This is some weird ish. NASA Official Found Dead According to Mail Online A retired NASA official who served on the Apollo Navigation Team has been found dead with a rope around his neck and genitals inside a home in Thailand, it emerged today. Police found the body of Paul Milford Muller, 76, on Tuesday in the Tak Province of the country and suspect he had been dead for about three days. There were no signs that Muller, 76, had been assaulted, according to the Bangkok Post. He appeared to have died from asphyxiation or from a heart attack after a drug overdose, police said. His body has been sent for an autopsy while officials try to contact his family. Muller worked for ten years at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory at the California Institute of Technology, and served on the Apollo Navigation Team. He wrote three books, including one called Suicide Inc., which he described as a ‘romantic and erotic thriller’. On the cover of the novel is a picture of a noose. He grew up in Los Angeles and had a PhD in Physics/Astronomy. Muller had recently joined Twitter and last posted on April 19. On his bio on his website he states: ‘I write for personal enjoyment and work diligently to share with others. I respect readers and accept that you are the true judges of what we do. ‘I live alone in the highlands of Thailand, but have many interesting Thai friends.’ According to his publishing company’s website, Muller was single, and ‘lived with a mature family with whom he had a relationship for some years, in a modern home in the Thai style that he built on the outskirts of a farming village near Nakhon Sawan’. Muller is the joint recipient of the Magellanic Premium Gold Medal of the American Philosophical Society (APS), which is often described as the ‘Nobel Prize’ for navigation. We hope he wasn’t into that erotic thrill ish. R.I.P. Facebook/Flickr
You know we living in our last days when more people die from gonorrhea than AIDS. WTF? New Possibly Incurable Gonorrhea Worse Than AIDS According to Newser and CNBC An antibiotic-resistant strain of gonorrhea—now considered a superbug—has some analysts saying that the bacteria’s effects could match those of AIDS. “This might be a lot worse than AIDS in the short run because the bacteria is more aggressive and will affect more people quickly,” said Alan Christianson, a doctor of naturopathic medicine. Even though nearly 30 million people have died from AIDS related causes worldwide, Christianson believes the effect of the gonorrhea bacteria is more direct. “Getting gonorrhea from this strain might put someone into septic shock and death in a matter of days,” Christianson said. “This is very dangerous.” “It’s an emergency situation,” said William Smith, executive director of the National Coalition of STD Directors. “As time moves on, it’s getting more hazardous.” This gonorrhea strain, HO41, was discovered in Japan two years ago in a 31-year-old female sex worker who had been screened in 2009. The bacteria has since been found in Hawaii, California and Norway. Because it resists current antibiotic treatment, the strain has been placed in the superbug category with other resistant bacteria, such as MRSA and CRE. These superbugs kill about half the people they attack, and nearly one in 20 hospital patients become infected with one, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Though no deaths from HO41 have been reported, efforts to combat it must continue, Smith said. “We have to keep beating the drum on this,” he said. “The potential for disaster is great.” According to the CDC, about 20 million a year contract a sexually transmitted disease (STD) and result in about $16 billion in medical costs. More than 800,000 of STD cases reported are gonorrhea infections, with most occurring in people between the ages of 15 and 24. Gonorrhea infection rates were at historic lows until two years ago, according to the CDC. “That’s what’s kind of scary about this,” Smith said. “We are at lows in terms of infections, but this strain is a very tricky bug and we don’t have anything medically to fight it right now.” Since 1998, the Food and Drug Administration has approved only four new antibiotics of any kind, according to the Infectious Disease Society of America. The last approval was in 2010. Only seven antibiotics are in an advanced stage of development—still years away from approval and use. Recognizing the problem, Congress passed a law last year referred to as the Gain Act (Generating Antibiotics Incentives Now) to help speed antibiotic development. Avoiding the disease completely is the best course, experts said. “People need to practice safe sex, like always,” Christianson said. “Anyone beginning a new relationship should get tested along with their partner. The way gonorrhea works, not everyone knows they have it. And with this new strain it’s even more important than ever to find out. ” All superbugs must be dealt with before it’s too late, he said. “This is a disaster just waiting to happen,” Christianson said. “It’s time to do something about it before it explodes. “These superbugs, including the gonorrhea strain, are a health threat. We need to move now before it gets out of hand.” Ninjas be careful who you lie down with. Don’t get “clapped.”
