Following last week’s unveiling of the Cannes Film Festival competition lineup , sidebar Critics Week today revealed its own 2012 slate. Opening the event is the world premiere of Broken , British director Rufus Norris’s story of a young girl in North London whose life changes after witnessing a violent attack, co-starring Tim Roth and Cillian Murphy. This year’s lineup includes a particular focus on French and Latin American work as well as a tribute to Asian action films. Spanish/U.S./Mexico co-production Aquí y allá joins the feature competition; set in Mexico, the film portrays an immigrant family torn apart while attempting to reach the United States. Of this year’s lineup, nine are first-time features. Founded in 1962 by the French Union of Film Critics, Cannes Critics Week (la Semaine de la Critique) showcases first and second time filmmakers worldwide. Global filmmaking heavyweights including Bernardo Bertolucci, Jean Eustache, Otar Iosseliani, Ken Loach, Wong Kar Wai, Jacques Audiard and Arnaud Desplechin all started at la Semaine. Special Screenings : Broken by Rufus Norris (Opening Film) Augustine by Alice Winocour (France) J’enrage de son absence by Sandrine Bonnaire (France/Luxembourg/Belgium) Features Competition : Aquí y allá by Antonio Méndez Esparza (Spain/USA/Mexico) Au galop by Louis-Do de Lencquesaing (France) Les Voisins de Dieu by Meni Yaesh (Israel/France) Hors les murs ( Beyond the Walls ) by David Lambert (Belgium/Canada/France) Peddlers by Vasan Bala (India) Los Salvajes by Alejandro Fadel (Argentina) Sofia’s Last Ambulance by Ilian Metev (Germany/Croatia/Bulgaria) Medium and short films in Competition : La Bifle ( The Dickslap ) by Jean-Baptiste Saurel (France) Ce n’est pas un film de cow-boys ( It’s not a Cowboys Movie ) by Benjamin Parent (France) Circle Line by Shin Suwon (South Korea) O Duplo ( Doppelgänger ) by Juliana Rojas (Brazil) Family Dinner by Stefan Constantinescu (Sweden) Fleuve rouge, Song Hong ( Red River, Song Hong ) by Stéphanie Lansaque & François Leroy (France) Hazara by Shay Levi (Israel) Horizon by Paul Negoescu (Romania) Un dimanche matin ( A Sunday Morning ) by Damien Manivel (France) Yeguas y cotorras by Natalia Garagiola (Argentina)
Katy Perry and Robert Ackroyd may or may not be “dating” but they are definitely hooking up. These photos of them at Coachella leave no doubt about that. The pop sensation and the Florence and The Machine guitarist, who were also spotted together at the music festival last weekend, were all over each other. According to some reports, Katy, who was linked to Baptiste Giabiconi just last month, was already referring to him as her “boyfriend.” One can see how: Looks like Perry is ready to move on from her soon-to-be ex-husband Russell Brand, who filed for divorce back in December after 14 months of marriage. Brand and Perry have been on relatively good terms since then, with Brand refusing to make a play for Katy’s money and expressing nary a harsh word. He’s even keeping the tattoo he got in honor of her. Who said all breakups had to be contentious? Anyway, here’s more photos of Katy and Robert Ackroyd: [Photos: Pacific Coast News]
Daniel Spink (American Pie) and a bunch of other random, B-list celebrities do The Carlton Dance, made famous by Alfonso Ribeiro from The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air , in a new video circulating online. It’s very … unexpected. Ribeiro, on The Fresh Prince , was notorious for getting down to “It’s Not Unusual” by Tom Jones, with dance moves that gained infamy as The Carlton Dance. According to Spink, who put together this fine work of art, “The song has chart topping potential if it were 1991.” Indeed. Can you ID all his co-stars? The Carlton Dance
The CMT Music Awards announced its nominations this morning, and Carrie Underwood led the way with five nominations. Video of the Year Jason Aldean — “Dirt Road Anthem” Kenny Chesney Featuring Grace Potter — “You and Tequila” Toby Keith — “Red Solo Cup” Lady Antebellum — “We Owned the Night” Miranda Lambert — “Over You” Brad Paisley With Carrie Underwood — “Remind Me” Rascal Flatts Featuring Natasha Bedingfield — “Easy” Blake Shelton — “God Gave Me You” Taylor Swift Featuring the Civil Wars — “Safe & Sound” Carrie Underwood — “Good Girl” Male Video of the Year Jason Aldean — “Dirt Road Anthem” Luke Bryan — “I Don’t Want This Night to End” Eric Church — “Drink in My Hand” Toby Keith — “Red Solo Cup” Blake Shelton — “God Gave Me You” Keith Urban — “Long Hot Summer” Female