by Fred Topel

At this year’s Sundance Film Festival, there were two films in which a religious fundamentalist threatened the lives of gay or gay sympathetic characters. Kevin Smith’s Red State got the most attention with a full on religious protest out side the screening. However, The Ledge also explored a similar idea.

In The Ledge, Gavin (Charlie Hunnam) crosses paths with his neighbor Joe (Patrick Wilson), a Christian who vocally fights against a gay lifestyle. Gavin is an atheist and lives with a gay roommate, so he gets in Joe’s face. Joe ends up forcing Gavin to climb onto a ledge and jump, providing the tension in writer/director Matthew Chapman’s film.

[..]

by Nicole Powers

Chilean filmmaker Alejandro Jodorowsky’s bloody epic Santa Sangre, which was inspired by the story of Mexican serial killer Gregorio “Goyo” Cárdenas Hernández, has been praised as “a throwback to the golden age, to the days when filmmakers had bold individual visions,” and derided as “a massive clearance sale of leftover psychedelia.” It’s story and imagery has been dismissed as “a series of banal Freudianisms involving a circus family” and celebrated as “a wild kaleidoscope of images and outrages, a collision between Freud and Fellini.” But love it or hate it, you’ll never forget it, since with Santa Sangre, Jodorowsky firmly straddles the line where madness becomes genius.

[..]

by Erin Broadley

Kurt Vonnegut once said, “”I want to stay as close to the edge as I can without going over. Out on the edge you see all kinds of things you can’’t see from the center.”” A seductive statement, especially for an actor…

The last time audiences saw actor Emile Hirsch, he’d abandoned all his material possessions and went by the name “Alexander Supertramp.” He was stubborn, deathly emaciated, living alone on an broken down bus, in the middle of the Alaskan wilderness, seeking life’s truths. His portrayal of real-life adventurer Christopher McCandless in Sean Penn’’s Into the Wild scored the young actor a hell of a lot of attention, and more so, Oscar buzz.

[..]

by Erin Broadley

Actress Christina Ricci has always been a bit obsessed with history’s Eleanor of Aquitaine. Rumor has it that the 12th Century Queen ran a cult of “courtly love” in France that practiced the “radical” ideology that a marriage without love was no marriage at all. Eleanor, naturally, was charged with heresy by the Catholic Church and spent 15 years wasting away in a prison cell.

[..]

by Ryan Stewart

John Cusack is going to say anything he pleases, and if you’re smart you won’t try to stop him. He attributes the genesis of his new anti-war film, War, Inc., to the moment seven years ago when Bush administration spokesman Ari Fleischer had the gall to look Americans in the eye and tell them that they “better watch what they say.”

“I was like, ‘Oh, right. Fuck you!'” Cusack says, calling up SuicideGirls during a break on a London film set to vent about his many frustrations, ranging from the snake-oil strategems of corporate America to the seemingly eternal occupation of Iraq.

[..]

by Fred Topel

Lucy Lawless’s most famous roles have taken her to different eras of history. As Xena in Xena: Warrior Princess, she starred in a comedic interprettion of Greek mythology. Now on TV’s Spartacus, she’s in an ultra-violent depiction of Roman gladiators. Her character, Lucretia, runs a gladiator school with her husband Batiatus (John Hannah).

[..]

by Missy

Hi this is Missy!

I started SuicideGirls ten years ago and for a good part of those ten years we’ve been trying to create a tv show about our live tour: the SuicideGirls Burlesque Show. Vh1 has been nice enough to give us a shot at it, and so we’re going to start things off by looking for some of the most unique, interesting & beautiful burlesque performers in the US.

If you are a female over the age of 18, eligible to work full time in the United States, and have a background in dance, we would love to meet you!

We are looking for women who are:

INDEPENDENT
DYNAMIC
SEXY
STRONG
EDGY

Those with tattoos, piercings, and talents such as burlesque dancing, fire twirling, contortion, aerial talents on rings or silks, or anything unique are encouraged to apply.

Open call auditions are being held in Las Vegas, New York and Los Angeles to find dancers for this documentary style series about pursuing your dreams in the world of burlesque.

Please email the following information to the appropriate casting associate for the city you would like to audition in:

• Name
• Phone #s
• Dance style / background
• 3 Photos (to include close-up face shot & full-body shot)
• **Depending on which open call you wish to attend,
  the subject of your email should read:
  “Vegas”, “NYC” or “LA”

The casting associates will respond with full audition details.

OPEN CALL AUDITIONS

Las Vegas – February 26th:
Caesars Palace in the Roman Ballroom
Jen – BShowCasting@Gmail.com

New York – March 5th – 11 AM – 5 PM
Roy Arias Studios & Theatres
300 W 43rd St, Ste 506
New York, NY 10036
(Between 8th & 9th)
Carrie – CarrieDanceCasting@Gmail.com

Los Angeles – March 8th – 11 AM – 5 PM
The Basement Dance Center
5259 Lankershim Blvd. Suite C,
North Hollywood, CA 91601
Greg – BurlesqueShowCasting@Gmail.com

If you are unable to make the open casting calls in the cities listed above, but would still like a shot a participating in the show:

Please email: BurlesqueShowCasting@Gmail.com

• Name
• Phone #s
• Dance style / background
• 3 Photos (to include close-up face shot & full-body shot)
• **The subject of your email should read:
  “UNABLE TO ATTEND OPEN CALL”

Good luck!

Really excited to meet you all and see your talent!

xoxo
-missy