Saturday, April 11, 2009

Sienna Miller = Reparative Therapy ?

Sienna Miller is just what Evangelical Christians ordered. She can save gay men from their ungodly "urges"! At least onscreen. I kid, I kid but her character is helping to degay Art Bechstein (Jon Foster) in The Mysteries of Pittsburgh. I'm bitching about the trainwreck of this "adaptation" (it's more of a steal the title / gut the source situation) over in my weekly column over @ Towleroad. Normally I am averse to attacking movies I haven't seen and will not see. But this is a special case for me since the filmmaker has so obviously little respect for the original material which is a touchstone novel for a lot of people, including myself.

There's also bits on the other new releases this week but I neglected to mention the heavy metal documentary Anvil! The Story of Anvil about a once promising now obscure band. I reviewed it for Zoom-In over a year ago and it's continued to hover around the edges of my psyche since. If you're into documentaries it's worth a look since it's finally hitting theaters. If you've recently seen The Wrestler, it'll make an interesting companion piece. Both films are about exhausted financially strapped men pushing 50 who are still chasing past glories and unfulfilled dreams well past their expiration date.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Great point about The Wrestler, was floating around my head too. I just wished somewhere in Anvil the two leads were properly asked how they feel about their group's impact on their family life.

Ben said...

The Mysteries Of Pittsburgh is such a fantastic book, and one that feels very personal so I'm upset and angered to hear that the film has changed one of the central elements of the story. I can't understand the need to change the story in this way. I just hope that if/when an adaptation of Kavalier and Clay gets off the ground that it's not similarly "degayed".

phylidia said...

degayed is the new deglam

'nuff said

kel said...

I watched Anvil on Friday and absolutely loved it- found it very moving with many tender moments. I did not expect to tear up for a film about a death metal band! Being from Toronto, it was also cool to see places I recognized.

Yes- I definitely found myself comparing the film to The Wrestler while watching it.

Unknown said...

I must say that I simply love your view on the movie though I must sheeplishly admit that I did adore it, it lacked what Micheal Chabon had written and I was furious throughtout the movie knowing that nothing was what the book was like.. also I love your blog it's amazing

Nick Prigge said...

Congrats. This post has earned you a Kreativ Blogger award.

http://cinemaromantico.blogspot.com/2010/01/kreativ-blogger-awards.html