Cinematic Crush: Liev Schreiber

Crush object: Liev Schreiber, actor.

- He made his film debut wearing a dress in Mixed Nuts, followed by the indie faves Party Girl, The Daytrippers, Walking and Talking and Big Night. However, his breakthrough role was as convicted killer Cotton Weary in the hit Scream trilogy.

- Other films he has starred in include Ransom, Sphere, A Walk on the Moon, Jakob the Liar, The Hurricane, Hamlet, Kate & Leopold, The Sum of All Fears, The Painted Veil, Love in the Time of Cholera, Defiance and two high-profile remakes, The Manchurian Candidate and The Omen. He made his writing/directing debut in 2005 with Everything is Illuminated.

- For his performance as a young Orson Welles in the TV movie RKO 281, he received Emmy and Golden Globe nominations. He also briefly took over the lead in the long-running drama CSI: Crime Scene Investigation in 2007 and has narrated several documentary programs on PBS, HBO and other networks.

- On stage, he is an accomplished Shakespearean actor and won the Tony Award for the 2005 revival of Glengarry Glen Ross. His other Broadway productions include Betrayal and Talk Radio.

- Currently, he can be seen sharpening his claws as the blood-thirsty Sabretooth in X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Next, he's back in a dress in this August's Taking Woodstock.

Reverend's Reviews: Pushing the Boundaries

The DVD releases of Solos(now available from Red Dawn Productions) and Pick Up the Mic(out June 23 from Rhino Films) deserve notice and celebration. Both are boundary-pushing films: Pick Up the Mic in terms of its subject — queer rap/hip-hop musicians — and Solos in terms of technique — it is wordless and sensual in the extreme.

I included Solos among my ten best films of 2007, having seen it in conjunction with that year’s AFI Festival in Los Angeles. It is an extraordinary film from Singapore about an illicit sexual relationship between a teacher (identified simply as “Man”, played by Lim Yu-Beng) and his underage, male student (“Boy”, played by Loo Zihan, who also wrote the screenplay and co-directed the film with Kan Lume).


The movie is inspired by actual events in the life of the talented Zihan. In an era when the sexual abuse of minors is often front-page news, Solos provides a uniquely intimate perspective into the processes of seduction and recovery.

Appropriately, the film contains graphic male nudity and sexuality, and it was banned in its home country as a result. Its only other significant character is the Boy’s Mother (a poignant performance by Goh Guat Kian). One gets the impression Zihan is exorcising past demons, but Solos is ultimately a revelatory and hopeful accomplishment.

The 2-disc DVD contains a number of deleted scenes as well as unique conversations between Zihan and out actor Sir Ian McKellen and actor-director John Cameron Mitchell on a variety of topics, including being gay in Hollywood, coming out and censorship.


Meanwhile, Pick Up the Mic is an informative documentary about “the evolution of homohop.” Even those who don’t consider rap or hip-hop music appealing (like me) ought to see this movie for its insights into the overall progress of the GLBT community.

Director Alex Hinton was inspired to develop Pick Up the Mic in 2002, when he came across a vibrant queer underground in the rap/hip-hop community. Over the next three years, Hinton and associate producer Bret Berg traveled from San Francisco to New York, with numerous stops in between, to interview and film such homohop artists as the bigger-than-life Aggracyst, the thoroughly adult Johnny Dangerous, bisexual “raptivist” Dutchboy, Latina lesbian JenRO and the impressive, female-to-male transgendered Katastrophe.

Hinton subsequently — and impressively — whittled more than 300 hours of footage down to the 95 minutes that comprise Pick Up the Mic. Lest viewers feel shortchanged, the DVD includes numerous bonus performances from the various musicians featured.

As one rapper featured in the film, Tim’m T. West, says, “I got tired of going to gay clubs and hearing people call me faggot from the speakers, so we have to make our own music.” West is credited with coining the term “homohop” to describe the growing GLBT underground in the rap/hip-hop music industry.

