Daily updates from the staff at Film in Focus.
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Penn, Brolin, Milk at the Awards
by Peter Bowen | On January 06 @ 01:25 PM
The Awards Parade has begun, and the cast and crew of Milk, Burn After Reading, and In Bruges will find themselves sitting down to more than a few rubber chicken dinners along the way. Last night New York Film Critics Circle Awards awarded Sean...
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Critics argue the merit and meaning of snark
by Peter Bowen | On January 06 @ 11:31 AM
In the new New York Magazine, Adam Sternbergh’s book review “Snark Attack” (rather snarkily) attacks the new book, Snark: It’s Mean, It’s Personal, and It’s Ruining Our Conversation, from the New Yorker film critic...
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Blog: LA Times on Harvey Milk School
by Peter Bowen | On December 30 @ 01:15 PM
Students of Harvey Milk School The Los Angeles Times reported today in "Gay school's students get a history lesson with Milk" about how a special screening of the film Milk brought home the meaning of the school's name -- the Harvey Milk School --...
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Blog: MILK + LOVE = COURAGE (Campaign)
by Peter Bowen | On December 16 @ 07:46 AM
The Courage Campaign is "is an online organizing network that empowers over 300,000 grassroots and netroots activists to push for progressive change in California.” They have joined with Focus Features for a special campaign on December 20 called...
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blog: Milk Doc Writer Praises Milk, the Movie
by Peter Bowen | On December 12 @ 09:31 AM
Carter Wilson, the man who co-wrote the Oscar-winning 1984 documentary The Times of Harvey Milk, recently spoke with The Mercury News about Gus Van Sants’ Milk. Wilson admits that many critics have contacted him to trash the fiction film, but that...
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blog: Brokeback Broken by Italian TV
by Peter Bowen | On December 11 @ 08:21 AM
The recent censorship of several steamy scenes form Ang Lee’s Brokeback Mountain when it was broadcast on RAI TV, the Italian state-sponsored television channel, has created more than a small political furor. After immediate protests, the RAI...
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3 FOCUS FILMS GRAB GOLDEN GLOBE NOMINATIONS
by Peter Bowen | On December 11 @ 07:25 AM
The Golden Globes were announced this morning, with three different Focus Films garnering nominations. For Milk, Sean Penn was nominated for Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama. And In Bruges and Burn After Reading will...
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blog: Milk takes New York Film Critics Awards
by Peter Bowen | On December 10 @ 01:42 PM
This afternoon, the New York Film Critics Circle announced their choices for best films of 2008. Best Film went to Milk and best actor went to Sean Penn for his performance as Milk. Josh Brolin picked up his second best supporting honor for his...
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blog: Josh Brolin scores NBR Award for MILK
by Peter Bowen | On December 05 @ 11:48 AM
The 2008 Awards Season is starting up with the National Board of Review’s awards. And Josh Brolin was chosen for Best Supporting Actor for his performance as Dan White in Gus Van Sant’s Milk. Milk was also one of the top ten films of...
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BLOG: Milk, one of John Waters Top 10
by Peter Bowen | On December 04 @ 02:42 PM
Every December ArtForum asks artist, critics and other smarty pants to pick their top ten films, music and art from the year past. This year John Waters' puts Milk on his list: # 9: Milk: Sean Penn’s amazing performance as Harvey Milk will...
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by Peter Bowen | On December 03 @ 01:45 PM
Cary Fukunaga Sundance officially announced the line up for this year's festival. Among the select is Focus Features Sin Nombre from writer/director Cary Joji Fukunaga. The film already has a Sundance pedigree since it was developed at the labs from...
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Affectionately Ironic for Milk
by Scott Macaulay | On November 25 @ 12:09 PM
Critic Lauren Wissot attended last week's New York Milk press conference and mixes her comments on the event with her thoughts on the film. Referencing the contrast -- and similarties -- between the 1970s of the movie and today, Wissot...
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Taking Woodstock Feeds Live Stock
by Peter Bowen | On November 21 @ 08:46 AM
Photo by Ken Regan Nicole Feder, Environmental Coordinator This week NBC Universal’s “Green is Universal” presented over 150 hours of green-related material this week, all with the underlying message that there is something all of...
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Cary Fukunaga awarded 2008 USA Rockefeller Fellowship
by Scott Macaulay | On November 20 @ 09:50 AM
FilmInFocus congratulates writer/director Cary Fukunaga, whose first feature, Sin Nombre, is due out from Focus in 2009, for being awarded a prestigious 2008 USA Rockefeller Fellowship. Fukunaga is well known to FilmInFocus readers as he has blogged...
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James Bond vs. the Economic Hitmen
by Scott Macaulay | On November 17 @ 10:28 PM
At his blog political scientist Juan Cole has a must-read piece for those who've seen the new James Bond film. Titled "A Quantum of Anti-Imperialism," it analyzes the plot of the latest 007 outing and discovers a surprisingly realistic...
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by Peter Bowen | On November 11 @ 11:59 AM
In the days after California passed Prop 8, an initiative to push California to create an constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage, citizens across the country have been hopping mad. In California, daily protests have marched on churches and...
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by Nick Dawson | On November 07 @ 03:39 PM
The latest fun film blogging meme doing the rounds is the Alphabetical Favorites list, picking 26 films going from A to Z. It’s something of a challenge, and one involving creativity and the need to accept compromise, but here goes...
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The Film Community Speaks Out on President Obama
by Nick Dawson | On November 05 @ 02:06 PM
With the exception of bloggers like Hollywood Elsewhere’s Jeffrey Wells and David Poland of The Hot Blog, the online film community tends to stay on topic and not write particularly much about politics. Now, though, in the wake of President-Elect...
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by Nick Dawson | On November 04 @ 09:06 AM
Last week, Joaquin Phoenix – the star of Walk the Line, Gladiator and Focus Features’ Reservation Road – announced that he was quitting acting. Typically for the reclusive and often somewhat eccentric actor, his statement left people...
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by Peter Bowen | On November 03 @ 12:43 PM
As the presidential campaign careens towards its inevitable end on November 4, everyone, including filmmakers, is stepping up to the plate. Documentary filmmaker Errol Morris has released a series of last minute ads called “People in the Middle for...
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Peter saw his first movie when he was just a little boy, and has never gotten over that experience.
Thinking about the highbrow and lowbrow while trying to ignore what's in between...
Nick spends 90% of his time in front of the computer or movie screen. View the fruit of his labors.
