News

“I created Bert,” says Frank Oz. “I know what and who he is.” And no, he isn’t gay.

Those old rumors about the Muppets pals were reignited earlier this week when former Sesame Street writer Mark Saltzman told website Queerty that he “contextualized” Bert and Ernie as a couple based on his own relationship with film editor Arnold Glassman.

“I always felt that without a huge agenda, when I was writing Bert and Ernie, they were,” Saltzman said when asked if the two Muppets were gay. “I didn’t have any other way to contextualize them.”

The statement drew a response from Sesame Workshop, saying, in part, “they remain puppets, and do not have a sexual orientation.”

“As we have always said, Bert and Ernie are best friends,” tweeted Sesame Workshop. “They were created to teach preschoolers that people can be good friends with those who are very different from themselves.

After a former “Sesame Street” writer said the characters Bert and Ernie were a couple, Sesame Workshop issued a statement on Twitter denying the claim.

“As we have always said, Bert and Ernie are best friends,” said the nonprofit education organization behind the PBS series. “They were created to teach preschoolers that people can be good friends with those who are very different from themselves. Even though they are identified as male characters and possess many human traits and characteristics … they remain puppets, and do not have a sexual orientation.”

This comes after ex-“Sesame Street” writer Mark Saltzman said in an interview Sunday that he wrote the relationship between Bert and Ernie based off his own with his partner, the late editor Arnold Glassman.

“I don’t think I’d know how else to write them, but as a loving couple,” Saltzman told Queerty. “That’s what I had in my life,...

Updated Below. According to Sesame Workshop, the non-profit educational organization behind “Sesame Street,” Bert and Ernie are still just friends. On Tuesday, Sesame Workshop released an official statement via Twitter, following comments by former “Sesame Street” writer Mark Saltzman. An out gay man himself, Saltzman wrote for “Sesame Street” from 1985 to 1998. In a recent interview with Queerty, Saltzman likened his relationship with his late partner to the relationship between Bert and Ernie, and said many of their friends and colleagues did as well.

“I always felt that without a huge agenda, when I was writing Bert & Ernie, they were. I didn’t have any other way to contextualize them,” Saltzman said. As the couple’s jokester, Saltzman was Ernie, while his partner, the film editor Arnold Glassman, reminded him of Bert. “It was the Bert & Ernie relationship, and I was already with Arnie when I came to ‘Sesame Street.’ So...

11:40 Am Pt -- A spokesperson for Sesame Workshop has countered Saltzman, telling TMZ ... "As we have always said, Bert and Ernie are best friends. They were created to teach preschoolers that people can be good friends with those who are very different from themselves." They continue, "Even though they are identified as male characters and possess many human traits and characteristics (as most Sesame Street Muppets™ do), they remain puppets, and do not have a sexual orientation.

It’s one of the universe’s many unanswered questions: Are Bert and Ernie, the unmarried Muppets who have shared an address on Sesame Street since 1969 (and still look amazing!), more than merely friends and roommates? To some, it may seem odd to even attempt to assign a sexual preference to a pair of children’s characters. But to countless others, who have looked to Bert and Ernie as ambiguous Lgbt icons for decades, a little confirmation would be appreciated.

And that confirmation has finally arrived (sort of) in an interview with former Sesame Street writer Mark Saltzman, who began...

Reviewed by Jeremy Mathews

(from the 2011 Sundance Film Festival)

Directed by: Paul Mariano and Kurt Norton

Featuring: Jay Carr, Peter Coyote, Julie Dash, Caleb Deschanel, Zooey Deschanel, Robert A. Harris, Amy Heckerling, Jennifer Horne, Steve James, Barbara Kopple, Mick Lasalle, John Lasseter, Leonard Maltin, Christopher Nolan, Rob Reiner, Debbie Reynolds, Tim Roth, James Schamus, Paul Schrader, John Singleton, George Takei, Wayne Wang and John Waters

The only requirement for a film to be put on the National Film Registry of the United States is that it be “culturally, historically or aesthetically significant.” The great thing about these requirements, according to one board member interviewed in the documentary “These Amazing Shadows,” is that they make it possible for anything to qualify. The registry is an eclectic bunch of films selected to be preserved in the Library of Congress and includes everything from obvious classics like “Casablanca,” “Citizen Kane” and “The Godfather...