Tiger Woods and Lindsey Vonn went public with their romance to foil the paparazzi, according to the golfer, while she is not freaked out by his sordid past. Ever since their simultaneous Facebook posts and photos confirmed what we suspected – Lindsey Vonn dating Tiger Woods – many have wondered: Why would the Olympic skiing gold medalist go for a man whose epic, marriage-ending sex scandal made him the poster child for whom not to date? Apparently, the answer is not all that complicated. “Tiger makes Lindsey happy,” says one of her friends. “She isn’t concerned what others think. She trusts her instincts. She’s comfortable with the relationship.” “They have sat down and talked it out more than once. He has explained his side and owned up to what he did wrong. He has been very honest with her.” “She’s not freaked out by his past.” A source close to Woods, 37, says the golfer has been open with Vonn, 28 about his past, which she once joked about during the scandal’s peak. Rumors of a relationship heated up early last month, when Woods sent his private jet to fly Vonn home to Vail, Colo., after a crash on the slopes. The crash at the Alpine World Championships in Austria left her with torn knee ligaments and a fractured shin – but more time with her man at least. Woods, who was at Vonn’s side during her surgery after flying her home, “has been really supportive as she recovers from her injuries,” says a pal. As for the public proclamation of their love, which would’ve been unthinkable a few years ago for Tiger, he said in an interview that it was for the best. “I’ve had situations where it’s been very scary, dangerous for my kids and the things, the extent they’ll go to,” Woods said of undercutting the paparazzi. Also, part of him delights in sticking it to the paps. “We basically devalued the first photos and, unfortunately, that’s just the way it is in our society right now and we felt this was best thing to do.” Most importantly, though, he’s just more comfortable with who he is these days. “It’s simple,” he says of the decision to go public. “We’re very happy.” What do you think? Will it last? Is Tiger a changed man? I think so. Give him a chance! I think not. Once a cheater … View Poll »
Hollywood.TV is your source for all the latest celebrity news, gossip and videos of your favorite stars! bit.ly – Click to Subscribe! Facebook.com – Become a Fan! Twitter.com – Follow Us! Mia Wasikowska and matthew Goode attended the premiere of their new film Stoker held at The Film Society of Lincoln Center, Walter Reade Theatre in New York City. The pair co-star with Nicole Kidman in the psychological thriller directed by Park Chan-wook. They both share some insight into their characters and the movie. Hollywood.TV is the global leader in capturing celebrity breaking news as it happens. We cover all the major Hollywood events including The Golden Globes, The Oscars, The Screen Actors Guild Awards, The Grammy’s, The Emmy’s and the American Music Awards, as well as all the red carpet movie premiers in Los Angeles and New York. HTV is on the streets 24/7, at all the industry events and invited by the stars to cover their every move in Hollywood, New York and Miami. Hollywood.TV is currently the third most viewed reporter channel on www.youtube.com YouTube with over 400 million views, and our footage is seen worldwide! Tune in daily for all the latest Hollywood news on www.hollywood.tv and http like us on Facebook!
The Sundance Film Festival closed out 2013 awarding Fruitvale and Blood Brother its top Dramatic and Documentary award winners respectively. Fruitvale had been the favored winner among insiders neck-n-neck with Ain’t Them Bodies Saints which captured a lot of attention at the fest. In a festival rarity, both Fruitvale and Blood Brother also took the prizes in the Audience categories as well. In other top winners, A River Changes Course took Sundance’s World Cinema Documentary prize, while South Korea’s Jisuel won the World Cinema Grand Jury Prize. Jill Soloway won the Director’s nod in the U.S. Dramatic category. The 2013 Sundance Film Festival Awards: The U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic: Fruitvale / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Ryan Coogler) — The true story of Oscar, a 22-year-old Bay Area resident who crosses paths with friends, enemies, family and strangers on the last day of 2008. Cast: Michael B. Jordan, Octavia Spencer, Melonie Diaz, Ahna O’Reilly, Kevin Durand, Chad Michael Murray. The U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Documentary: Blood Brother / U.S.A. (Director: Steve Hoover) — Rocky went to India as a disillusioned tourist. When he met a group of children with HIV, he decided to stay. He never could have imagined the obstacles he would face, or the love he would find. The World Cinema Grand Jury Prize: Documentary: A River Changes Course / Cambodia, U.S.A. (Director: Kalyanee Mam) — Three young Cambodians struggle to overcome the crushing effects of deforestation, overfishing, and overwhelming debt in this devastatingly beautiful story of a country reeling from the tragedies of war and rushing to keep pace with a rapidly expanding world. The World Cinema Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic: Jiseul / South Korea (Director and screenwriter: Muel O) — In 1948, as the Korean government ordered the Communists’ eviction to Jeju Island, the military invaded a calm and peaceful village. Townsfolk took sanctuary in a cave and debated moving to a higher mountain. Cast: Min-chul SUNG, Jung-won YANG, Young-soon OH, Soon-dong PARK, Suk-bum MOON, Kyung-sub JANG. The Directing Award: U.S. Documentary: Cutie and the Boxer / U.S.A. (Director: Zachary Heinzerling ) — This candid New York love story explores the chaotic 40-year marriage of famed boxing painter Ushio Shinohara and his wife, Noriko. Anxious to shed her role of assistant to her overbearing husband, Noriko seeks an identity of her own. The Directing Award: U.S. Dramatic: Afternoon Delight / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Jill Soloway ) — In this sexy, dark comedy, a lost L.A. housewife puts her idyllic life in jeopardy when she tries to rescue a stripper by taking her in as a live-in nanny. Cast: Kathryn Hahn, Juno Temple, Josh Radnor, Jane Lynch. The Directing Award: World Cinema Documentary: The Machine Which Makes Everything Disappear / Georgia, Germany (Director: Tinatin Gurchiani ) — A film director casting a 15-23-year-old protagonist visits villages and cities to meet people who answer her call. She follows those who prove to be interesting enough through various dramatic and funny situations The Directing Award: World Cinema Dramatic: Crystal Fairy / Chile (Director and screenwriter: Sebastián Silva ) — Jamie invites a stranger to join a road trip to Chile. The woman’s free and esoteric nature clashes with Jamie’s acidic, self-absorbed personality as they head into the desert for a Mescaline-fueled psychedelic trip. Cast: Michael Cera, Gaby Hoffmann, Juan Andrés Silva, José Miguel Silva, Agustín Silva. The Audience Award: U.S. Documentary: Blood Brother / U.S.A. (Director: Steve Hoover) — Rocky went to India as a disillusioned tourist. When he met a group of children with HIV, he decided to stay. He never could have imagined the obstacles he would face, or the love he would find. The Audience Award: U.S. Dramatic: Fruitvale / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Ryan Coogler) — The true story of Oscar, a 22-year-old Bay Area resident who crosses paths with friends, enemies, family and strangers on the last day of 2008. Cast: Michael B. Jordan, Octavia Spencer, Melonie Diaz, Ahna O’Reilly, Kevin Durand, Chad Michael Murray. The Audience Award: World Cinema Documentary: The Square (Al Midan) / Egypt, U.S.A. (Director: Jehane Noujaim) — What does it mean to risk your life for your ideals? How far will five revolutionaries go in defending their beliefs in the fight for their nation? The Audience Award: World Cinema Dramatic: Metro Manila / United Kingdom, Philippines (Director: Sean Ellis, Screenwriters: Sean Ellis, Frank E. Flowers) — Seeking a better life, Oscar and his family move from the poverty-stricken rice fields to the big city of Manila, where they fall victim to various inhabitants whose manipulative ways are a daily part of city survival. Cast: Jake Macapagal, John Arcilla, Althea Vega. The Audience Award: Best of NEXT : This is Martin Bonner / U.S.A.(Director and screenwriter: Chad Hartigan) — Martin Bonner has just moved to Reno for a new job in prison rehabilitation. Starting over at age 58, he struggles to adapt until an unlikely friendship with an ex-con blossoms, helping him confront the problems he left behind. Cast: Paul Eenhoorn, Richmond Arquette, Sam Buchanan, Robert Longstreet, Demetrius Grosse. The Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award: U.S. Dramatic: In a World… / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Lake Bell) — An underachieving vocal coach is motivated by her father, the king of movie-trailer voice-overs, to pursue her aspirations of becoming a voiceover star. Amidst pride, sexism and family dysfunction, she sets out to change the voice of a generation. Cast: Lake Bell, Demetri Martin, Rob Corddry, Michaela Watkins, Ken Marino, Fred Melamed. The Screenwriting Award: World Cinema Dramatic: Wajma (An Afghan Love Story) / Afghanistan (Director and screenwriter: Barmak Akram) — A young man in Kabul seduces a girl. When she tells him she’s pregnant, he questions having taken her virginity. Then her father arrives, and a timeless, archaic violence erupts – possibly leading to a crime, and even a sacrifice. Cast: Wajma Bahar, Mustafa Habibi, Haji Gul, Breshna Bahar. The Editing Award: U.S. Documentary: Gideon’s Army / U.S.A. (Director: Dawn Porter) — Gideon’s Army follows three young, committed Public Defenders who are dedicated to working for the people society would rather forget. Long hours, low pay and staggering caseloads are so common that even the most committed often give up. The Editing Award: World Cinema Documentary: The Summit / Ireland, United Kingdom (Director: Nick Ryan) — Twenty-four climbers converged at the last stop before summiting the most dangerous mountain on Earth. Forty-eight hours later, 11 had been killed or simply vanished. Had one, Ger McDonnell, stuck to the climbers’ code, he might still be alive. The Cinematography Award: U.S. Documentary: Dirty Wars / U.S.A. (Director: Richard Rowley) — Investigative journalist Jeremy Scahill chases down the truth behind America’s covert wars. The Cinematography Award: U.S. Dramatic: Bradford Young for Ain’t Them Bodies Saints and Mother of George: Ain’t Them Bodies Saints / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: David Lowery) — The tale of an outlaw who escapes from prison and sets out across the Texas hills to reunite with his wife and the daughter he has never met. Cast: Rooney Mara, Casey Affleck, Ben Foster, Nate Parker, Keith Carradine. Mother of George / U.S.A. (Director: Andrew Dosunmu, Screenwriter: Darci Picoult) — A story about a woman willing to do anything and risk everything for her marriage. Cast: Isaach De Bankolé, Danai Gurira, Tony Okungbowa, Yaya Alafia, Bukky Ajayi. The Cinematography Award: World Cinema Documentary: Who is Dayani Cristal? / United Kingdom (Director: Marc Silver) — An anonymous body in the Arizona desert sparks the beginning of a real-life human drama. The search for its identity leads us across a continent to seek out the people left behind and the meaning of a mysterious tattoo. The Cinematography Award: World Cinema Dramatic: Lasting / Poland, Spain (Director and screenwriter: Jacek Borcuch) — An emotional love story about two Polish students who fall in love with each other while working summer jobs in Spain. An unexpected nightmare interrupts their carefree time in the heavenly landscape and throws their lives into chaos. Cast: Jakub Gierszal, Magdalena Berus, Angela Molina. A U.S. Documentary Special Jury Award for Achievement: Inequality for All / U.S.A. (Director: Jacob Kornbluth) — In this timely and entertaining documentary, noted economic-policy expert Robert Reich distills the topic of widening income inequality, and addresses the question of what effects this increasing gap has on our economy and our democracy. A U.S. Documentary Special Jury Award for Achievement in Filmmaking to: American Promise / U.S.A. (Directors: Joe Brewster, Michèle Stephenson) — This intimate documentary follows the 12-year journey of two African-American families pursuing the promise of opportunity through the education of their sons. A U.S. Dramatic Special Jury Award for Acting: Miles Teller and Shailene Woodley in The Spectacular Now / U.S.A. (Director: James Ponsoldt, Screenwriters: Scott Neustadter, Michael H. Weber) — Sutter is a high school senior who lives for the moment; Aimee is the introvert he attempts to “save.” As their relationship deepens, the lines between right and wrong, friendship and love, and “saving” and corrupting become inextricably blurred. Cast: Miles Teller, Shailene Woodley, Brie Larson, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Kyle Chandler. A U.S. Dramatic Special Jury Award for Sound Design: Shane Carruth and Johnny Marshall for Upstream Color / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Shane Carruth) — A man and woman are drawn together, entangled in the life cycle of an ageless organism. Identity becomes an illusion as they struggle to assemble the loose fragments of wrecked lives. Cast: Amy Seimetz, Shane Carruth, Andrew Sensenig, Thiago Martins. A World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Award: Circles / Serbia, Germany, France, Croatia, Slovenia (Director: Srdan Golubovic, Screenwriters: Srdjan Koljevic, Melina Pota Koljevic) — Five people are affected by a tragic heroic act. Twenty years later, all of them will confront the past through their own crises. Will they overcome guilt, frustration and their urge for revenge? Will they do the right thing, at all costs? Cast: Aleksandar Bercek, Leon Lucev, Nebojsa Glogovac, Hristina Popovic, Nikola Rakocevic, Vuk Kostic. A World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Award for “Punk Spirit”: Pussy Riot – A Punk Prayer / Russian Federation, United Kingdom (Directors: Mike Lerner, Maxim Pozdorovkin) — Three young women face seven years in a Russian prison for a satirical performance in a Moscow cathedral. But who is really on trial: the three young artists or the society they live in? The Short Film Audience Award: Catnip: Egress to Oblivion? / U.S.A.(Director: Jason Willis) — Catnip is all the rage with today’s modern feline, but do we really understand it? This film frankly discusses the facts about this controversial substance.
The Sundance Film Festival closed out 2013 awarding Fruitvale and Blood Brother its top Dramatic and Documentary award winners respectively. Fruitvale had been the favored winner among insiders neck-n-neck with Ain’t Them Bodies Saints which captured a lot of attention at the fest. In a festival rarity, both Fruitvale and Blood Brother also took the prizes in the Audience categories as well. In other top winners, A River Changes Course took Sundance’s World Cinema Documentary prize, while South Korea’s Jisuel won the World Cinema Grand Jury Prize. Jill Soloway won the Director’s nod in the U.S. Dramatic category. The 2013 Sundance Film Festival Awards: The U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic: Fruitvale / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Ryan Coogler) — The true story of Oscar, a 22-year-old Bay Area resident who crosses paths with friends, enemies, family and strangers on the last day of 2008. Cast: Michael B. Jordan, Octavia Spencer, Melonie Diaz, Ahna O’Reilly, Kevin Durand, Chad Michael Murray. The U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Documentary: Blood Brother / U.S.A. (Director: Steve Hoover) — Rocky went to India as a disillusioned tourist. When he met a group of children with HIV, he decided to stay. He never could have imagined the obstacles he would face, or the love he would find. The World Cinema Grand Jury Prize: Documentary: A River Changes Course / Cambodia, U.S.A. (Director: Kalyanee Mam) — Three young Cambodians struggle to overcome the crushing effects of deforestation, overfishing, and overwhelming debt in this devastatingly beautiful story of a country reeling from the tragedies of war and rushing to keep pace with a rapidly expanding world. The World Cinema Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic: Jiseul / South Korea (Director and screenwriter: Muel O) — In 1948, as the Korean government ordered the Communists’ eviction to Jeju Island, the military invaded a calm and peaceful village. Townsfolk took sanctuary in a cave and debated moving to a higher mountain. Cast: Min-chul SUNG, Jung-won YANG, Young-soon OH, Soon-dong PARK, Suk-bum MOON, Kyung-sub JANG. The Directing Award: U.S. Documentary: Cutie and the Boxer / U.S.A. (Director: Zachary Heinzerling ) — This candid New York love story explores the chaotic 40-year marriage of famed boxing painter Ushio Shinohara and his wife, Noriko. Anxious to shed her role of assistant to her overbearing husband, Noriko seeks an identity of her own. The Directing Award: U.S. Dramatic: Afternoon Delight / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Jill Soloway ) — In this sexy, dark comedy, a lost L.A. housewife puts her idyllic life in jeopardy when she tries to rescue a stripper by taking her in as a live-in nanny. Cast: Kathryn Hahn, Juno Temple, Josh Radnor, Jane Lynch. The Directing Award: World Cinema Documentary: The Machine Which Makes Everything Disappear / Georgia, Germany (Director: Tinatin Gurchiani ) — A film director casting a 15-23-year-old protagonist visits villages and cities to meet people who answer her call. She follows