Video of the Year Sara Evans — “My Heart Can’t Tell You No” Miranda Lambert — “Over You” Martina McBride — “I’m Gonna Love You Through It” Kellie Pickler — “Tough” Taylor Swift — “Ours” Carrie Underwood — “Good Girl” Group Video of the Year Eli Young Band — “Crazy Girl” Lady Antebellum — “We Owned the Night” Pistol Annies — “Hell on Heels” Rascal Flatts — “Banjo” The Band Perry — “All Your Life” Zac Brown Band — “Keep Me in Mind” Duo Video of the Year Love and Theft — “Angel Eyes” Montgomery Gentry — “Where I Come From” Sugarland — “Tonight” The Civil Wars — “Poison and Wine” Thompson Square — “Glass” Thompson Square — “I Got You” USA Weekend Breakthrough Video of the Year Lauren Alaina — “Georgia Peaches” Brantley Gilbert — “Country Must Be Country Wide” Hunter Hayes — “Storm Warning” Scotty McCreery — “The Trouble With Girls” Pistol Annies — “Hell on Heels” Thompson Square — “I Got You” Collaborative Video of the Year Kenny Chesney Featuring Grace Potter — “You and Tequila” Brad Paisley With Carrie Underwood — “Remind Me” Rascal Flatts Featuring Natasha Bedingfield — “Easy” Lionel Richie With Shania Twain — “Endless Love” Taylor Swift Featuring the Civil Wars — “Safe & Sound” Zac Brown Band Featuring Jimmy Buffett — “Knee Deep” CMT Performance of the Year Jason Aldean — “Tattoos on This Town” from 2011 CMT Artists of the Year Lady Antebellum — “Dancin’ Away With My Heart” from 2011 CMT Artists of the Year Little Big Town — “Fix You” from Music Builds: The CMT Disaster Relief Concert Blake Shelton — “Footloose” from Invitation Only: Blake Shelton Sting and Vince Gill — “If I Ever Lose My Faith in You” from CMT Crossroads: Sting and Vince Gill Steven Tyler and Carrie Underwood — “Just a Dream/Dream On” from CMT Crossroads: Steven Tyler and Carrie Underwood From the Pepsi Super Bowl Fan Jam
You’ve heard of the Air Guitar World Championships , right? There’s even a documentary on them , if you’re interested. But you’ve probably never heard of the Air Sex World Championships …at least, we hadn’t until recently. Sponsored by FleshLight (of course), Air Sex is a form of, oh, let’s just call it “performance art” where competitors simulate sexual activity with an invisible partner in front of a room full of people. The official air sex website says that air sex must be done to music and should be “about” 2 minutes long, but ” unlike air guitar, there are not many other rules…The only important rule is that all sexual climaxes must be simulated, not real .” Good to know. Air Sex was invented in Japan (of course it was), and events are held all over the USA, but it has proven immensely popular in Austin, Texas, a town that really values its weirdos and which holds bimonthly fake facial-offs at the Alamo Drafthouse . Yes, but is Air Sex, you know, sexy ? It depends on the air sex-er, really. At its best, it’s an opportunity to see hot, attention-seeking drama-club types strip to their bras and hump the floor without the high cover charge of a strip club. At its worst, it’s chubby bearded guys pretending to make out with thin air. But hey, at least it’s never boring. See some highlights from the annals of Air Sexing after the jump!
You’ve heard of the Air Guitar World Championships , right? There’s even a documentary on them , if you’re interested. But you’ve probably never heard of the Air Sex World Championships …at least, we hadn’t until recently. Sponsored by FleshLight (of course), Air Sex is a form of, oh, let’s just call it “performance art” where competitors simulate sexual activity with an invisible partner in front of a room full of people. The official air sex website says that air sex must be done to music and should be “about” 2 minutes long, but ” unlike air guitar, there are not many other rules…The only important rule is that all sexual climaxes must be simulated, not real .” Good to know. Air Sex was invented in Japan (of course it was), and events are held all over the USA, but it has proven immensely popular in Austin, Texas, a town that really values its weirdos and which holds bimonthly fake facial-offs at the Alamo Drafthouse . Yes, but is Air Sex, you know, sexy ? It depends on the air sex-er, really. At its best, it’s an opportunity to see hot, attention-seeking drama-club types strip to their bras and hump the floor without the high cover charge of a strip club. At its worst, it’s chubby bearded guys pretending to make out with thin air. But hey, at least it’s never boring. See some highlights from the annals of Air Sexing after the jump!
