By Romeo San Vicente
February 23, 2009
Jude Law's dresses will be all the 'Rage'
British actor Jude Law has never been uncomfortable playing the object of male desire on screen, from "Wilde" to "The Talented Mr. Ripley" and even "Sleuth." But now he's taken it to the next level in Sally Potter's new film "Rage," which stars Law as a cross-dressing model named Minx. The latest film from the director of "Orlando" and "The Tango Lesson" revolves around the world of high fashion in a very stripped-down way; the indie feature cost only about a million dollars to make – despite a high-profile cast that includes Law, Dame Judi Dench and Steve Buscemi – and was shot principally against a blue screen. "Rage" had its world premiere at February's Berlin Film Festival, so look for Law and company to work the runway at a theater near you later this year, wearing really tall, uncomfortable heels.
Eliza Dushku to produce Mapplethorpe biopic
She's best known as one of TV's sexiest and most lethal action chicks, but "Dollhouse" star Eliza Dushku really wants to produce. The "Buffy" alum has obtained rights to the life story of photographer Robert Mapplethorpe, the gay photographer whose controversial works put him at the center of public debate about government arts funding. Dushku sees the film as a vehicle for her brother Nate, who bears a strong resemblance to Mapplethorpe, who died in 1989 at the age of 42 from AIDS complications. Mapplethorpe's provocative work mixes portraiture (his photographs of Patti Smith helped define her public persona) with images of graphic S/M and even flowers. Dushku announced in January that she had just finalized arrangements with the Mapplethorpe estate. With no writer or director yet attached, the proposed film probably won't develop until at least 2010, maybe later. You can't hurry art.
Turnabout is fair play on 'Eva Adams'
The idea of a sexist pig waking up in a woman's body and being forced to get a taste of his own medicine has been a perennial favorite theme for movies, from the 1940 screwball comedy "Turnabout" to Debbie Reynolds in "Goodbye, Charlie" to Perry King turning into Ellen Barkin in Blake Edwards' "Switch." Everyone loves to see a man have to shave his legs badly for the first time. Now the small screen takes a stab at the idea with the kind-of-silly-named "Eva Adams," a new pilot for Fox. Sexist sportswriter Adam Evanson has a curse placed on him by a witch, and he turns into Eva (played by Rhea Seehorn of "The Starter Wife"). The much-missed James van der Beek plays one of Adam's equally piggish pals. Oh, and despite the comic potential in this premise, "Eva Adams" is an hour-long "drama"; if it makes the cut, look for it on Fox this fall.
'An Inconvenient Truth': The opera
Al Gore's study of climate change, "An Inconvenient Truth," has an ever-growing carbon footprint of kudos – the movie won an Oscar, the audiobook snagged a Grammy and Gore himself was given a Nobel Prize for his work calling global attention to global warming. Attention, then, people who give prizes for operas: Gore's PowerPoint presentation is being adapted for that genre as well. Gay poet J.D. McClatchy has signed on to write the libretto for composer Giorgio Battistelli for a piece that was commissioned by the legendary La Scala opera house in Milan. "An Inconvenient Truth" is scheduled to open in 2011, although that projection could be delayed by the recent departure of director William Friedkin. The premiere could also be held up if half of Europe is covered by the ocean, but that's another story.
