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The not-so-secret fact about premieres is that the actors rarely watch, usually ducking out when the lights go down. They spend the film’s duration smoking cigarettes and reciting the cinema’s version of the serenity prayer: “God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, i.e. the director’s predilection to use my worst take.”

That was not the case at Sundance’s world premiere of Steven Soderbergh’s “Presence,” a ghostly thriller about the Payne family, a bougie clan with a significant number of problems including a spectral, uh, presence that could be friend or foe. On multiple trips to the washroom—blast the diuretic qualities of Diet Mountain Dew–I spied the entire cast watching the film with edge-of-the-seat anxiety, much like the rest of the theatre..

Lucy Liu, who plays the family’s checked-out mother, looked genuinely shook as she stood with...

David Koepp knows suspense.

The prolific screenwriter has written edge-of-your-seat thrillers for Brian De Palma, David Fincher (“Panic Room”), and Ron Howard. He’s also directed a few for himself, including 1996’s excellent “The Trigger Effect.”

A new David Koepp thriller is a very big deal indeed, especially if it’s directed by the legendary Steven Soderbergh. And that’s what we’ve got in “Kimi,” a paranoid techno-thriller debuting Thursday on HBO Max.

“Kimi” stars Zoë Kravitz as Angela, an agoraphobic young woman in Seattle working for a start-up introducing a new digital assistant named Kimi. Her job is to scrub through janky audio recordings; one day she comes across a recording that rattles her to the core – did a woman seemingly record her violent attack? Did Angela become the ear-witness to a murder?

TheWrap talked with Koepp about what it was like working with Soderbergh, how the pandemic...

Hulu’s upcoming limited series The Dropout, about the rise and fall of Elizabeth Holmes and Theranos, continues to expand its cast with the addition of Dylan Minnette, Alan Ruck, Bashir Salahuddin and Mary Lynn Rajskub. Also joining the cast are Hart Bochner, James Hiroyuki Liao, Nicky Endres, Camryn Mi-Young Kim and Andrew Leeds. They will appear opposite Amanda Seyfried in the series from Liz Meriwether, Seachlight Television and Disney Television Studios’ 20th Television.

Created and executive produced by Meriwether, who also serves as showrunner, The Dropout is based on the ABC News/ABC Radio podcast. Holmes (Seyfried), the enigmatic Stanford dropout who founded medical testing start-up Theranos, was lauded as a Steve Jobs for the next tech generation. Once worth billions of dollars, the myth crumbled when it was revealed that none of the tech actually worked, putting thousands of people’s health in grave danger. Money. Romance. Tragedy.

Colin Firth returned to movie screens this summer with the sequel “Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again,” reuniting the original all-star cast of Meryl Streep, Amanda Seyfried, Pierce Brosnan, Dominic Cooper, Stellan Skarsgård, Christine Baranski and Julie Walters) plus adding Cher to the cast (surprisingly as the mother of Streep).

Firth began his career on the British stage which led to roles in film and television. It wouldn’t be until 10 years into his career that Firth would become a household name in the United Kingdom when he starred in the highly successful BBC production of “Pride and Prejudice.” His role as Mr. Darcy in the film made him one of the top sex symbols in his native country. He would later lampoon his position as one of the countries most desired men when he played the role of Mark Darcy in “Bridget Jones’ Diary.” Bridget longs for her own...

TV, stage and movie actress Dora Bryan has passed away.

The star, whose TV roles included Ros Utterthwaite in Last of the Summer Wine and June Whitfield's on-screen friend Dolly in Absolutely Fabulous, was 91.

Bryan also appeared in films such as A Taste of Honey, The Great St Trinian's Train Robbery and Apartment Zero.

She was awarded an OBE for services to drama in 1996.

Bryan's manager David Hill has paid his respects to her via Twitter, saying: "As her agent / manager, but above all her friend, I'm so sad to announce that #DoraBryan has died today. A legend, an icon & a true star!"

The actress died at a nursing home in Hove today (July 23), with her sons Daniel and William Lawton telling The Argus: "It was heartbreaking but it was peaceful. She just left us.

"She was a tiny woman but her constitution was incredible. She loved being on stage,...

Each month, we turn our spotlight onto the unsung artists behind the biggest new movie releases. This month: David Koepp, co-writer of Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit.