The film : “Dogville” (2003) Why it’s an Inessential Essential : It’s admittedly a little strange to think of this fairly well-known film as needing endorsement of any kind. However, Lionsgate recently released a new Nicole Kidman box set, packaging the first film in Lars von Trier’s acerbic but still incomplete “America Trilogy” in the same collection as more high-profile and easy-to-swallow Kidman roles like Cold Mountain , Rabbit Hole and The Others . The juxtaposition is striking, and as the clear odd film out in the four-disc set, Dogville emerges as perhaps Kidman’s most inessential essential. As von Trier guardedly remarks on the film’s audio commentary, the making of Dogville hinged on Kidman’s involvement. The film’s only began shooting when Kidman was able to fit the gig into her busy work schedule, frustrating Von Trier, who says that he understood and there was no real way around it. He had to have Kidman play Grace, the fugitive gangster’s daughter who finds refuge in the titular small town. Kidman’s performance essentially fuels von Trier’s rabid vision of America as a pseudo-Smalltown, USA. Dogville’s self-interested residents orbit her character as if she were the Sun and the consequences of her actions almost always eclipses everyone else’s. She is good-natured and that’s why von Trier stir the conniving Dogvilleians’ shit. It’s why von Trier’s camera (he’s credited as a camera operator in the end credits) always seems to cling to Kidman’s face. He loves that face (“She’s a very good listener,” he remarks to director of photography Anthony Dod Mantle during the audio commentary). Which in turn is why, according to the skittish but always provocative Danish filmmaker says that Kidman was put off by how physically close he would get to her during shooting. Kidman gives an indelibly nuanced performance here, making the film a barbed satire first and a showcase for Kidman a close second. How the DVD Makes the Case For the Film : Lionsgate repackaged their old DVD release of Dogville but that’s all right given how inadvertently revealing von Trier and Mantle’s audio commentary is. The two filmmakers go silent for a number of scenes as von Trier clearly doesn’t know what to say. This conversation seems to have been recorded in one take and sometime between the film screened at the Cannes Film Festival and its original 2004 American theatrical release. When it comes to Kidman, von Trier seems deliberately shy. But he does bring up certain things that hint at why Kidman didn’t reprise her role as Grace in Manderlay, like how Kidman didn’t like the idea of Grace dragging around a heavy weight around her attached to a collar with a bell. Von Trier says he doesn’t really mind as that was “the job, not to like it.” But while LvT generally sounds like he just wants to put Dogville behind him, his silence regarding Kidman seems like it was his way of trying to be diplomatic. He complements Kidman’s performance but also readily admits that working with such a big star frustrated him, too. When talking about working around Kidman’s schedule, he remarks, “She has to do what she has to do but.” Then he exhales dramatically and continues: “It kind of suffocates you in your creative process.” Other Interesting Trivia : Von Trier says a number of funny (ie: funny-peculiar, not funny ha ha) off-the-cuff things that reveal just how uncomfortable he is talking about Kidman and the film after-the-fact, like when he jokes about how much Stellan Skarsgaard, “loves to be naked, like me,” during Grace’s rape scene. In fact, the only remark he makes about Kidman or Grace during this scene is that her head is over the chalk line demarcating the borders of the house she’s being raped in. He also half-snorts, half-laughs at the absurdity of Kidman complaining about “[feeling] trapped” by having to wear Grace’s degrading collar. Von Trier’s point couldn’t be more clear: Dogville wouldn’t be Dogville if it were less venomous. But it also wouldn’t be Dogville without Kidman, too, and that’s something he sounds reluctant to admit. PREVIOUS INESSENTIAL ESSENTIALS The Last Temptation of Christ The Sitter Citizen Ruth The Broken Tower Simon Abrams is a NY-based freelance film critic whose work has been featured in outlets like The Village Voice, Time Out New York, Vulture and Esquire. Additionally, some people like his writing, which he collects at Extended Cut .
