TOP 100 ACTOR SITES
| |||
|
| |||
| |||
|
| |||
| Who's hating whom? Yoav Shamir's film about antisemitism has drawn both praise and criticism. So what's it like being dubbed 'the Israeli Mel Gibson'?Having depicted modern Israeli life in his previous films, a run-in with several critics turned 39-year-old Tel Avivian film-maker Yoav Shamir on to the subject of antisemitism. In a quest to explore what the term means today he travelled from Israel to New York, Poland and Moscow and captured his startling discoveries in a Grierson Award-winning film, Defamation.Why did you decide to make the film?Some years ago I made Checkpoint, a film shot in checkpoints in the occupied territories where I'd been a soldier. It got alot of attention and I started noticing that I'd been referred to as "the Israeli Mel Gibson", antisemitic, mostly by American journalists. It got me thinking about what it means when somebody is called antisemitic. The word is used all around us, it's like a white noise.Being Jewish, did you find that odd?Of course! It's total nonsense and a very offensive term for me. Before Checkpoint I wasn't a political person, I was just portraying something important, being honest. I think if we're doing something wrong we should open up the debate and deal with it.Why did you choose a playful, almost Louis Theroux style for your film? I normally do strict cinĂ©ma vĂ©ritĂ© style films where the camera just observes. But everybody I talked to about this film said, "You can't make it, you'll never get away with it." The only way I thought I could tackle it was to do a very personal film. Humour is a great way to keep people interested â antisemitism isn't a very sexy subject so it's a way to make people watch and think.What did you learn?One striking thing I discovered was how many American Jews â not all of them obviously â are using antisemitism as a way of maintaining their identity. There's an [American] Jewish guy in the film who says "Israel is our insurance policy", and for me that's a very bad thing. When you need to insure your house or car you ask for the maximum security possible. But it doesn't make sense for the people living in this place to do that. There are other ways of providing security, of living peacefully; it doesn't have to be through these violent measures.How representative was the class of schoolchildren that you follow to Auschwitz?They were just your average, middle-class Israeli pupils. For many of them it was their first time abroad but they were being worked up so much before this trip. Eventually it's almost funny: two of the girls talk to three elderly Polish gentlemen on a bench and presume what they say is antisemitic. When you're 16 years old you're influenced very easily. We went to a pizza place which they didn't realise was self-service ,and when nobody took their order they got very upset. They thought: "They're doing it because we're Jewish, they're antisemites."Did that worry you?Yes, but it's not their fault. This tradition of hatred is being passed from one generation to another. A kid in the film says: "What makes us special is that nobody can stand us." Even the older people, I don't think they're coming from a conspiratorial, cynical point of view â they truly believe that. It's like taking away from people the feeling that they're hated is so offensive to them it's almost unacceptable. But these kids are about to join the army with all this luggage.DocumentaryDocumentaryLondon film festivalImogen Carterguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Kings of Leon put album on ice for golf Kings of Leonâs new album is being delayed because of golf. breakingnews.ie |
Avatar glory at the Golden Globes Science-fiction epic Avatar scoops best drama at Golden Globes and best director for James CameronThe science-fiction blockbuster Avatar has won best drama at the Golden Globes and picked up the directing honour for James Cameron, raising the Titanic film-maker's prospects for another Academy Awards triumph.It was a repeat of Cameron's Globes night 12 years ago, when Titanic won best drama and the directing prize on its way to dominating the Oscars.This time, though, instead of being "king of the world", as Cameron declared at the Oscars, he has become king of an alien landscape, elevating space fantasy to enormous critical acclaim."Avatar asks us to see that everything is connected, all human beings to each other, and us to the Earth. And if you have to go four-and-a-half light years to another, made-up planet to appreciate this miracle of the world that we have right here, well, you know what, that's the wonder of cinema right there; that's the