those who prove to be interesting enough through various dramatic and funny situations The Directing Award: World Cinema Dramatic: Crystal Fairy / Chile (Director and screenwriter: Sebastián Silva ) — Jamie invites a stranger to join a road trip to Chile. The woman’s free and esoteric nature clashes with Jamie’s acidic, self-absorbed personality as they head into the desert for a Mescaline-fueled psychedelic trip. Cast: Michael Cera, Gaby Hoffmann, Juan Andrés Silva, José Miguel Silva, Agustín Silva. The Audience Award: U.S. Documentary: Blood Brother / U.S.A. (Director: Steve Hoover) — Rocky went to India as a disillusioned tourist. When he met a group of children with HIV, he decided to stay. He never could have imagined the obstacles he would face, or the love he would find. The Audience Award: U.S. Dramatic: Fruitvale / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Ryan Coogler) — The true story of Oscar, a 22-year-old Bay Area resident who crosses paths with friends, enemies, family and strangers on the last day of 2008. Cast: Michael B. Jordan, Octavia Spencer, Melonie Diaz, Ahna O’Reilly, Kevin Durand, Chad Michael Murray. The Audience Award: World Cinema Documentary: The Square (Al Midan) / Egypt, U.S.A. (Director: Jehane Noujaim) — What does it mean to risk your life for your ideals? How far will five revolutionaries go in defending their beliefs in the fight for their nation? The Audience Award: World Cinema Dramatic: Metro Manila / United Kingdom, Philippines (Director: Sean Ellis, Screenwriters: Sean Ellis, Frank E. Flowers) — Seeking a better life, Oscar and his family move from the poverty-stricken rice fields to the big city of Manila, where they fall victim to various inhabitants whose manipulative ways are a daily part of city survival. Cast: Jake Macapagal, John Arcilla, Althea Vega. The Audience Award: Best of NEXT : This is Martin Bonner / U.S.A.(Director and screenwriter: Chad Hartigan) — Martin Bonner has just moved to Reno for a new job in prison rehabilitation. Starting over at age 58, he struggles to adapt until an unlikely friendship with an ex-con blossoms, helping him confront the problems he left behind. Cast: Paul Eenhoorn, Richmond Arquette, Sam Buchanan, Robert Longstreet, Demetrius Grosse. The Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award: U.S. Dramatic: In a World… / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Lake Bell) — An underachieving vocal coach is motivated by her father, the king of movie-trailer voice-overs, to pursue her aspirations of becoming a voiceover star. Amidst pride, sexism and family dysfunction, she sets out to change the voice of a generation. Cast: Lake Bell, Demetri Martin, Rob Corddry, Michaela Watkins, Ken Marino, Fred Melamed. The Screenwriting Award: World Cinema Dramatic: Wajma (An Afghan Love Story) / Afghanistan (Director and screenwriter: Barmak Akram) — A young man in Kabul seduces a girl. When she tells him she’s pregnant, he questions having taken her virginity. Then her father arrives, and a timeless, archaic violence erupts – possibly leading to a crime, and even a sacrifice. Cast: Wajma Bahar, Mustafa Habibi, Haji Gul, Breshna Bahar. The Editing Award: U.S. Documentary: Gideon’s Army / U.S.A. (Director: Dawn Porter) — Gideon’s Army follows three young, committed Public Defenders who are dedicated to working for the people society would rather forget. Long hours, low pay and staggering caseloads are so common that even the most committed often give up. The Editing Award: World Cinema Documentary: The Summit / Ireland, United Kingdom (Director: Nick Ryan) — Twenty-four climbers converged at the last stop before summiting the most dangerous mountain on Earth. Forty-eight hours later, 11 had been killed or simply vanished. Had one, Ger McDonnell, stuck to the climbers’ code, he might still be alive. The Cinematography Award: U.S. Documentary: Dirty Wars / U.S.A. (Director: Richard Rowley) — Investigative journalist Jeremy Scahill chases down the truth behind America’s covert wars. The Cinematography Award: U.S. Dramatic: Bradford Young for Ain’t Them Bodies Saints and Mother of George: Ain’t Them Bodies Saints / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: David Lowery) — The tale of an outlaw who escapes from prison and sets out across the Texas hills to reunite with his wife and the daughter he has never met. Cast: Rooney Mara, Casey Affleck, Ben Foster, Nate Parker, Keith Carradine. Mother of George / U.S.A. (Director: Andrew Dosunmu, Screenwriter: Darci Picoult) — A story about a woman willing to do anything and risk everything for her marriage. Cast: Isaach De Bankolé, Danai Gurira, Tony Okungbowa, Yaya Alafia, Bukky Ajayi. The Cinematography Award: World Cinema Documentary: Who is Dayani Cristal? / United Kingdom (Director: Marc Silver) — An anonymous body in the Arizona desert sparks the beginning of a real-life human drama. The search for its identity leads us across a continent to seek out the people left behind and the meaning of a mysterious tattoo. The Cinematography Award: World Cinema Dramatic: Lasting / Poland, Spain (Director and screenwriter: Jacek Borcuch) — An emotional love story about two Polish students who fall in love with each other while working summer jobs in Spain. An unexpected nightmare interrupts their carefree time in the heavenly landscape and throws their lives into chaos. Cast: Jakub Gierszal, Magdalena Berus, Angela Molina. A U.S. Documentary Special Jury Award for Achievement: Inequality for All / U.S.A. (Director: Jacob Kornbluth) — In this timely and entertaining documentary, noted economic-policy expert Robert Reich distills the topic of widening income inequality, and addresses the question of what effects this increasing gap has on our economy and our democracy. A U.S. Documentary Special Jury Award for Achievement in Filmmaking to: American Promise / U.S.A. (Directors: Joe Brewster, Michèle Stephenson) — This intimate documentary follows the 12-year