John Cameron Mitchell Movies
Behind every successful transsexual glam rocker there must be a vision, and in the case of Hedwig, the titular transsexual glam rock heroine of Hedwig and the Angry Inch, that vision belonged to actor, director, and writer John Cameron Mitchell. Mitchell, who, with composer Stephen Trask, first brought Hedwig to life back in the early '90s as an act at the Squeezebox, one of New York's most famed drag bars, spent several years on-stage as the star of the successful off-Broadway production of Hedwig and the Angry Inch, winning two Obie awards in the process, before adapting the play for the big screen. When the film version of Hedwig premiered at the 2001 Sundance Festival, the story of Hedwig, the East German victim of a botched sex change operation with an unhappy love life and equally disastrous career, won Mitchell both the festival's Directing Award and Audience Award, as well as his greatest recognition to date.Born in El Paso, TX, on April 21, 1963, Mitchell's early life had certain aspects which provided the inspiration for the character of Hedwig. When his father, a U.S. Army general, moved the family to Berlin, Mitchell's babysitter, a German army wife who was also a prostitute, became the visual model for Mitchell's later creation.
Mitchell broke into the entertainment business in the mid-'80s, appearing on a variety of television shows and little-seen films. During the 1990s, while he was appearing on-stage in Hedwig, he also popped up in films such as Spike Lee's Girl 6 (1996) and the TV spin-off of Party Girl, Daisy von Scherler Mayer's 1995 cult film starring Parker Posey. Mitchell's real screen breakthrough came courtesy of Hedwig and the Angry Inch; following its release, he began to receive attention from both critics and industry figures, many of whom wondered how Mitchell would choose to follow up such a unique and cult-inspiring directing debut. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, Rovi
Adapted for the screen by David Lindsay-Abaire from his own Pulitzer Prize-winning play, director John Cameron Mitchell's Rabbit Hole stars Oscar winner Nicole Kidman and Golden Globe-nominated Aaron Eckhart as a married couple who find their relationship on life support following the devastating loss of their young child. The further their relationship deteriorates, the harder the grieving parents fight to keep it alive. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Nicole Kidman, Aaron Eckhart, (more)
- 2008
In the mid-1990's, when Rudy Guiliani took over as mayor of New York City, he began a campaign to clean up the city, shutting down many of New York's sex clubs and wilder nightspots while turning the Times Square area into a Disney-friendly tourist destination. However, not every New Yorker was happy about the heavy hand being put upon the city's libertine community (especially given the cleanup's emphasis on gay clubs), and Michael Schmidt, a Big Apple party promoter, began staging regular parties at a Tribeca club called Don Hill's as an act of defiance against the new PG-rated New York. "Squeezebox" was originally intended to be a night where drag queens would give up lip-synching to records for the night and belt out their favorite tunes to the accompaniment of a rock band, but in time it grew into an "anything goes" showcase in which gays, straights, punks and club kids mingled in a party that celebrated freedom and self-expression for all as well as a wild good time. John Cameron Mitchell's acclaimed show Hedwig and the Angry Inch began as a workshop production at Squeezebox, and performers who graced the Squeezebox stage included Deborah Harry, Boy George, Jayne County and Antony Hegarty (who would later gain fame with his group Antony and the Johnsons). Filmmakers Steve Saporito, Zach Shaffer and Sean Pierce tell the story behind New York's wildest party and talk to a number of the people who made it possible in the documentary SqueezeBox, which received its world premiere as a special Midnight attraction at the 2008 Tribeca Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- 2007
- NR
The world lost the defiantly unpredictable, trend-busting bop vocalist Anita O'Day in November 2006, to dementia and pneumonia. A year or so prior, documentarians Ian McCrudden and Robbie Cavolina (perhaps foreseeing this loss) set out to create the definitive film portrait of the chanteuse, entitled Anita O'Day: The Life of a Jazz Singer. This biography recounts O'Day's life story by intercutting archival performance footage of the vocalist with fond reminiscences from friends and colleagues and cutaways to O'Day's original reviews and publicity material. Interviewees include Bryant Gumbel, Harry Reasoner, Dick Clark, Annie Ross, and Johnny Mandel. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi
- Starring:
- Anita O'Day, Amy Albany, (more)
- 2006
- Add Fabulous! The Story of Queer Cinema to Queue Add Fabulous! The Story of Queer Cinema to top of Queue
