The Normal Heart debuted on HBO last night and reviews for the AIDS drama directed by Glee creator Ryan Murphy have been overwhelmingly positive. The Normal Heart Trailer In real life, Matt Bomer is married to Simon Halls , but in the made-for-TV film based on Larry Kramer’s acclaimed stage play, he plays the lover of Mark Ruffalo’s Ned Weeks – a crusader for rights and research in the days when the disease wasn’t even publicly acknowledged by politicians. Check out some of the rapturous acclaim for the film and its lead performances below: The Normal Heart will drive any viewer with a heart at all to tears . – Gail Pennington Some 30 years later, this movie – strident, passionate, frenetic, and aching – is a reminder, as Memorial Day weekend begins the summer, of all those empty spots the plague left on the beach. – James Poniewozik A passionately written and heart-wrenching portrayal of real life events. – John Hanlon The Normal Heart grows in poignancy as characters we’ve come to know are affected or afflicted by AIDS. – Ed Bark It’s a movie packed with sublime performances and searlingly memorable moments . – Mark Dawidziak In shocking, unflinching detail it reminds us that silence most assuredly equals death. – Al Alexander 14 Best Romantic Movies Of All Time 1. The Notebook There’s not another love story like the one in The Notebook. There just isn’t.
Lars von Trier ’s Nymphomaniac (2014) is extremely high on Mr. Skin’s list of most anticipated upcoming films. In fact, it is second only to Scarlett Johansson ’s soon to be nude debut in Under the Skin (2014). The erotic opus has scored not one, but two releases dates next year, the first portion opens in theaters March 21, while the second half will premiere April 18. Meanwhile, our pants have secured a release date as well… Let’s look at all the teaser trailers Nymphomaniac has presented so far: See the clips after the jump!
Joseph Gordon-Levitt ’s directorial debut, Don Jon (2013), is out on DVD and Blu-ray this week, and we’ve got a chance for two lucky Skin Fans to win a copy! Who doesn’t love a happy ending? Jon Martello (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is a handsome, good old-fashioned guy known as Don Jon for his ability to bed beautiful women at will. But ironically, even the finest fling doesn’t compare to the bliss Jon finds alone—watching porn on his computer. Barbara Sugarman (Scarlett Johansson) is a gorgeous, good old-fashioned girl raised on romantic movies, and she’s determined to find her Prince Charming. Wrestling with expectations of the opposite sex, Jon and Barbara struggle against false fantasies to find true intimacy in this unexpected comedy written and directed by Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Details on the giveaway after the jump!
It’s Valentine’s Day, lovebirds — time to hash out some passionate debate over the films that get your pulse racing and make your chest heave, the romances that get your hankies flying and fill your hearts (and your loins!) with longing. Whether you’re planning the perfect V-Day date or preparing to love vicariously this Valentine’s Day, chime in and tell us which of cinema’s greatest love stories hits you the hardest. Let’s start with a classic, shall we? Casablanca ‘s been named AFI’s greatest American love story of all time, and it’s hard to argue the choice; few films have managed to capture the heartbreak and sacrifice of love than Michael Curtiz’s 1943 romance. The lyrics “You must remember this/a kiss is still a kiss” still conjure the magic of place and time captured at Rick’s Café Americain, where Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman are propelled into each others’ arms in the midst of war, only to be parted again. Sigh. For a long while my favorite romance was An Affair to Remember , the Cary Grant-Deborah Kerr tale that spawned many a fateful meeting at the Empire State Building (and itself was remade from director Leo McCarey’s Love Affair ). It was a movie that insisted that no matter what disfiguring, horrific accident befell you, your partner would love you just the same. Swoon! But then I saw Sleepless in Seattle and got annoyed that Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks were co-opting the classic. Thanks, but no thanks. Ghost features some deliciously melodramatic lovemaking (oh, pottery ) and the added layer of emotion that stems from death coming between two soulmates. Ditto Titanic , which taught a generation of lovers to never let go. At any cost. EVEN IF YOU’RE FREEZING TO DEATH SO YOUR GIRLFRIEND CAN FLOAT TO SAFETY ON SOME SHRAPNEL. Downside to Titanic worship: You’ll just get that damned Celine Dion song stuck in your head again, which is pretty much how I spent all of 1997. Alternately, you may opt to go the lighter route, John Hughes-style, with a selection along the lines of the underrated teen romance Some Kind of Wonderful — the movie that promised tomboys everywhere that our crushes would come to their senses sooner or later and taught boys that meaningful diamond stud earrings (okay, and reciprocated heart flutters) are a quicker way to a young woman’s heart than waking up a girl by blasting Peter Cetera outside her window. I mean, that works, too, but it takes at least one montage more to get to happily-ever-after. Then there’s the entire oeuvre of weepie specialist Nicholas Sparks, who never met a love story he couldn’t ruin with gut-wrenching tragedy. The Notebook ? SHE CAN’T REMEMBER HIM! A Walk to Remember ? SHE’S DYING! Pass the tissues and hit rewind! My favorite film of all time, and one of the most heartbreaking movies about love ever made, is Jacques Demy’s The Umbrellas of Cherbourg — a movie that could also be considered an anti-romance, depending on how you look at the world and how much you perversely enjoy the visceral sting of heartbreak. Candy-colored palettes and entirely sung dialogue mask this tragically sad tale within the trappings of a musical melodrama, but the stark realities of life and love lost sneak up on you in the film’s final moments when former lovebirds Genevieve (Catherine Deneuve) and Guy (Nino Castelnuovo) meet again by chance on Christmas Eve. After pledging their undying love to one another as youths, they’ve both moved on — even if the memory of what they once had still lingers. It’s something like a French ’60s cinema equivalent of an Adele song, devastating and gorgeous and felt all the more deeply because we feel, acutely, what’s been lost and what might have been. But you tell me, folks — which are your favorite, go-to, can’t miss tales of love, lust, romance, and longing? (And what will you be watching on Valentine’s Day?) Follow Jen Yamato on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .
