New York Critics Awards “Milk” Top Prizes

Milk Leads New York Critics Awards – Movie News, Sean Penn : People.com.

Milk soaked up some more awards-season glory on Wednesday, being named best film by the New York Film Critics Circle.

Sean Penn, who stars in the biopic as ’70s gay-rights leader Harvey Milk, was named best actor, and Josh Brolin won best supporting actor for his role as the assassin in the movie, the Associated Press reports.

The New York group concurred with the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, which named Penn best actor on Tuesday.

Critics’ Choice Awards Nominate “Milk”, Sean Penn

Critics’ Choice Awards Got “Milk”, Sean Penn Movie And “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” Get 8 Nominations Each – CBS News.

Chalk up another honor for Gus Van Sant’s “Milk.”

The biopic starring Sean Penn tied with “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” for most nominations – eight – for the 14th Annual Critics’ Choice Awards.

“The Dark Knight,” “Doubt” and “Slumdog Millionaire” each received six nods.

Nominees were announced Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2008, at a press conference in New York by actress Rosie Perez, movie critics Ben Lyons and Ben Mankiewicz and VH1 President Tom Calderone. The Jan. 8 awards ceremony will be broadcast on VH1.

Will We Still Love a Slimmer Seth Rogen?

I wait with apprehension for Seth Rogen to unveil his new “improved” self for 2010’s Green Hornet. Seth is the quintessential everyman: chubby, cute, scruffy. He’s been covering those roles for Judd Apatow and the like for years now, so I guess I can’t blame him for wanting to do something new. But still, a “buff” and “slim” Seth Rogen? Eh. There’s enough “buff and slim” in Hollywood to make you ill. Will we still want Seth when he’s no longer the stocky furball we’ve grown to love?

SciFi.com: Rogen Promises Hornet Preview

He’s playing the title role of the Green Hornet, he hasn’t shot one foot of film yet, and he’s still working out communications problems with the director, but Seth Rogen told SCI FI Wire that he hopes to have something available to show fans at Comic-Con next summer.

“Comic-Con is my favorite event of the year,” Rogen said. “It’s more fun to me than the movie premieres, than anything. I love Comic-Con. All of our friends come down for it, and we just have a really good time, and it’s always a lot of fun. I would love nothing more than to be able to show something at Comic-Con.”

In fact, as he noticeably buffs up and slims down for the role–though he has yet to shoot any footage for the movie–Rogen said he is meeting this week with studio executives and director Stephen Chow to discuss what they could possibly have ready for the international conference in San Diego, which begins next July 23. Rogen discussed becoming the superhero Britt Reid during early interviews this past weekend for the animated DreamWorks film Monsters vs. Aliens, which is coming out in the spring. In that film, Rogen voices the part of an amorphous blob named B.O.B. as part of a team of monsters that includes creatures voiced by Reese Witherspoon, Hugh Laurie, Will Arnett and others.

Gay Marriage Essentially a Class Issue

jimbo talks about gay marriage being essentially a class issue:

I came across an interesting discussion between characters in a novel that touches on the subject of “the sanctity of marriage”. The Man of Property (1906) is part of a novel sequence known as The Forsyte Saga, by John Galsworthy:

• “The core of it all is property, but there are many people who would not like it put that way. To them it is ‘the sanctity of marriage tie’; but the sanctity of the marriage tie is dependent on the sanctity of the family, and the sanctity of the family is dependent on the sanctity of property. And yet I imagine all these people are followers of One who never owned anything. It is curious!”

Curious indeed…I’ve always thought the gay marriage case needs to be framed as a financial issue. Rich gay couples don’t need to worry about the benefits of a civil union or marriage because they can arrange privately constructed legal contracts to protect their property in times of crisis or divorce. Medium to low-income gay couples don’t have these legal backup systems at their disposal. So for example when the disgruntled parents of a deceased same-sex spouse legally come in to take the couple’s furniture, the widow(er) has few options to fight the loss of their accumulated assets. Mary Cheney or Elton John don’t have to worry about being married, because they probably got a lawyer to take care of co-ownership, financial and property issues. The rest of us groundling gays are shit out of luck without the protections that marriage grants to a couple.