Gay, lesbian, and transgender filmmakers, actors, and critics explore the history of queer cinema in this made-for-cable documentary. Eschewing any overarching narration, co-directors Lesli Klainberg and Lisa Ades illustrate archival footage and film clips with dozens of interviews. They also provide timelines and factoids to punctuate the discussion of specific eras. Although the background material and the interviewees allude to the subtext of Hollywood classics, the bounty of world cinema, and the history of experimental film, the focus remains squarely on the American independent movement, from the 1960s underground through the New Queer Cinema of the early '90s to the post-Brokeback Mountain landscape of 2006. Interview subjects range from cultural commentator Michael Musto and actors Alan Cumming and Jane Lynch to directors John Cameron Mitchell, Jennie Livingston, and Randy Barbato. Fabulous! The Story of Queer Cinema made its bow July 16, 2006, on the Independent Film Channel. ~ Brian J. Dillard, Rovi
- Starring:
- Todd Haynes, Ang Lee, (more)
- 2006
- Add Follow My Voice: With the Music of Hedwig to Queue Add Follow My Voice: With the Music of Hedwig to top of Queue
The lives and experiences of four students attending the first lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, transgender, and queer high school in the nation are explored as musicians Rufus Wainright, Sleater-Kinney), Jonathan Richman and more step into the studio to record a benefit album featuring songs from John Cameron Mitchell's film Hedwig and the Angry Inch. The Hetrick-Martin Institute is home to Harvey Milk High School, the first learning institute in American designed specifically to meet the needs of LGBTQ students struggling to find their way in the world. In this documentary, viewers are invited to follow these students as they explore a whole new world of educational possibilities. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- 2006
John Cameron Mitchell, who created a cult sensation as writer and director of Hedwig and the Angry Inch, blazes a brave new trail with this comedy-drama which combines the stories of a handful of emotionally unsatisfied New Yorkers with some of the most explicit sexual material to ever appear in a mainstream motion picture. Sofia (Sook-Yin Lee) is a couples' therapist who has a major relationship problem of her own -- she's never had an orgasm, and her husband Rob (Raphael Barker) doesn't seem capable of giving her one. Sophia's clients include James and Jamie (Paul Dawson and PJ DeBoy), a gay couple who have been together for five years and are beginning to grow tired of one another. As James and Jamie discuss the possibility of bringing another man into the bedroom, Sophia accidentally mentions her problem, and they tell her of an upcoming "Shortbus Party," a sexual free-for-all in which straight, gay, and lesbian couples are all welcome to either talk about sex or take a more active role in the main ballroom. As James and Jamie hook up with Ceth (Jay Brannan) for some mutually satisfying action at the bash, Sophia experiments with Sapphic diversions, and begins to truly find herself when she encounters Severin (Lindsay Beamish), a professional dominatrix. However, while Sophia begins to find what she needs with Severin, she discovers that while Severin is able to casually enter into a sexual relationship, she's never been able to emotionally commit herself to someone else. Shortbus was screened in competition at the 2006 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Sook-Yin Lee, Paul Dawson, (more)
In the making since the director was 11-years-old and completed on a reported budget of about 200 dollars, Jonathan Caouette's Tarnation is an experimental and self-reflective mix of documentary and fiction. Bringing together a collection of home movies, family photos, answering machine messages, reenactments and Caouette's video diary, the film attempts to delve into the filmmaker's experiences growing up queer with a schizophrenic mother and dealing with her 2003 lithium overdose, which rendered her even more mentally unstable than before. After premiering at the 2003 New York Lesbian and Gay Film Festival, Tarnation screened as part of the Frontier program at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Matthew Tobey, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jonathan Caouette, Renee LeBlanc, (more)
Adapted from the hit off-Broadway musical of the same name, Hedwig and the Angry Inch is the tale of an "internationally ignored" rock & roll singer who hails from Communist Berlin and who dreams of becoming an American sensation. Hedwig (John Cameron Mitchell), born a boy named Hansel, is raised by a single mother (Alberta Watson) who wishes to see her son do better than his poverty-stricken family. Some years later, Hansel is attracted to a good-looking American G.I., who promises a better life overseas for young Hansel, under one condition: that he undergo a sex-change operation to become a fully functional female whom he can then marry. The operation is seriously botched, leaving the now-renamed Hedwig with an "angry inch" only to be stranded in a dingy Kansas trailer park on the day the Berlin Wall comes tumbling down. Hedwig then supports herself through a series of ill-fated lounge gigs and side jobs, meeting up with 16-year-old Tommy Gnosis (Michael Pitt), a religious type who befriends her and later steals her songs and becomes the rock star Hedwig always dreamed of being. Undeterred, Hedwig continues to perform in the shadow of Tommy's sold-out stadium tour, attempting to make herself whole in spirit, if not physically. The film features several songs by composer Stephen Trask, who also appears as a member of Hedwig's disinterested rock band; Miriam Shor portrays Hedwig's newfound love and backup singer. ~ Jason Clark, Rovi
