Brokeback Mountain (2005) – Trailer HD | Jake Gyllenhaal & Heath Ledger

‘Call Me by Your Name’ | Anatomy of a Scene

Luca Guadagnino narrates a sequence from his film featuring Armie Hammer and Timothée Chalamet.

Suite Française: Official Trailer (2015)

SUITE FRANÇAISE Official Trailer (2015) starring Sam Riley, Margot Robbie, Michelle Williams, Tom Schilling and directed by Saul Dibb

The Interview: Official Trailer

'Noah' Faces Storm of Criticism over Religious Merits

Mar. 27, 2014 - 7:58 - Panel debates the new film

Muslim Censors Move to Ban 'Noah'

Mar. 07, 2014 - 2:04 - Egypt's top Islamic body angered by biblical film's portrayal of the prophet

YNET NEWS: Hollywood blockbuster 'Noah' faces ban in Arab world: Censors in Qatar, Bahrain and the UAE banned film as Islam objects to depictions of holy figures in art. Similar bans expected in Egypt, Jordan and Kuwait.‬‬ » | Reuters | Saturday, March 08, 2014

Christians Line Up to Break US Box Office for Jesus

The forces of secularisation may be gathering momentum, but all across America this weekend tens of thousands of Christians are mobilising to promote a new film about the life of Jesus

Read the Telegraph article here | Peter Foster, video by Dermot Tatlow | Friday, February 28, 2014
Related »

Churches Block-book Cinemas for Son of God Opening

Diogo Morgado in the film poster for 'Son of God'

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Pastors distribute tickets to the faithful in pulpit promotion campaign for new film based on hit miniseries The Bible

American church groups are block-booking cinema multiplexes to fill seats with the faithful for opening night screenings next week of Son of God, the forthcoming film about the life of Jesus Christ.

They are buying up all the tickets and distributing them to churchgoers as part of a "theatre takeover" to promote the film which is based on the hit television miniseries The Bible.

Cinema chains said the pre-release buzz and demand for tickets was on a par with major blockbuster releases as pastors spread the word about the celluloid portrayal of the life of Christ from the pulpit.

Crossroads Church in Cincinnati has bought every seat in all 13 screens for a simultaneous showing of the film on February 27, according to The Hollywood Reporter. » | Phil Sherwell, New York | Monday, February 17, 2014


SUMMARY: This major motion picture event -- an experience created to be shared among families and communities across the U.S. -- brings the story of Jesus’ life to audiences through compelling cinematic storytelling that is both powerful and inspirational. Told with the scope and scale of an action epic, the film features powerful performances, exotic locales, dazzling visual effects and a rich orchestral score from Oscar®-winner Hans Zimmer. Portuguese actor Diogo Morgado portrays the role of Jesus as the film spans from his humble birth through his teachings, crucifixion and ultimate resurrection. [Source: The Hollywood Reporter]

Dubai Censors Cut Quarter of The Wolf of Wall Street

Margot Robbie stars opposite Leonardo DiCaprio in 'The Wolf of Wall Street'

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Moviegoers said all profanities were bleeped out from the Martin Scorsese movie featuring Leonardo DiCaprio

About 45 minutes have been cut from the nearly 3-hour high-finance extravaganza "The Wolf of Wall Street" for Dubai audiences, or a quarter of the film, leaving many viewers disappointed and confused about the sequence of events.

The cuts come as the movie has drawn criticism even from film critics in more liberal countries for its portrayal of drugs, sex and money. Detractors say the film glorifies unchecked greed, includes full nudity and is loaded with a reported record for F- bombs in a movie - more than 500.

Moviegoers said all profanities were bleeped out from the Martin Scorsese movie featuring Leonardo DiCaprio. One woman wrote on the Facebook page for Reel Cinemas, which operates two theaters in Dubai, that she and her friend walked out after about 40 minutes because they felt the movie was simply incoherent and unwatchable. » | AP | Tuesday, January 14, 2014

The Passion of the Christ (2004) – Full English Movie (HD)

Prophet of Islam: Mohamed Gets the Biopic Treatment
THE INDEPENDENT: Two directors are undertaking the delicate task of making films about the Prophet of Islam

There are controversial subjects, and then there is Mohamed. Yet the fear of controversy appears not to have deterred film-makers in Iran and Qatar, who are producing a pair of rival biopics of the seventh-century Prophet of Islam.

As a protagonist, the Prophet poses a unique challenge: much of the Muslim world forbids his depiction on screen. The Iranian director Majid Majidi, whose $30m (£19.8m) biopic began shooting last October, reportedly intends to show parts of the Prophet's body, though not his face. While Iran's Shia population may be flexible about such imagery, Sunni Muslims elsewhere are not. Cairo's Sunni-led al-Azhar University has already demanded the unfinished film be banned.

In December, in Sunni-majority Qatar, Alnoor Holdings, the media arm of al-Hashemi construction group, announced plans to spend $1bn on its own series of epic movies about the life of Mohamed. The team has hired the Islamic theologian Yusuf al-Qaradawi and Lord of the Rings producer Barrie Osborne as technical advisers. "They are being understandably very cautious," Mr Osborne told The Hollywood Reporter.