journey of two African-American families pursuing the promise of opportunity through the education of their sons. A U.S. Dramatic Special Jury Award for Acting: Miles Teller and Shailene Woodley in The Spectacular Now / U.S.A. (Director: James Ponsoldt, Screenwriters: Scott Neustadter, Michael H. Weber) — Sutter is a high school senior who lives for the moment; Aimee is the introvert he attempts to “save.” As their relationship deepens, the lines between right and wrong, friendship and love, and “saving” and corrupting become inextricably blurred. Cast: Miles Teller, Shailene Woodley, Brie Larson, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Kyle Chandler. A U.S. Dramatic Special Jury Award for Sound Design: Shane Carruth and Johnny Marshall for Upstream Color / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Shane Carruth) — A man and woman are drawn together, entangled in the life cycle of an ageless organism. Identity becomes an illusion as they struggle to assemble the loose fragments of wrecked lives. Cast: Amy Seimetz, Shane Carruth, Andrew Sensenig, Thiago Martins. A World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Award: Circles / Serbia, Germany, France, Croatia, Slovenia (Director: Srdan Golubovic, Screenwriters: Srdjan Koljevic, Melina Pota Koljevic) — Five people are affected by a tragic heroic act. Twenty years later, all of them will confront the past through their own crises. Will they overcome guilt, frustration and their urge for revenge? Will they do the right thing, at all costs? Cast: Aleksandar Bercek, Leon Lucev, Nebojsa Glogovac, Hristina Popovic, Nikola Rakocevic, Vuk Kostic. A World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Award for “Punk Spirit”: Pussy Riot – A Punk Prayer / Russian Federation, United Kingdom (Directors: Mike Lerner, Maxim Pozdorovkin) — Three young women face seven years in a Russian prison for a satirical performance in a Moscow cathedral. But who is really on trial: the three young artists or the society they live in? The Short Film Audience Award: Catnip: Egress to Oblivion? / U.S.A.(Director: Jason Willis) — Catnip is all the rage with today’s modern feline, but do we really understand it? This film frankly discusses the facts about this controversial substance.
Naomi Watts and Robyn Wright star in what has likely been the most divisive film to screen at the Sundance Film Festival so far. Two Mothers is the story of two close friends (played by Watts and Wright) who have secretive affairs with each other’s sons. The weekend premiere in Park City sparked a mix of laughter and polarized reaction that took the feature’s stars and director, Anne Fontaine, by some surprise. Speaking to The Daily Buzz , Watts and Fontaine noted the difference between American and European audiences in finding humor. During the post-screening Q&A Fontaine told the audience that she wasn’t quite sure what to make of the spontaneous laughter during sensitive moments in the film, and later Watts echoed that sentiment on a radio show in Park City hosted by The Film Society of Lincoln Center’s Eugene Hernandez that she was unnerved by the guffaws. ” “We were sort of sitting there thinking, ‘oh my goodness, is that the reaction we want?'” said Watts. “But, in speaking to people after, I think they understood it.” Vulture reviewer Kyle Buchanan typified the polarizing effect Two Mothers had here, calling the film both “The best and the worst movie” at Sundance in his review , adding, “it is a doozy.” Set in an insular seaside community, Two Mothers has its share of lust and secrecy as the pair carry on their affairs with the others’ sons over the years. But once their relationships are discovered, the revelation threatens to tear their lives as well as the lives of the young men apart. “I couldn’t imagine that [the response] would be like that,” Fontaine said on The Film Society’s Daily Buzz. “It was so direct.” The audience continued to laugh even as the mothers’ sexual secrets came to light, further heightening confusion for the filmmaker and the film’s stars. “It was clearly an instinctual reaction to what was going on on the screen and I think before they had a chance to process it, it just came out,” Watts surmised. “I’ve been in situations where I certainly wasn’t supposed to laugh. Like even at a funeral or if someone tells me some bad news. I am capable of laughing because I can’t deal with it, it’s too much and it’s uncomfortable and I think that’s what was happening.” [ Sources: FilmLinc Daily , Vulture ] [Image courtesy of FilmLinc Daily]
Jennifer Lawrence hasn’t had many opportunities to show off her comedic chops onscreen — she only burst onto the scene three years ago in Winter’s Bone , then quickly filled up her dance card with action blockbusters like X-Men: First Class and The Hunger Games before taking on the awards season contender Silver Linings Playbook — but the Best Actress front-runner has been delighting awards-watchers left and right on the Oscar circuit these past few months. The girl is funny — sardonic, whip-smart, witty, self-deprecating, and she knows what’s what as she plays the Hollywood game, which is why her post-Golden Globes hosting gig on Saturday Night Live will be one to watch. The promo bits are hit and miss — spoofing awards season with Jason Sudeikis, Lawrence at least nails the giddy awkwardness of getting up on that podium only to be played off by the orchestra, amirite Daniel Day-Lewis ? — but it’s promising enough just to see her mugging for the laughs. Here’s hoping once that Silver Linings Oscar is on her mantle she’ll tackle some comedies. Actual real comedies that grown-ups might want to watch! Now there’s an idea. The SNL gig also cements Lawrence as the popular favorite in her race, although I’d totally watch Emmanuelle Riva and Quvenzhané Wallis tag-team an SNL co-hosting gig. Think bigger next time, guys. [via NBC ] Follow Jen Yamato on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .
Shane Carruth’s Upstream Color and Sarah Polley’s Stories We Tell are among the initial selections unveiled Wednesday for the 2013 New Directors/New Films series. Both films are playing at the Sundance Film Festival which begins Thursday. The seven announced today hail from seven countries. The series, hosted by the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) and the Film Society of Lincoln Center, mostly features “discovery of new works by emerging and dynamic filmmaking talent” has served as a launch pad for many acclaimed filmmakers worldwide, including the likes of Chantal Akerman, Pedro Almodóvar, Darren Aronofsky, Ken Burns, Agnieszka Holland, Wong Kar Wai, Spike Lee, Christopher Nolan and Steven Spielberg, though some are more “emerging” than others. Among this year’s other announced titles are Emil Christov’s The Color of the Chameleon (Bulgaria), Tobias Lindholm’s A Hijacking (Kapringen) (Denmark), Rachid Djaidani’s Hold Back (Rengaine) (France), JP Sniadecki’s and Libbie Dina Cohn’s People’s Park (USA/China) and Matías Piñeiro’s VIOLA (Argentina). “These first seven titles give a hint at the exciting versatility and accomplishment in storytelling by emerging directors this year,” said lead MoMA film curator Rajendra Roy in a statement. “The New Directors class of 2013 promises to have some wonderful surprises in store for our film audiences and cineastes around the world.” FSLC Director of Year Round programming, Robert Koehler added, “Even with the vast majority of films still to be selected, these first selections for ND/NF set the tone for the introduction of a wide range of cinema and cinematic voices – both narrative and documentary – that has been the ambition of New Directors/New Films.” In related Film Society news, three Oscar-nominated documentaries will have a one-week run at the Elinor Brunin Munroe Film Center beginning this weekend, including The Invisible War , How To Survive a Plague and 5 Broken Cameras . The 42nd ND/NF takes place March 20 – 31 in New York. The seven official selections include: The Color of the Chameleon (2012) 114min, Director: Emil Christov Country: Bulgaria Unfolding in the years immediately before and after the fall of communism, this blackly comic, implacably deadpan, all but unclassifiable puzzler delves into the manipulation and intimidation that underwrites the transactions between the secret police and their informants, going down a rabbit hole into a realm of twisted absurdity. The scenario by Vladislav Todorov, adapting his 2010 novel, Zincograph, centers on misfit youth turned engraving plant employee Batko Stamenov (codename: Marzipan), who is recruited by the secret police to infiltrate…a book reading group. Shades of Borges, the book being studied is “a subversive pseudo-philosophical novel” by the name of Zincograph about… an engraver who creates his own secret off-books network of informants. Going rogue after being dropped for his strange ideas, Batko targets another group, the so-called Club For New Thinking, invents a fictitious branch of the Ministry of Information known as ‘Department Sex’ and hatches a scheme that, as Todorov puts it, exposes the “very nature of secret policing under communism.” With this, its first film to appear in ND/NF in 35 years, Bulgaria is back! A Hijacking (Kapringen) (2012) 99min, Director: Tobias Lindholm Country: Denmark On its way to harbor, the cargo ship MV Rozen is boarded and seized by pirates in the Indian Ocean. Moving between the claustrophobic and intensely fraught day-to-day life of the crew and their captors and the physically removed negotiations by the freight company in Denmark, Lindholm creates a climate of almost unbearable tension with an unexpected climax. As in his previous work (the prison drama ‘R’ and the television series ‘Borgen’) Lindholm’s narrative is based on a true event and his use of actual locations—the film was shot under exceedingly difficult circumstances in the Indian Ocean– and people who has been involved in similar situations (the negotiation team include a real-life hostage negotiator), provide the film with palpable authenticity and a lived-in feel. Augmented by a terrific cast, especially the amazing Pilou Asbæk as the ship’s cook Mikkel who becomes the pirates primary conduit for communication, Lindholm has created a suspenseful drama whose essential subject matter is the innate danger of an overwhelming disparity between impoverished nations and the developed world. A HIJACKING is a Magnolia Films release. Hold Back (Rengaine) (2012) 75min, Director: Rachid Djaïdani Country: France The French title translates as “refrain,” and musical repetition is what this no-budget urban contemporary Romeo and Juliet embodies: in this case of the eternal conflict between true love and tribal loyalties, as real in 21st-century Paris as it was in the age of Shakespeare. The film’s two basic conditions are immediately established: Sabrina (Sabrina Hamida) accepts the marriage proposal of struggling actor Dorcy (Stéphane Soo Mongo) and then she and her eldest brother Slimane (Slimane Dazi) count off the names of the 40 “brothers” in her extended family clan. Dorcy is a black Christian and Sabrina is a Muslim Arab: de facto patriarch Slimane will enlist his brothers in an all-out effort to do whatever it takes to track down Dorcy and prevent this “taboo” union. Made on the run in the streets (“I film like a boxer” says director Rachid Djaïdani), this film is part love letter to the irresistible energy and creative street life of Paris, and part call for interracial tolerance. People’s Park (2012) 78min, Directors: JP Sniadecki and Libbie Dina Cohn Countries: USA/China An immersive, inquisitive visit to the People’s Park in Chengdu, China created with a single