Reviewed by Jeremy Mathews

(from the 2011 Sundance Film Festival)

Directed by: Paul Mariano and Kurt Norton

Featuring: Jay Carr, Peter Coyote, Julie Dash, Caleb Deschanel, Zooey Deschanel, Robert A. Harris, Amy Heckerling, Jennifer Horne, Steve James, Barbara Kopple, Mick Lasalle, John Lasseter, Leonard Maltin, Christopher Nolan, Rob Reiner, Debbie Reynolds, Tim Roth, James Schamus, Paul Schrader, John Singleton, George Takei, Wayne Wang and John Waters

The only requirement for a film to be put on the National Film Registry of the United States is that it be “culturally, historically or aesthetically significant.” The great thing about these requirements, according to one board member interviewed in the documentary “These Amazing Shadows,” is that they make it possible for anything to qualify. The registry is an eclectic bunch of films selected to be preserved in the Library of Congress and includes everything from obvious classics like “Casablanca,” “Citizen Kane” and “The Godfather...

Lionsgate is releasing a slew of genre related titles on November 24th, and among the bunch is Bill Paxton's directorial debut Frailty . The Blu-Ray will be presented in widescreen, along with 7.1 DTS HD Master Audio. Extras will include a commentary with Director Bill Paxton, a second commentary with Writer Brent Hanley, a third commentary with Editor Arnold Glassman, Producer David Kirschner and Composer Brian Tyler, deleted scenes with optional director commentary, 2 featurettes ("Anatomy of a Scene", "The Making of Frailty"), storyboards, and a photo gallery. Written by Brent Hanley, Frailty stars Bill Paxton, Matthew McConaughey, Powers Boothe and Matt O'Leary (Sorority Row, Mother's Day) Lionsgate is sticking with the original DVD art work as you can...

In a densely packed 57 minutes, "Forever Hollywood" celebrates the glamour and mythology of Tinseltown while providing a thumbnail sketch of the history of American moviemaking. The film, made by astute film critic Todd McCarthy and his co-director and editor Arnold Glassman, is designed for exclusive permanent showings at the Egyptian Theatre, home to the American Cinematheque.

The film is aimed primarily at tourists and is therefore not intended to break any new ground in revisiting the various eras of studio moviemaking. And, understandably, it contains a faint whiff of boosterism.

But what McCarthy has achieved is not only a fresh look with film clips and archival footage new to this sort of nostalgic exercises, but also -- thanks to his intelligent narration, delivered by Sharon Stone, and bemused and alert comments by a host of top-drawer filmmakers -- a surprisingly insightful glimpse of this industry town's development.

"Forever Hollywood" develops a fascinating subtext when it explores how social mores influence Hollywood and, conversely, how Hollywood influences social mores. Without drawing any conclusions, the film hypothesizes that many of the town's ideas about itself and what its citizens think they are doing derive from the movies.

Using film clips about Hollywood moviemaking ranging from King Vidor's underappreciated "Show People" and Preston Sturges' "Sullivan's Travels" to the ultimate rags-to-riches tale, "What Price Hollywood?" and its musical progeny "A Star Is Born", McCarthy shows how the myth of instant stardom was born.

Hollywood influence is seen in other ways. Movies of rebellion and social experimentation from the '50s and '60s reflected but also impacted the times. Then there was the towering figure of Brando, influencing (for better but often for worse) a generation of actors. But the film's biggest laugh in this regard belongs to none other than John Waters.

Cinema's enfant terrible wishes he could jump into a time machine and land on an MGM soundstage the day Margaret Hamilton's Wicked Witch shrinks to death in "The Wizard of Oz".

"That (scene) influenced me more than any film," he declares. He adds that what he never understood, then or now, is why after experiencing the eye-popping brilliance of Oz, Dorothy "wanted to go back to that dreary, smelly farm" in Kansas.

McCarthy also touches on life on the inside. If Angela Lansbury reminisces about the glamorous night life she experienced as a young starlette, Clint Eastwood recalls his tough times at casting cattle calls. Star-struck views get registered by Steven Spielberg, Kevin Spacey and Salma Hayek, while second-generation hipsters such as Jeff Bridges and Rob Reiner recall hanging out at Sunset Strip rock clubs.

The film touches only briefly on Hollywood's dark side by mentioning the town's susceptibility to scandal and scandal-mongering by the press. Vincent Sherman recalls old scandals, and a few quick cuts from "L.A. Confidential" touch on 1950s tabloid outrage.

But these are conveniently long ago and nearly forgotten. No references are made to modern-day problems such as drug use, minority underrepresentation or congressional concern over movie violence.

The film's well-taken point is that Hollywood is the movie capital of the world and is likely to remain so forever.

FOREVER HOLLYWOOD

American Cinematheque Production

in association with Esplanade Prods.

A Kodak presentation

Producer: Sasha Alpert

Writer-director: Todd McCarthy

Executive producer: Barbara Zicka Smith

Co-director/editor: Arnold Glassman

Line producer: Dale Ann Stieber

Director of photography: Nancy Schreiber

Additional photography: Paul Ryan

Narration: Sharon Stone

Color, black and white/stereo

Running time -- 57 minutes

No MPAA rating...