magic," Cameron said.Winning the dramatic-acting honours were Sandra Bullock for the football tale The Blind Side and Jeff Bridges for the country music story Crazy Heart. The crowd gave a standing ovation to Bridges, a beloved veteran generally overlooked for key Hollywood honours."You're really screwing up my underÂappreciated status here," Bridges said.The son of late actor Lloyd Bridges, the actor thanked his father for encouraging him to go into showbusiness. "So glad I listened to you, dad," he said.Bullock cited Michael Oher, the Baltimore Ravens rookie lineman whose life is the subject of The Blind Side. She plays a wealthy woman whose family took in the teenage Oher after discovering he was homeless."If I may steal from Michael Oher, I may not be the most talented, but I've been given opportunity," Bullock said.The acting prizes for musical and comedy went to Meryl Streep for the Julia Child story Julie & Julia and Robert Downey Jr. for the crime romp Sherlock Holmes. The best-supporting performances were won by Mo'Nique as an abusive welfare mother in Precious and Christoph Waltz as a gleefully bloodthirsty Nazi in Inglourious Basterds.Downey thanked his frequent collaborator Joel Silver, the "guy that's only restarted my career 12 times since I began 25 years ago".The Vegas bachelor bash The Hangover won best musical/comedy, bringing uncharacteristic attention for broad comedy, a genre often overlooked at Hollywood honours."I just want to thank my mom, who supported my decision to become a director when she realised I wasn't as smart as my two sisters," said Hangover director Todd Phillips.The Globes marked a dramatic turning point for Mo'Nique, who was mainly known for lowbrow comedy but startled audiences with her ferocious performance in Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' By Sapphire.Mo'Nique lavished praise for ÂPrecious director Lee Daniels and newcomer Gabourey Sidibe, a best dramatic actress nominee at the Globes with her first film role, playing Mo'Nique's abused, illiterate daughter."Lee Daniels, the world gets a chance to see how brilliant you are. You are a brilliant, fearless, amazing director who would not waver, and thank you for trusting me," Mo'Nique said. "To Gabby, sister, I am in awe of you. Thank you for letting me play with you."Though one of Hollywood's biggest parties, the Globes bore sombre reminders of tragedy in the real world, many stars wearing ribbons in support of Haiti earthquake victims.The blockbuster Up won best animated film. Pixar Animation, the Disney outfit that made Up has scooped all four prizes for animated movies since the Globes introduced the category in 2006. The film features the voice of Ed Asner in a tale of a lonely, bitter widower who renews his zest for adventure by flying his house off under helium balloons to south America, where he encounters his childhood hero and a hilarious gang of talking canines."When it came to finding the heart of the film, we didn't have to look very hard," said director Pete Docter, whose film also won for musical score. "Our inspiration was all around us. Our grandparents, our parents, our wives, our kids. Our talking dogs."Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner won best screenplay honour for Up , which Reitman also directed. The foreign-language honour went to The White Ribbon, a stark drama of guilt and suspicion set in a German town on the eve of World War I.Mad Men won for best TV drama, while Michael Hall won for best actor in a TV drama for Dexter in which he plays a serial killer with a code of ethics, killing only other murderers. Publicists revealed this week that Hall is being treated for Hodgkin's lymphoma and that the cancer is in remission."It's really a hell of a thing to go to work in a place where everybody gives a damn. That's really the case with Dexter," Hall said. "It's a dream job. I'm so grateful."Other TV winners included Julianna Margulies as best actress in a drama for The Good Wife and Toni Collette as best comedy actress for The United States of Tara.Golden GlobesEntertainmentFilm industryJames Cameronguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Boyle returning to the theatre Oscar-winning director Danny Boyle is to return to the theatre, after being âdistracted by film-makingâ for 15 years, to stage a new adaptation of 'Frankenstein', it was announced today. breakingnews.ie |
Martha Stewart is headed to Hallmark Channel NEW YORK (AP) -- Martha Stewart doesn't quite have her own television network like Oprah Winfrey, but the Hallmark Channel is giving the household style maven control over a chunk of its daytime lineup.... hosted.ap.org |