virtuouso tracking shot. The joys of communal play, exercise and leisure time come under intense scrutiny through the relentless gaze of the directors’ lens, and create alternating states of unease and exhilaration. Stories We Tell (2012) 108min, Director: Sarah Polley Country: Canada What is real? What is true? What do we remember, and how do we remember it? Actor/director Sarah Polley ( Away From Her , Take This Waltz ) turns from fiction to non-fiction and in the process cracks open family secrets in this powerful examination of personal history and remembrance. Using home movies, still photographs and interviews, Polley delves into the life of her mother, shown as a creative yet secretive woman. What parents and siblings have to say and what they remember about events that occurred years ago, show the pitfalls of making the past present and cast a sharp light on the complicated paths of relationships. But while she is talking to her own relatives, Polley’s interest lies in the bigger picture of what families hold onto as truth. In an intimate setting, she shows us the process by which she tries to pluck information from family and friends: she interviews them but also delicately interrogates them as well as bringing them in as writers and collaborators in her own story. More than documentary, Stories We Tell is a delicately crafted personal essay about memory, loss and understanding. Upstream Color (2013), Director: Shane Carruth Country: USA Ever since he created a wave of excitement with his 2004 debut, Primer , filmmaker of all trades Shane Carruth has prompted curiosity over what he would come up with next. For certain, it would likely contain a strain of science fact tilting into science fiction; almost probably, whatever would happen would happen in a reasonably recognizable America of the near-present moment, populated with a combination of confused and brilliant citizens of the Republic stumbling through as best they could toward something terrifyingly brilliant. Upstream Color certainly checks all those boxes, but it can’t be overstated how starkly different and markedly advanced a work this is over the first one. It represents something new in American cinema, close cousin to Alain Resnais’ great films thematically and formally exploring the surprising jumps and shocks of life’s passages and science’s strange effects. A love story embedded in a horrifying kidnap plot whose full import isn’t revealed until the final, poignant moments, Upstream Color doesn’t so much move as leap with great audacity through its moments and across sequences, a cinematic simulacrum of the ways we think back on our own lives, astonished at, as in the title of Grace Paley’s fiction collection, our “Enormous Changes at the Last Minute.” Viola (2012) 65min, Director: Matías Piñeiro Country: Argentina Matías Piñeiro is one of contemporary Argentine cinema’s most sensuous and sophisticated new voices. In his latest film, Viola , he ingeniously fashions out of Shakepeare’s Twelfth Night a seductive roundelay among young actors and lovers in present-day Buenos Aires. Mixing melodrama with sentimental comedy, philosophical conundrum with matters of the heart, Viola bears all the signature traits of a Piñeiro film: serpentine camera movements and slippages of language, an elliptical narrative and a playful confusion of reality and artifice. Viola is a Cinema Guild release.
The film won a number of prizes including Best Picture. Also in Monday’s round-up of news, seven films made the Academy’s Shortlist of titles competing in the hair and makeup category; Lili Taylor’s latest is set for a Berlin premiere; newcomers in the Specialty Box Office opened weak over the weekend; and film critic Karina Longworth is leaving L.A. Weekly. Silver Linings Playbook Wins 4 Satellite Awards Including Best Picture David O. Russell’s Silver Linings Playbook took five prizes at the 17th annual Satellite Awards Sunday including Best Picture and best director for Russell and best actor prizes for Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence, THR reports . 7 Movies On Makeup Short List Seven films remain in competition for the Makeup and Hairstyling category for the 85th Academy Awards. Hitchcock , The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey , Les Misérables , Lincoln , Looper , Men in Black 3 and Snow White and the Huntsman made the short list. Three nominees will lead into the Oscar ceremony. Lili Taylor’s The Cold Lands Set for Berlin Premiere The film by Tom Gilroy will have its world premiere at the Berlin International Film Festival in February. Also starring John Ventimiglia, the pic revolves around Atticus who flees from authorities after his mother’s sudden death into the rugged mountains and dense forests of upstate New York. The feature is part of the initial films announced in the Berlinale’s Generation Programme. See the full list of announced titles here . Any Day Now Soft as Holdovers Hyde Park On Hudson and Silver Linings Playbook Stay Solid Any Day Now bowed in 16 theaters a brave story starring Alan Cumming about a gay couple fighting to retain custody of special needs child they reared. Any Day Now is a brave film and story that earned audience prizes at festivals throughout the year. Unfortunately it did not connect fully with paying audiences in its debut but hopefully its audience will build through word-of-mouth. It averaged only $2,563 per location. More specialty results at Deadline. Film Critic Karina Longworth Leaves L.A. Weekly Longworth began at L.A. Weekly replacing Scott Foundas who headed to the Film Society of Lincoln Center. He’s returning to Village Voice Media as its critic. She is writing a book about Meryl Streep for Cahiers du Cinema and will freelance, TOH reports .