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Stonewall 2.0: The New LGBT Movement

The New York Times covers reactionary LGBT activism in the wake of the passage of Prop 8 in California. Italics added to show evidence of a generational shift.

Gay Marriage Ban Inspires New Wave of Activists – NYTimes.com

SAN FRANCISCO — They’re calling it Stonewall 2.0.

Proposition 8’s foes have continued to rally since its passage, as at this protest in Sacramento.

Outraged by California voters’ ban on same-sex marriage, a new wave of advocates, shaken out of a generational apathy, have pushed to the forefront of the gay rights movement, using freshly minted grass-roots groups and embracing not only new technologies but also old-school methods like sit-ins and sickouts…

The organized activism the LGBT community has been practicing is taking a beating in the eyes of new acivists. Is this the emergence of the next generation? Should Boomer-centric groups like HRC be worried? Just as the the new generation of the Obama administration is taking power with less idealism and more get-the-job-done practicality, is the LGBT movement rejecting an older generation for a more in-your-face get-the-job-done kind of activism?

Many grass-roots leaders say the emergence of new faces, and acceptance of tactics that are more confrontational, amount to an implicit rejection of the measured approach of established gay rights groups, a course that, some gay men and lesbians maintain, allowed passage of the ban, Proposition 8.

“I think we are demanding as a community that we democratize our processes and ensure we all have a voice,” said Molly McKay, media director of the volunteer group Marriage Equality USA. “Because we are not a campaign. We are a movement.”

The executive director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights, Kate Kendell, a member of the No on 8 campaign’s executive committee, said the criticism was understood.

“Even from my vantage point, I would have a wish list of things I would have done differently,” Ms. Kendell said, adding that she would have preferred “to give our community a greater level of engagement.”

Now, however, the ballot initiative’s passage has forced many in the gay community “out of our stupor” and opened the door for new leaders, she said. “It’s totally legitimate to say that the normal way of doing things did not get us to the finish line,” Ms. Kendell said. “And now some of those groups need to move over a couple of lanes to make room.”

Why Jay Leno at 10 is a Bad Idea

I’m not sure why, but I identify NBC as being my favorite network. It just seems that most of my viewing has been with NBC over the years. SNL holds a place in my heart. So does “Must See TV.” I’ve been disappointed with the network recently, though. Tim Goodman has a good column about the good and bad of Jay Leno invading NBC prime time. This follows his story about NBC talking about cutting back programminig, an idea which is horryfyingly stupid.

Tim Goodman. The Bastard Machine : The 10 good, bad and the truly dumb points of NBC putting Leno on at 10.

(The Bad) 5. Losing five hours of scripted programming is bad news for the creative community and television. No, NBC does not care about this right now. But one day it will. One day it will hire someone with vision who can actually program the network. That person will want something a little more gritty and adult at 10 p.m. because that’s what viewers prefer – if anyone at NBC watches cable or the Emmys they would have picked up on this. With fewer hours to program and only the 9 p.m. slot to use for such fare, a future programmer will be hamstrung and a creator with talent will go elsewhere. Also, cutting out five scripted hours sends a bad message to current series creators who will undoubtedly choose ABC, CBS, Fox or something like TNT over NBC. Trust me here – this has long term ramifications for a network that doesn’t think long term.

Gays with Guns: I’m All for It

Americans have a long history of having a right to self-defense. I am all for responsible gun ownership. America would not be independent today if country farmers didn’t have guns to protect themselves.

“‘Being a Pink Pistol means you’ve decided to take responsibility for your own safety,’ (Gwen Patton, international media spokesperson for Pink Pistols) says. ‘I’m basically a nice, gentle person. But if they try to harm me or her … ‘ She turns toward Leber, her partner. ‘I will shoot them.’”

As a law-abiding citizen of DC, however, I am not allowed to own a handgun. By law in DC, only the criminals have guns.