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New York, 3:32 AM
Sun Nov 29
12 posts in the last 24 hours
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11/24/09
And Harrison Ford.
Here's a title:
Mustang Mountain.
11/24/09
11/23/09
And yes Colin's clothes are credited to "The Tom Ford Collection" and dressing and undressing literally takes up half the film. BUT GO FOR THE UNDRESSING!
11/24/09
Sounds like Twilight made for the Logo Network.
11/23/09
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11/23/09
As for the Mad Men viewers, isn't there a big gay subplot in there somewhere? I think they'll be fine, especially if they get to do any gloating over how far we've come from those benighted times.
11/23/09
PS: Will Julianne play Karen Walker in the Will & Grace movie?
11/23/09
11/23/09
11/23/09
[Edited to add] Aaaand there it is.
11/23/09
For one, she's the film's most recognizable star. For another, I don't think the majority of the highbrow audience likely to see it will be absolutely clueless as to what it's about.
Ultimately, I think it comes down to a certain extent to Ford's own snobbery. He doesn't want it to be seen as a "gay" film, he wants it to be Oscar-worthy . He thinks perhaps this is either/or. He wants elderly Academy members not to blanch at the screeners, not scare the old horses.
Despite Hollywood's reputation as tolerant and liberal, despite Brokeback, the establishment there is still incredibly skittish about "gay" themes. Even non sexual ones, like losing your lover, which is the theme of Isherwood's lovely novel.
Ford himself has always been ambivalent about how his sexuality is seen. I understand (from books!) there was a very snobby attitude from the Studio 54 days, long before AIDS, that people who were out and proud about being gay were considered unsophisticated and tacky. Ford was very young in that (hypocritical) Warholian scene, and part of that still informs his attitude and ambivalence about identifying strictly as gay. The bisexual jet set chic of his youth seems cooler to him.
I admire Tom Ford a lot. I look forward to this movie. But if the central gay theme is being ellided, I do imagine that's his own choices and doing. He financed the film and is famously a freak about every detail.
11/23/09
[Edited to add] If he made the movie with his own money, that would tend to mean he's if anything more beholden to distributors, since that's how he's going to get his money back (or not). He's not in a position to be tough about negotiating control over something non-star directors rarely have much control over.
11/23/09
"Financing the whole thing" yourself gives one a great deal of latitude. I do see your point, but we're not disagreeing: I'm saying Ford himself was absolutely fine with toning down the gay content, as were his distributors etc.
And actually in the novel, the one good person in the main character's life really is the Julianne character, as a friend. It's misleading, but not wildly so. I think.
11/23/09
11/23/09
@Brian Moylan: Approving something and creating it are two different things. Especially since we're talking about the Weinstein Company, the likelihood of his having created the marketing campaign is pretty slim. It's quite possible that Weinstein's marketing department has convinced him that playing down the "gayness" of the film is necessary for pulling in greater audiences; that doesn't mean it was his idea.
11/23/09
This is me agreeing with you.
11/23/09
that said, the trailer looks pretty and seductive which is something ford might have definately assumed from studio 54.
11/23/09
[Edited to add] However, this means you were right, Brian, that the trailer was in large part created by Ford. So, I'm wrong there. It looks as if Ford basically created it, but then they had some back and forth about some of the images.
11/23/09
Chic gays (like baby Ford) in that set really didn't give a damn about poor gays, in the light of day. Except for sex. It really did seem to take the AIDS crisis to unite gay people beyond class lines and snobbery in NYC, and ripped the privileged veil off of an awful lot of denial.
Ask Bob Collacello, VF writer and former Warhol lieutenant in the 70's, Reagan idolator, if he's gay. Watch him squirm. A lot of those people were extremely conflicted, reluctant to identify as gay, actually say it- and I do think Tom Ford retains some of that old snobbery.
11/23/09
gay activism wasn't really that much of an issue at the time, something you noted took the AIDS crisis to rejuvenate. and to be honest, warhol wasn't really that much of a standout at studio, let alone it's spokesman. if "baby ford" frequented studio (and i have no idea, i certainly don't remember him) i assume he wasn't that rich at the time nor would he have stood out as uber-chic. there was a lot of competition for that title. the real players were the dancers, the bartenders and the physically outstanding, irregardless of how "chic" they were costumed. a perfect blueprint for ford's future in fashion where his runway walkers reminded me of the crowds around the dancefloor.
11/23/09
11/23/09
This could be the saddest dusk
I've ever known
Turn to a miracle
High alive
My mind is racing
As it always will
......
11/23/09
11/23/09
[Edited to add] I mean, really, I know it may seem like a sexier story to try to accuse the director of something, but it mainly just makes it look as if you know nothing about the movie business.
11/23/09
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09/23/09