The Invisible Counterpoint

As if on cue, openly gay Oscarcast co-producer Bruce Cohen is facing the ultimate Web sanction for that censored Javier Bardem-Josh Brolin smooch from Sunday night: an attacked Wikipedia bio calling him a “liar” and homophobe in cahoots with ABC. Slow clap, Internet, slow clap. “Bruce Cohen is a liar who claims he does not partake in the homophobia of the ABC network when clearly he does,” reads the recent addition to Cohen’s bio — a bio that includes Cohen having married his partner Gabriel Catone in 2008, worn a White Knot to the 2009 Oscars in support of same-sex marriage and earned his second Best Picture nomination that same year for co-producing Milk. (He won for his first nomination, American Beauty, in 2000.) On the one hand, it seems reasonable to assume his immunity to the Esperanza Spalding-ing of his biography. On the other, don’t be naïve! Any and every slag tactic is on the table these days. I’m surprised it took this long, to be honest, or that he wasn’t targete...

Every production assistant, intern, receptionist, runner and/or other member of Hollywood’s aspirational poor can rejoice today as Bourne franchise and United 93 director Paul Greengrass held forth on the biggest unresolved scourge afflicting the film industry today. No, not piracy. No, not the Golden Globes . Greengrass has it out for the exploiters who are “raping and pillaging young people” for the sake of a few budget savings here or there. Bold! [. . .] The filmmaker participated in the Dunhill conversation series opposite actor David Morrissey who elicited the following response with a simple inquiry about Greengrass’s early days in documentary: One of the problems we have in our industry is that young people in our industry are being exploited. There are companies in London, sadly, that are making very good livings on “work experience” — which really means people being expected to work for nothing. And if we — we in the industry who’ve had good livings think that we a...

So you might have heard Movieline’s chief film critic Stephanie Zacharek had some problems with Inception . Along with a few other pans heard round the world ( literally ), the review has provoked more than a little discussion among fans of Christopher Nolan — and that discussion will only advance this weekend as the film opens in theaters. With that in mind, let’s talk! And: Let’s keep it civil! It’s just a movie, people. (S.T. Vanairsdale, “Now Playing: Stephanie Zacharek’s Video Review of Inception,” Movieline, 16 July 2010) - - - - - Welcome to Movieline, where a movie ... really is just a movie, people. You know what I mean. No movie is grounds to write the kind of vicious, hateful, personal attacks we've seen here this week. (S.T. Vanairsdale) I agree with that. I also commend the encouragment for civility. This said, this is a site for people who feel passionately about movies -- it's a (albeat intelligent) fan site, FOR MOVIES -- and the essential "...