incredible movie!
do not miss it or wait until DVD comes out.
there were people in the audience really reacting to it. i went with my friends at Yorktown AMC theatres in the heart of the western Chicago suburbs. the crowd was mostly straight, though i could tell who wasn't. people were crying during the movie and there were parts where the entire audience was silent.
you know how people rush even before the credits start in order to to get to their cars or get out before the mob? it didn't happen here. everyone just sat in silence for a good 3 minutes before someone got up. they may have actually either been reading the credits or were too stunned by what they had seen. remember i said that this was primarily a straight audience. i think (hope) some people may have had an eye-opening moment.
i was a little teary-eyed at the end, but i completely lost it at another part. i will not tell you what part unless you have seen the movie. i was numb when the scene happened and had a hard time dealing with it. it struck a very sensitive nerve, though it was not related to anything that had personally happened to me in the past.
Sean Penn is not to be believed. i've never been a big fan, but if you've ever seen live film of Harvey Milk, within 30 seconds of seeing him on screen Penn was Harvey Milk. he had his mannerisms and speech patterns. it's amazing what he can do with just his face. my friend, Sharon, goes to a lot of movies and she said that Penn's performance was one of the best she has ever seen.
everyone in the movie is fantastic. Josh Brolin should also be nominated for supporting actor, but i doubt he'll win. Heath Ledger will probably get a sympathy vote. Emile Hirsch was in it. Sean Penn directed him in the movie Wilderness. in an interview Hirsch said it was really weird acting with Penn after having been directed by him. he kept wanting Penn to give him direction, insight, etc. like he did in Wilderness. he had a hard time shifting gears, he said.
i can see why James Franco was incessantly talking about kissing Penn in all those TV interviews. they always have their tongues down each other's throats! i think Franco may have actually enjoyed it.
the movie also is a love story between Milk and his partner Scott (Franco) and is portrayed as one of the most normal relationships i've ever on screen. Sharon told me that her friend, Ann, with whom she sometimes works in Berkeley and visits often, was a close friend of Scott's until he died in the late 90's. Ann didn't know Harvey though. he had already been killed when either she moved out there or met Scott.
a comment: it's too bad that the Prop 8 people hadn't seen the movie before the Nov 4th election. it could have made a big, big difference in the way they handled the fight against Prop 8. it's almost as if, not only did they not listen to what a lot of national LGBTQ leaders were trying to help them, but that they didn't even pay attention to their own history in California with the Briggs' Prop 6 that Milk fought and won. of course, like i said, they really didn't listen to anyone because they thought they knew what they were doing.
when you see the movie, even though we are still in a fight, you can see how far we've come in the battle. the line that Harvey Milk used when he started talking to a crowd - "My name is Harvey Milk and I want to recruit you." is iconic. as he said on the defeat of the 1978 Briggs Inititiative, also known as Proposition 6:
mike/
do not miss it or wait until DVD comes out.
there were people in the audience really reacting to it. i went with my friends at Yorktown AMC theatres in the heart of the western Chicago suburbs. the crowd was mostly straight, though i could tell who wasn't. people were crying during the movie and there were parts where the entire audience was silent.
you know how people rush even before the credits start in order to to get to their cars or get out before the mob? it didn't happen here. everyone just sat in silence for a good 3 minutes before someone got up. they may have actually either been reading the credits or were too stunned by what they had seen. remember i said that this was primarily a straight audience. i think (hope) some people may have had an eye-opening moment.
i was a little teary-eyed at the end, but i completely lost it at another part. i will not tell you what part unless you have seen the movie. i was numb when the scene happened and had a hard time dealing with it. it struck a very sensitive nerve, though it was not related to anything that had personally happened to me in the past.
Sean Penn is not to be believed. i've never been a big fan, but if you've ever seen live film of Harvey Milk, within 30 seconds of seeing him on screen Penn was Harvey Milk. he had his mannerisms and speech patterns. it's amazing what he can do with just his face. my friend, Sharon, goes to a lot of movies and she said that Penn's performance was one of the best she has ever seen.
everyone in the movie is fantastic. Josh Brolin should also be nominated for supporting actor, but i doubt he'll win. Heath Ledger will probably get a sympathy vote. Emile Hirsch was in it. Sean Penn directed him in the movie Wilderness. in an interview Hirsch said it was really weird acting with Penn after having been directed by him. he kept wanting Penn to give him direction, insight, etc. like he did in Wilderness. he had a hard time shifting gears, he said.
i can see why James Franco was incessantly talking about kissing Penn in all those TV interviews. they always have their tongues down each other's throats! i think Franco may have actually enjoyed it.
the movie also is a love story between Milk and his partner Scott (Franco) and is portrayed as one of the most normal relationships i've ever on screen. Sharon told me that her friend, Ann, with whom she sometimes works in Berkeley and visits often, was a close friend of Scott's until he died in the late 90's. Ann didn't know Harvey though. he had already been killed when either she moved out there or met Scott.
a comment: it's too bad that the Prop 8 people hadn't seen the movie before the Nov 4th election. it could have made a big, big difference in the way they handled the fight against Prop 8. it's almost as if, not only did they not listen to what a lot of national LGBTQ leaders were trying to help them, but that they didn't even pay attention to their own history in California with the Briggs' Prop 6 that Milk fought and won. of course, like i said, they really didn't listen to anyone because they thought they knew what they were doing.
when you see the movie, even though we are still in a fight, you can see how far we've come in the battle. the line that Harvey Milk used when he started talking to a crowd - "My name is Harvey Milk and I want to recruit you." is iconic. as he said on the defeat of the 1978 Briggs Inititiative, also known as Proposition 6:
...to the gay community all over this state, my message to you is, so far a lot of people joined us and rejected Proposition 6, and we owe them something. We owe them to continue the education campaign that took place. We must destroy the myths once and for all, shatter them. We must continue to speak out, and most importantly, most importantly, every gay person must come out. As difficult as it is you must tell your immediate family, you must tell your relatives, you must tell your friends, if indeed they are your friends, you must tell your neighbors, you must tell the people you work with, you must tell the people in the stores you shop in (thunderous applause), and once they realize that we are indeed their children, that we are indeed everywhere, every myth, every lie, every innuendo will be destroyed once and for all. And once you do, you will feel so much better.when you know one of us, you know us all --- and yourself...
mike/
No comments:
Post a Comment