Really though?!?! National Organization For Marriage Planned To Promote Hostility Between Blacks And Gays Until this week, the Rev. Ralph A. Martino, senior pastor at First Church of Christ (Holiness) USA in Washington, D.C., had never heard of the National Organization for Marriage, the nation’s leading group fighting same-sex marriage. But although the black pastor is also a vocal opponent of same-sex marriage, Martino is determined to never work with the organization after a leak of its confidential memos this week revealed its plans to defeat marriage equality campaigns by “fanning the hostility” between blacks and gays. “If this is the type of weaponry a group uses in order to stir up warfare and foster division, then we’re not part of that,” Martino said. “This angle creates unnecessary drama and it will backfire.” The drama has already begun, with a range of civil rights and lesbian, gay and bisexual advocacy groups issuing statements calling the strategies racist and cynical. The memos are also sparking a difficult conversation about real tensions between black and gay rights groups, with members of both saying more dialogue is needed. “The strategic goal of this project is to drive a wedge between gays and blacks — two key Democratic constituencies,” states one of the memos. “Find, equip, energize and connect African American spokespeople for marriage, develop a media campaign around their objections to gay marriage as a civil right; provoke the gay marriage base into responding by denouncing these spokesmen and women as bigots,” continued the memo, part of a set of documents that emerged as a result of a Maine lawsuit and then were leaked by the Human Rights Campaign. The memos amount to “a wake-up call,” said Michael Crawford, director of online programs for Freedom to Marry in New York, because they detail how to exploit racial tensions. Plus he noted the National Organization for Marriage seems to believe that he — as a black gay male — does not exist. Take a look at some of the more disturbing parts of the memo “The strategic goal…is to drive a wedge between gays and blacks—two key Democratic constituencies. Find, equip, energize and connect African American spokespeople for marriage; develop a media campaign around their objections to gay marriage as a civil right; provoke the gay marriage base into responding by denouncing these spokesmen and women as bigots…” Another passage reads: “The Latino vote in America is a key swing vote, and will be so even more so in the future, both because of demographic growth and inherent uncertainty: Will the process of assimilation to the dominant Anglo culture lead Hispanics to abandon traditional family values? We must interrupt this process of assimilation by making support for marriage a key badge of Latino identity — a symbol of resistance to inappropriate assimilation.” “We have learned much about how to win the marriage battle,” one document concludes. “What we need now is to find the resources to prosecute and expand this strategy to win marriage in the U.S., and expand it into a global movement.” Doesn’t the black community already have enough problems without having groups like this actually ORGANIZING to stir up hate? Source Source 2 More On Bossip! BFWTFs: Random Celebrity Buds You Wouldn’t Imagine Hanging Out Watch Your Mouths! Celebrities Caught Making Stupid Racist Comments Poor Thang! Mommy Banger BeyBey Won’t Let Lil Blue Ivy Carter Get Her Shine On, Plus Auntie Solo Strutting Around Downtown A Bunch O’ Heathens! The 10 Least Religious States In The Country
Critics are offering up raves and caution in their assessments of Sunday’s return. By John Mitchell Aaron Stanton, Larisa Oleynik, Vincent Kartheiser and Alison Brie in “Mad Men” season five episode one Photo: Michael Yarish/AMC After a 17-month break, “Mad Men” finally returns Sunday night to begin its fifth season . Its return, however, is being met with mixed reviews — well, mixed reviews for “Mad Men,” that is, which would be considered raves if they were for any other series. The devil is in the details when you’re a four-time Emmy Winner for Outstanding Drama Series. After all, when you are arguably the most critically beloved series on television, you are always being compared to yourself. So now, as the cracks start to show — like they do for every series this far into its run — critics can’t resist pointing them out alongside the expected raves about the show’s cast and film-level production. “The two-hour premiere feels long and is a little dreary, repeating many of the same themes that were so new and unexpected when the series first began,” The New York Times writes. “Certain genres have inherent limits, and just as there are only so many ways zombies can storm a stalled car on ‘The Walking Dead,’ there are only so many jokes to be had from an adult’s cradling an infant in one hand and a cigarette in the other on ‘Mad Men.’ ” This season, the show is set to tackle the social movements that began in the 1960s, in particular the civil rights movement, but having been off the air for so long, it has some catching up to do. There are loose ends from season four that need to be tied up before the show can move forward, and with race riots and picketing beginning in the streets in earnest as the season kicks off, the show works hard to get everyone up to speed so it can move forward. “The two-hour premiere ticks by mainly as a series of vignettes where familiar characters strut their familiar stuff and talk about work that no one ever seems to do,” the Wall Street Journal says. “When it’s over, fans will have gotten their ‘Mad Men’ fix, if not much of a high.” In a three (out of four) star review, Slant writes, “As is usually the case with a landmark show’s return, the two-part opener, ‘A Little Kiss,’ is primarily concerned with establishing mood and with dropping hints as to where the narrative may lead us. [The episode] is ultimately a haunting character study that’s slower and more melancholy than perhaps any episode of ‘Mad Men’ that’s preceded it. There’s a Cheever quality to ‘A Little Kiss,’ an unsettling sense that every inhabitant of the show is reaching a moral stasis and crisis simultaneously and exactly at the same time.” That sentiment is echoed by Variety : “Series creator Matthew Weiner resists rushing into anything, easing into a reset of where players currently stand in a manner — especially given the protracted absence — that should leave all but the most ardent fans trying to putty-in the gaps. Each time-lapse introduces more wrinkles in the show’s world, but the premiere offers a sketchy road map of what’s to come, and won’t expand ‘Men’s’ footprint beyond its solid arthouse niche.” To be clear, the above reviews are generally positive, talking about the show’s “deserved accolades” and especially about Jon Hamm’s performance, but “Mad Men” has moved beyond the point of “is it good?” criticism and deep into the land of near-doctoral study of its intricate plotting and how its dealings with the rebellious ’60s symbolize what’s going on in our current world. When critics are simply asked to assign it a grade, they are, like Newsday, mostly offering up A’s. In its rave review, Newsday declares, ” ‘Mad Men’ is back and back in all the right ways — the humor, the writing, the period details, and best of all, the flawless attention to these characters and their cluttered interior worlds.” Assigning the season-five debut four stars (out of four), USA Today praises the show’s “meticulous” attention to detail and goes on to cheer, “No series sets a higher, more consistent level of excellence, a level sustained, fans will be pleased to hear, as ‘Mad Men’ returns after a 17-month absence. … That high level of achievement extends to the cast, led by the shockingly under-Emmyed Jon Hamm, playing a man who is his own deeply flawed invention and letting us see the effort and pain behind the charade. But there’s not a weak performer on view Sunday, from the preternaturally assured Kiernan Shipka as Sally to old pro Robert Morse as Bert.” So it seems fans will not be disappointed by Sunday’s episode. Consensus opinion seems to be that while it might not rank as one of the series’ best, it does a good job of catching everyone up and setting the tone for what will surely be a riveting season of highbrow television. Will you be watching “Mad Men” on Sunday? Let us know in the comments below. Related Photos ‘Mad’ Hook Ups: The Relationships Of ‘Mad Men’
Timmy, Timmy, Timmy… “Glee” star Dianna Agron is in the middle of a love triangle involving actor Sebastian Stan and NFL quarterback Tim Tebow — who just signed today with the New York Jets — that seems straight out of a scene from the Fox hit drama series. Blond beauty Agron, 25, has dated Stan, 28, on and off for about a year, but Tebow has told Agron that he’s smitten with her. A source told us, “Tim has made no secret that he likes Dianna, and told her so, but she has remained faithful to Sebastian.” Tebow was spotted chatting with Agron at an Oscar party in late February. He was also seen days later on a date with Taylor Swift, although sources insist that — even though Swift appears to be sweet on Tebow — they are strictly friends. But we’re told Agron and Stan, who live on separate coasts, recently split for the second time. A source tells us they were going to live together, but now they have parted ways, citing the distance between them and their work commitments. Agron lives in LA while Stan lives here and has recently been filming USA’s “Political Animals” in Philadelphia. They previously broke up in December after seven months of dating, reportedly over Agron’s insecurities about their bicoastal relationship, but reconciled in late January. The new split leaves the door open for devout Christian Tebow to nab Agron. When asked about a split between Agron and Stan, a rep for Agron insisted, “Not true.” Stan’s rep didn’t get back to us. Reps for Tebow declined to comment. On top of having an on-again-off-again boyfriend, we’ve found out that Dianna is Jewish! Awkwaaaaaarrrrrd! LOL! Images via WENN Source More On Bossip! Let’s Be Honest: Rihanna Gets Kushed Up And Hollers At A Shawty On Twitter What The Fluctuation PT 1? Celebrities Whose Weight Keeps Going Up And Down Another Group Of Reality Slores Attack! Meet The Stars Of “Hollywood Exes”
