Day: July 2, 2010

By Jason Apuzzo. • Brit actor Andrew Garfield has been chosen as Spider-Man, in what’s regarded by many as a surprise. I’m not even going to pretend I know who this guy is.  Bigger question: does the Spider-Man series have any gas left in the tank, with new superhero franchises sprouting every day like weeds?

• Twilight: Eclipse cast members will apparently be mingling with theatergoers around the country. This is a great idea … and also a security nightmare, which is why star Kristen Stewart has been worrying about her safety of late.  Actually, if they really want to thank fans they should just pay for their popcorn.  [$7 a bag?]

• IMAX is expanding into Russia. It’s amazing how IMAX has become a viable distribution option, especially given that nobody shoots in that format anymore.  I once was on a balloon ride in Africa with some guys shooting in IMAX and the camera package alone nearly sank the balloon.

• Restrepo‘s Tim Hetherington and Sebastian Junger talk to The Wrap today about their non-political approach toward their documentary on the Afghan war.  There was a time when this was the normal approach taken by documentarians.  I actually wish more filmmakers on both the left and right took that approach today …

• … unlike Oliver Stone.  And so Maria Conchita Alonso, who seemed to appear in every film made during the 1980s, will be leading a protest outside a screening of Oliver Stone’s South of the Border tonight in Santa Monica.  I have mixed feelings about things like protests and boycotts, because they basically just deliver free publicity to the people you’re protesting – and does anybody really care about Stone anymore?  So I imagine he’s thrilled by this.  But it doesn’t change the fact that what he’s doing in this documentary glorifying Hugo Chavez is repulsive and dishonest.

• Mel Gibson’s life and career have now officially imploded. Don’t believe anyone who tells you he can recover from this.  He’s done.  And while we’re at it, Kelsey Grammar has got some major p.r. headaches coming his way, as well.  Very sorry to read all this.

• In separate incidents, Kim Kardashian recently posed next to a wax figure of herself, and Megan Fox posed with a mannequin of herself.  Our challenge to LFM readers: pick out the fakes!

• AND IN TODAY’S MOST IMPORTANT NEWS … Dolly Parton is defending Miley Cyrus’ new ‘sexy’ persona, saying “we need to let her spread her wings.”  Dolly would know. 🙂

And that’s what’s happening today in the wonderful world of Hollywood …

Posted on July 2nd, 2010 at 12:20pm.

By Jason Apuzzo. Afshan Azad, the British actress best known for her role as Padma Patil in the “Harry Potter” films, has accused her Islamic father and brother of trying to kill her.  Azad is claiming she was attacked because her father and brother apparently didn’t like her boyfriend, whom she refused to stop seeing. She claims she was left beaten and bruised.  According to CNN the family is Muslim, and of Bengali descent.

Her father Abdul Azad, 54, and brother Ashraf Azad, 28, have been arrested and charged with threatening to kill her.  Ashraf Azad is also accused of assaulting his sister causing her actual bodily harm.

As part of their bail conditions, the two men are required to abide by a curfew, and not travel to London or contact an unnamed man.  You can read more about this on the Fox News website.

This is incredibly disgusting behavior, and there should be an immediate condemnation from the Hollywood filmmaking community.  As of right now, though, I’m not seeing this story mentioned anywhere in the trades.  Why do I think I know why?

LFM readers have probably noticed that we spend a lot of time here covering what might be termed ‘women’s issues,’ or otherwise spotlighting women in film and the media.  One of the reasons we do this is because the battle lines in our current War on Terror are different from where they were, for example, during the Cold War.  The War on Terror is as much a war over the freedoms of women as anything else, and these freedoms need to be asserted over and over again.  These freedoms include, but are obviously not limited to, the right of women to make choices about their romantic and sexual lives.

We will continue to follow this story as it unfolds.  By the way: we’d love to hear from all you readers right now who thought Sex and the City 2 was ‘unfair’ in its portrayal of women in Islamic society.  In the comments section of her review of Sex and the City 2, Govindini debated several readers (one a Muslim female, another a Western feminist) on this point … and we’d love to hear back from these gals now about how tolerant and open Islamic society is toward women and their ambitions.

Posted on July 2nd, 2010 at 10:32am.