A graduate of UCLA’s School of Theater, Film and Television, David Koepp has a name that is familiar to moviegoers around the world, although they may not realize why. It’s one of those names that crops up regularly, on all kinds of film posters and credit rolls, in all sorts of capacities. He has worked as a Producer, Actor, Second Unit Director, Assistant Director, Director, Writer and even Songwriter, on an epic roster of films that would make even Spielberg’s toes curl – though he had a hand in some of them.

While his resume shows him to be a man of many talents, it is screenwriting that has made his name internationally recognizable. David Koepp is one of the most prolific screenwriters in Hollywood,...

Did you know that Heathers screened in competition at Sundance? Even I wasn’t aware of this (or I’d forgotten), and I swear I’m one of the movie’s biggest fans. It’s not a fact revealed on the DVD commentary, apparently. It’s not even listed among the release dates on IMDb or Wikipedia, both of which tend to include major film festival appearances. The dark teen movie classic didn’t premiere in Park City, but following its debut in Milan, Italy, at the Mifed film market in October 1988, it went on to Sundance (then still known as the U.S. Film Festival) in January 1989, where it faced such features as Steven Soderbergh’s sex, lies and videotape (winner of the inaugural audience award), Martin Donovan’s Apartment Zero and Nancy Savoca’s barely remembered True Love, which won the dramatic jury prize (nice going 1989 jury member Jodie Foster!). According...

Random Media, a new multi-platform content company, has hired indie distribution vet Tom Skouras as chairman, the company announced Monday. For more than a decade, Skouras was president of Skouras Pictures, Inc., an indie film distribution company that handled the release of, among others, Joel and Ethan Coen’s first film, Blood Simple, Paul Schrader’s The Comfort of Strangers, Martin Donovan’s Apartment Zero and My Life as a Dog, directed by Lasse Hallstrom. "Tom will bring a level of guidance and insight to Random Media that can only be gained from a lifetime of extraordinary experience in our industry,”

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Here is last week’s caption pic winner. This week’s caption pic is at the bottom of the page.

Thanks to everyone for participating! The winner is …

“Alvin, there are some things you just can’t tuck”

Thanks to Rob for this week’s winning caption!

Weekend Birthdays! Ed Westwick (above) is 26, Kathy Bates is 65, John Cusack is 47, Lizzy Caplan is 31, and Brian Bloom is 43 (more with him on page two).

And 3 … 2 … 1 … Prestigious New Yorker magazine irresponsibly promotes child endangerment.

Tyler Coates isn’t too happy with the cover, either.

Will Supreme Court Rulings GiveThe Front Runner Film Momentum?

TV Line is reporting that Heather Morris, Mark Salling, Harry Shum Jr. and Amber Riley will not be returning to Glee as regular cast members, but may make occasional appearances. Well, considering that Mark, Harry, and Amber were basically guest stars last season, the only real difference this year will be Heather.

At this point we know absolutely nothing about Spike Lee’s remake of Oldboy, but we can confirm that Josh Brolin will play as the lead character who is randomly kidnapped off the streets and imprisoned for 15 years, only to be let out and given just an ounce of clues as to who may have done this to him.

We can also confirm that Colin Firth was offered the role of the kidnapper at one point, but he turned it down. I really wish Firth hadn’t turn down the role as it would be a great departure from the normal good-guy character he usually plays. It would have also added more depth to Firth’s American repertoire, since people in the states haven’t seen films like Apartment Zero and Where the Truth Lies.

But with Colin Firth gone, Spike Lee is considering other actors for the kidnapper role in Oldboy.

Subject: Colin Firth, 50-year old English actor

Date of Assessment: March 30, 2011

Positive Buzzwords: Underrated, mainstream

Negative Buzzwords: Stiff, posh, bore

The Case: The good news, as accurately declared by Colin Firth in his recent (Best Actor) Oscar acceptance speech, is that his career really has just peaked. The bad news, however, is that in the event of a career peak, a downward slide might be inevitable. In the best case scenario, it is entirely possible Firth could parlay his Oscar win into more exposure for the sorts of roles that he's played before and for which he hasn't yet received proper recognition.

Most of us know Firth as the quintessential Englishman and for good reason. He's quite notorious for his straight-out-of-the-novel portrayal of Mr. Darcy in the six-episode miniseries Pride and Prejudice, in which he performed the classic Regency version of a one-man wet t-shirt contest. Indeed, there's something strange...

Nominated for his endearing role as King George VI in "The King's Speech," Colin Firth is an accomplished film, television and stage actor. Colin first received acclaim for his portrayal of Mr. Darcy in the '90's television version of "Pride and Prejudice," and has since won an array of acting awards.

Learn more about Colin Firth!

Oscar Nominee Trivia File: Colin FirthAcademics and Africa

Born into an academic family on September 10, 1960, Colin Andrew Firth...

Colin Firth and Natalie Portman will be respectively presented the Desert Palm Achievement Award for Actor and Actress at the 22nd annual Palm Springs International Film Festival. The Awards Gala will kick off the 2011 awards season on Saturday, January 8 at the Palm Springs Convention Center.

This award is very fitting for both actors. Firth is receiving major Oscar buzz for his performance as King George VI in "The King's Speech," and Portman for Darren Aronofsky's "The Black Swan."

I'm excited for these two actors, and I'm excited for the Film fest. I'm a Palm Springs resident so this is good news! Here's the complete press release:

The 22nd annual Palm Springs International Film Festival (Psiff) will present Colin Firth and Natalie Portman with the Desert Palm Achievement Award for Actor and Actress, respectively. Presented by Cartier, the Awards Gala will kick off the 2011 awards season on Saturday, January 8 at...

After the Academy’s attempt at honoring genre during the live show, we saw a real tribute to horror by someone who is truly one of our own. Bob Murawski thanked Sam Raimi for giving him his “first cutting job” in Army of Darkness. His Best Editing award for Hurt Locker was shared by his partner Chris Innis, whom he met on the Raimi produced TV show “American Gothic.”

I gotta say, never since Peter Jackson’s (who was nominated this year for District 9) thank you to the crew of Meet the Feebles has there been such an excellent genre shout out.

On top of working with Raimi for over a decade, Murawski also runs Grindhouse Releasing, which distributes and restores cult and horror films with a focus on extreme Italian cinema. Pieces, The Beyond, Cannibal Holocaust, and I Drink Your Blood are just a few names you’ll find in Grindhouse Releasing's catalogue.

Have a question about gay male entertainment? Send it to aftereltonflyingmonkey@yahoo.com! (Please include your city and state and/or country.)

Q: What do you Really think about the circumstances surrounding Stephen Gately’s death? Do you think ill of him and his partner for being a negative representative of the gay community and its fight for marriage (in many people's eyes, threesomes aren’t "normal" when you’re married)? -- Curious from My House, USA

Stephen Gately

A: Now that’s an interesting question!

Are there times when I’m embarrassed by what other gay folks do? Well, I know that the actions of other people have no real bearing whatsoever on me – especially when you’re talking about someone who is as only tangentially related to me as merely being another member of my same minority.

Still, I also know that that’s not how a lot of people see it.

Fans of gay film films have been very curious about the movie A Single Man ever since word broke that Tom Ford was directing the movie based on the novel by Christopher Isherwood. Starring Colin Firth (Mamma Mia, Apartment Zero), Julianne Moore (Savage Grace, Far From Heaven), Matthew Goode (Brideshead Revisited) and Nicholas Hoult (Skins)  just had its coming out, so to speak, at the Venice Festival where it made a big splash.

Not only did the movie win the Queer Lion (for best gay movie) but Colin Firth was named best actor. 

A Single Man is playing Monday at the Toronto Film Festival and then heads to London for the London Film Festival before opening in the U.S. sometime in 2009.

Here is the trailer for the movie and given that it's directed by Tom Ford, it's appropriately stylish and very intriguing!

Thanks to Ae reader Jude and everyone...

Shooting on Oliver Parker’s Dorian Gray adaptation is set to begin this week, so the final cast announcements are coming out now. This morning THR reported that Colin Firth (Apartment Zero, Then She Found Me) has officially signed on for the role of Lord Henry Wolton.

In Oscar Wilde’s story Wolton is the man who helps to corrupt the impressionable Dorian Gray (Ben Barnes) with his twisted world view, which eventually leads Gray into the hedonistic lifestyle that only shows its effects on his self portrait.

Parker plans on making Dorian Gray a visceral, dark horror movie with themes of stardom running thick throughout. Can’t wait to see how this baby turns out!

- Johnny Butane

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