And so they should be. Last September, when clips from a low-budget US-made film about Mohamed surfaced on YouTube, there were angry protests across the Muslim world. Innocence of Muslims portrayed the Prophet in a negative light, yet even positive depictions have proved divisive. In 1977, the Syrian-American producer Moustapha Akkad was forced to go to the Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi to gather funding for his Mohamed biopic The Message, after Americans backed away from the project. » | Tim Walker | Sunday, March 17, 2013

Intimate Scenes to Be Banned from Egyptian Public TV
AGI.it: Cairo - A group of Islamic supervisors of the Egyptian Public Broadcaster will be in charge of removing 'immoral ' footage from films the network has in its archives. The ban will apply to scenes featuring hugging, kissing and belly dancing. As reported by the daily Kuwait al-Anba, which quotes sources from inside the Network, such a decision could bring about either the removal of important scenes from movies that are an integral part of Egypt's cinema or their complete ban from any TV programming. » | AGI | Tuesday, April 03, 2012

HT: Robert Spencer @ Jihad Watch »

The King's Speech

Conquest 1453 – Official Trailer

HT: Islam versus Europe »

PORT TURKEY.COM: ”The Conquest 1453” Movie to Be Released in February: Turkey is set to release an epic war-time movie named Fetih 1453 (‘Conquest 1453’ in English) provides a historical view of the battle for Constantinople, as well being filled with special effects by the popular Pixar Studios. The big release captures the epic war fought in 1453 in which the Ottoman Empire took over the city of Constantinople. The film is based on two main characters, Sultan Mehmed II, and Ulubatlı Hasan, a soldier believed to be the first person to have planted the Ottoman flag on the walls of Istanbul during the final assault on the city. » | Thursday, January 12, 2012

Turkish Film Highlights Gay Honor Killing

SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE: ANKARA, Turkey (AP) -- Shortly after telling his parents he was gay, Ahmet Yildiz was gunned down inside his car by his father in Istanbul. It was Turkey's first officially recognized gay "honor killing."

An award-winning film partly inspired by Yildiz's story, which opened in dozens of cinemas across Turkey last week, is putting the spotlight on gays in a Muslim country that is seeking European Union membership but remains influenced by conservative and religious values.

The film "Zenne Dancer" — or male belly dancer — is not the nation's first gay-themed movie but is the first to explore the little-known phenomenon of men killed by family members for being gay. So-called honor killings in Turkey usually target women accused of disgracing the family.

"Our main aim was to convey Ahmet's story, but by doing so we also wanted to expose the pressure the (gay and lesbian community) faces from their family, the society and the state," said Mehmet Binay, who co-directed and produced the film with his partner, Caner Alper. » | Suzan Fraser, Associated Press | Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Gay Actors Say Coming Out Affects Roles They Get
THE GUARDIAN: Equity survey finds only 57% of gay actors feel they can be open about their sexuality to their agents

A survey has revealed that gay actors still feel that coming out affects the roles they get to play. Though recent years have seen successful, out actors from Russell Tovey to Ian McKellen playing heterosexual parts like Steve in Him & Her and King Lear respectively, only 57% of the gay actors who responded to the survey, by the actors union Equity, felt they could be open about their sexuality to agents.

One gay actor, quoted in theatre trade paper the Stage, said: "A previous agent of mine once told me to keep quiet about my sexuality and though I am out, I do not broadcast it."
However, 81% described themselves as out in their professional lives and 94% said they did not conceal their sexuality to fellow performers.

Over half of the gay actors who responded to the survey said that they feared being offered only stereotypical roles if they came out, while being denied romantic leads in particular.

One said: "I have seen others sidelined due to their sexuality and I know that I have been sidelined too." Another said: "It's OK for a straight actor to play gay roles but harder, if not impossible, the other way round."

Last January, Rupert Everett told the Observer that he regretted coming out, saying: "For an actor to be working (at all) is a kind of miracle, because most actors aren't. So it's just silly for a working actor to say, 'Oh, I don't care if anybody knows I'm gay' – especially if you're a leading man." » | Alex Needham | Thursday, January 26, 2012

The Iron Lady, Review
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Meryl Streep's performance in The Iron Lady is astonishing, writes Robbie Collin.


“One of the great problems of our age is that we’re governed by people who care more about feelings than they do about thoughts and ideas,” says Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady. “Now, thoughts and ideas – that’s what interests me.” It’s a pivotal line in director Phyllida Lloyd and screenwriter Abi Morgan’s absorbing, exhilarating biopic of the United Kingdom’s only female prime minister, but the film itself doesn’t agree. The Iron Lady does not pick over thoughts and ideas for an hour and 45 minutes: Lloyd and Morgan are fascinated by who their subject was and is, and rather less by what she stood, and continues to stand for. Personality politics might have been anathema to Margaret Thatcher MP, but this film is propelled by the sheer power of her presence. Read on and comment » | Robbie Collin | Thursday, January 05, 2012

Omar Sharif Slaps Woman at Qatar Film Festival

'Black Gold' Stars at Doha Film Festival
The Oscar-winning director Jean Jacques Annaud is one of dozens of filmmakers attending this year's Doha Tribeca Film Festival in Doha. Much of his latest movie, Black Gold, was filmed in the south of Qatar, a first for the country and hopefully the beginning of more such ventures in the Gulf region. Al Jazeera's Matt Moore reports from Qatar's capital Doha.

The Side of Iran They Don’t Want You to Know About! Circumstance Trailer (HD)
Set in contemporary Iran in the unseen world of Iranian youth culture, filled with underground parties, sex, drugs and defiance, CIRCUMSTANCE is the story of two vivacious young girls -- wealthy Atafeh and orphaned Shireen -- discovering their burgeoning sexuality and, like 16 year-old girls anywhere, struggling with their desires and the boundaries placed upon them by the world they were born into.

THE NEW YORK TIMES: Living and Loving Underground in Iran » | Larry Rohter | Friday, August 19, 2011