop “Witch Remover” from The Wizard of Oz. (MGM, 1939) This instantly recognizable prop is wielded by the Cowardly Lion as he, Dorothy, the Tin Man and the Scarecrow enter the Haunted Forest and read the sign aloud stating, “Haunted Forest…Witches Castle one mile…I’d turn back if I were you.” So visually important is this scene that M-G-M chose the image of this sequence for one of their eight promotional lobby cards. This vintage hand pump exterminator sprayer is constructed of steel and wood measuring 32.5 in. long x 8.25 in. wide. Painted gray with red trim and “WITCH REMOVER” by hand on both sides along the cylinder. Exhibits usual wear with general paint loss and scuffing. An iconic and exceedingly rare prop from this cinematic masterpiece. Provenance: Christie’s East, New York, May 24, 2000, lot 156. $100,000 - $150,000.

(Tipped by JMG reader Bill)

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Posted in: Hollywood,movies,Wizard Of Oz

TRAILER: Legend Of Oz: Dorothy's Return

Quite the cast: Patrick Stewart, Megan Hilty, Bernadette Peters, Kelsey Grammer, Martin Short, Dan Akroyd, Jim Belushi, and Glee's Lea Michele as Dorothy.

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Posted in: animation,Kelsey Grammer,movies,Patrick Stewart

TRAILER: Road To Home

From the producers:

In the avalanche of homeless young people spreading across America, nearly half are LGBT, despite the fact that gay kids make up only 5-7% of the general population. In an era of increasing openness regarding LGBT issues, where marriage equality is making strides and anti-gay bullying is publicly shamed, kids are coming out to their parents younger and younger. But social trends don’t translate into all households equally, and LGBT kids are often getting kicked out into the streets long before they’ve developed the skills to survive on their own.

Addressing this problem involves more than providing beds. It also involves providing hope and healing. Our 90-minute documentary Road to Home will follow the development of 4-5 LGBT homeless young people of various genders, backgrounds, and origins as they’re provided beds as well as guidance by the staff of the Ali Forney Center, the organization dealing with LGBT homelessness most effectively in New York City. By showing several young people finding a place to lay their heads and a way to heal their hearts, our film will not only depict a dramatic emotional journey, but also stimulate the attention LGBT homeless kids deserve.

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Posted in: Ali Forney Center,Carl Siciliano,documentaries,homelessness,LGBT youth,movies,NYC

Bette Midler To Play Mae West In Biopic

Deadline Hollywood reports:

The Divine Miss M. is taking on the great Mae West. HBO Films has put in development Mae West, a movie about the true Hollywood original, with Bette Midler attached to star and executive produce. The project is the brainchild of William Friedkin (The Exorcist), who will direct and executive produce. Broadway heavyweight Harvey Fierstein, who recently penned the book for Tony-winning musical Kinky Boots, is writing the script. Also executive producing is Jerry Weintraub, who executive produced HBO Films’ Emmy-winning Behind The Candelabra. Mae West, based on West’s autobiography Goodness Had Nothing To Do With It, chronicles West’s rise into stardom when she takes New York by storm after writing and starring in her scandalous Broadway show Sex and battles authorities over obscenity charges.

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Posted in: Bette Midler,HBO,Mae West,movies

TRAILER: Jupiter Ascending

Via Variety:

The first trailer for the Wachowski’s “Jupiter Ascending” arrived Monday and it looks every bit as extraordinary as you thought it would. Starring Channing Tatum and Mila Kunis, the Warner Bros. sci-fi tentpole tells the story of a young destitute human woman who is targeted for assassination by the Queen of the Universe because her very existence threatens to end the Queen’s reign. Tatum plays an elf-like hero who attempts to thwart her death.

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Posted in: Hollywood,movies,science fiction

Ben Whishaw To Play Freddie Mercury

Openly gay British actor Ben Whishaw has been cast to play Freddie Mercury in a biopic to be directed by Dexter Fletcher.

Mercury died in 1991 of complication from AIDS, but it is said his last days will not be the subject of the film. Sacha Baron Cohen was due to play the Queen frontman but left the production in July over “creative differences” with the band. The Borat star reportedly wanted to make a gritty “tell-all” about the gay singer, while the band wanted a more family-friendly film. Whishaw, who starred in BBC TV series The Hour, is due to reprise his role as Q in Bond 24 in 2015. He will also star as Herman Melville in The Heart of the Sea, a Warner Bros film about the whale attack that spawned Moby Dick.

The film will reportedly end with Queen's legendary Live Aid performance in 1985.

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Posted in: Ben Whishaw,Britain,Freddie Mercury,gay artists,HIV/AIDS,movies,pop music,Queen

Actress Eleanor Parker Dies At 91

Variety has the obituary:

Oscar-nominated actress Eleanor Parker, best known today for her role as the Baroness, the lady friend of Captain Von Trapp who loses out to Julie Andrews’ Maria in 1966 film “The Sound of Music,” died Monday morning due to complications from pneumonia at a medical facility near Palm Springs, Calif. She was 91. In the 1950s, however, Parker earned three Oscar nominations for best actress: in 1951, for “Caged,” in which she played a naive young widow made cynical by her experiences in prison; in 1952, for William Wyler’s “Detective Story,” in which she portrayed the wife of a ruthless police detective (Kirk Douglas) who ultimately reveals that she has availed herself of the services of the abortionist he’s intent on imprisoning; and in 1956 for biopic “Interrupted Melody,” in which she portrayed Australian-born opera star Marjorie Lawrence, who battled back from polio.

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Posted in: Hollywood,movies,obituary