Hinton remarks in the DVD’s press notes: “The egos and bullshit of the hip-hop industry are so large now and so condescending … Is (the proliferation of homohop artists) all for a quick buck and to catch that multi-million dollar deal? Hardly. It’s about demanding their place at the table.”

When put in those words, one ought to feel inspired to give such unconventional films as Pick Up the Mic and Solos a try.

Review by Rev. Chris Carpenter, resident film critic of Movie Dearest and the Orange County and Long Beach Blade.

Reverend's Interview: Little Ashes' Javier Beltrán

Little Ashes is a fascinating examination of the little known, intimate relationship between surrealist artist Salvador Dalí (played by Robert Pattinson) and Spanish writer Federico García Lorca (Javier Beltrán, who makes a riveting big-screen debut).

Originally scheduled to open in March, the release of Little Ashes has been moved to this coming Friday. The film’s distributor, Regent Releasing, seems confident that it can compete against this summer’s potential blockbusters. After all, Pattinson has become enormously popular among young women and other filmgoers thanks to his recent performance as the lovelorn vampire, Edward, in the smash hit Twilight.

But it is García Lorca who is the emotional and political heart of Little Ashes. Beltrán took time out of his busy schedule to chat with me from Spain about the film and his own budding success.


CC: Were you very familiar with Federico García Lorca before you got the part?
JB: Yes, of, course, Lorca is one of the most important literary figures. I studied him at school and the University. I've always been enchanted by his work.

CC: Did anyone advise you against playing such a sexual and/or political role?
JB: I make my own decisions about which roles I accept to play.

CC: Did you have to do much research into García Lorca’s life and the relationship between him and Salvador Dalí? If so, were you surprised by anything you learned about their relationship?
JB: I have read most of Lorca's poems and his true character is revealed in them. In Spain, the friendship between the two is well known, so there was nothing particularly surprising for me.


CC: Since Little Ashes is your first feature film, how was the experience of making the movie for you? Did you feel supported by director Paul Morrison and your more experienced co-stars, Pattinson and Matthew McNulty (who plays controversial film director Luis Buñuel)?
JB: Yes, I felt I was very well supported by Paul and my co-actors. It was a great learning experience. Robert and Matthew are very professional and are very good actors.

CC: Please tell us anything you are open to sharing about your background: family upbringing, religious beliefs, interest in acting, sexuality, personal relationships?
JB: I prefer not to go into detail regarding my personal background. I'm from Barcelona and I'm 25. I studied Humanities at the University and drama at a drama school in Barcelona. I come from a happy family and I've been interested in acting from an early age.


CC: Do you have any thoughts on the sometimes-antagonistic relationship between the arts and politics, especially regarding homosexual relationships, as explored in Little Ashes?
JB: I think the film tells the story about a relationship between two remarkable people. I don't see it as setting an agenda about gay relationships in general.

CC: What are some of your goals as an actor? Are you working on anything now?
JB: My simple goal is to work, and to work well. Right now, I'm working in theater in Barcelona in a Spanish and Catalan version of The History Boys by Alan Bennett. I found it very challenging to work in English and I look forward for further opportunities to do this.

I predict Beltrán will have no shortage of opportunities to continue developing his craft and career in the wake of Little Ashes.

UPDATE: Little Ashes is now available on DVD from Amazon.com.

Interview by Rev. Chris Carpenter, resident film critic of Movie Dearest and the Orange County and Long Beach Blade.

Out in Film: Casper Andreas

Idol worship: Casper Andreas, actor/director/writer/producer.

- As an actor, he has had mostly bit roles in such films as Celebrity, Marci X, Hitch and Little Children.

- He has found more success with his own films, starting with his writing and directing debut, the gay romantic comedy Slutty Summer, in which he also starred.

- Next was another rom com, A Four Letter Word, which he co-wrote with his Slutty co-star Jesse Archer.

- He took a turn to the dramatic with his most recent feature, Between Love & Goodbye, which makes its DVD debutMay 5.

- His future films include The Big Gay Musical and the comedy Bye Bye, Fruit Fly.