- Starring:
- John Cameron Mitchell, Miriam Shor, (more)
In this independent comedy, David Searching (Anthony Rapp) is a would-be documentary filmmaker trying to get a project off the ground. In the meantime, David (who is gay) is looking for love, willing to settle for sex, and searching for some sort of answers in life. He shares his apartment with his good friend Gwen (Camryn Manheim), who doesn't see any reason why her weight problem should prevent her from attracting good-looking men. David and Gwen both go through a number of blind dates and chance meetings as they hope to find the man of their dreams, while David, looking at the world through his video camera, tries to deal with the complexities of funding his latest project and the labyrinth that is PBS. Playwrights John Cameron Mitchell and David Drake appear in supporting roles. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
Spike Lee directed this comedy-drama about a woman who falls into a career in phone sex. An African-American woman (Theresa Randle) who aspires to a career as an actress endures a number of dispiriting jobs (handing out leaflets and working as a coat check girl) before reaching the end of her rope at an audition with Q.T. (Quentin Tarantino), a sleazy movie director. Q.T. claims that he wants to offer her a role in his next film -- but since the role requires nudity, she will have to show him her breasts first. After firing her agent, the actress is strapped for cash and is offered a job enacting sexual fantasies for men over the phone. Dubbed "Girl 6" by her employers, the actress is treated with respect by her boss (Jennifer Lewis) and is well-liked by her co-workers. However, she has a hard time emotionally distancing herself from her work, and she finds herself becoming infatuated with Bob (Peter Berg), one of her regular callers, going so far as to set up a meeting with him. As she deals in other people's fantasies for a living, Girl 6 begins retreating into her own world of make-believe, where she can be a sexy screen siren or a butt-kicking blaxploitation star. Meanwhile, her former fiancé (Isaiah Washington), who scrapes by as a shoplifter, desperately wants her to give him another chance, and her next door neighbor, a baseball card collector named Jimmy (Spike Lee), keeps pestering her that she ought to be doing something more positive with her life. Girl 6's supporting cast includes Madonna as one of Girl 6's supervisors, John Turturro as her agent, and Debi Mazar as one of the other phone-sex girls; the film also features an original song score by Prince. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Theresa Randle, Isaiah Washington, (more)
- 1995
A gay councilman is murdered, leading detectives Logan (Chris Noth) and Briscoe (Jerry Orbach) to question such "probables" as the dead man's roommate, Joe Gibb (Michael Lichtenstein), and a married man (Robert Joy) with whom the decedent might have had a brief affair. When the investigation narrows down to Councilman Kevin Crossley (Daniel Hugh Kelly) who, despite his outspoken homophobia, insists that he was a good friend of the victim, an outraged Logan completely loses his cool. Suffice to say that this final fifth-season Law & Order episode also represented the last regular appearance of co-star Chris Noth. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
In this chilling made-for-cable-television outing, the population of the United States is nearly wiped out by a sexually transmitted disease. In order to stop its spread, those infected are sequestered in special camps. To make sure no infected person is allowed to go free, a group of vigilantes begins terrorizing city streets in search of carriers. The story is based on an off-Broadway play by Alan Browne. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1991
This drama is set in 1981, and chronicles the experiences of a 17-year-old Polish immigrant trying to adjust and survive in his new American environment. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- John Cameron Mitchell, Viveca Lindfors, (more)
A teenager in the '50s moves to a new neighborhood and has to deal with all the problems that come with it in this lighthearted feature--complete with a rock 'n' roll soundtrack. ~ Kristie Hassen, Rovi
- Starring:
- Chris Young, Keith Coogan, (more)
- 1990
This sentimentalized biography of Oz creator L. Frank Baum (1856-1919) stars John Ritter in the title role. Richard Matheson's teleplay accurately depicts Baum as a business failure with the singular gift of being able to communicate with children. In keeping with Matheson's grounding in fantasy and the supernatural, Baum's characters occasionally come to life to palaver with the author and bring him inspiration. Annette O'Toole co-stars as Mrs. Baum, while Charles Haid is seen in the dual role of "Badham" and the Cowardly Lion. Also on hand as a Munchkin is Jerry Maren, who played one of the Lollipop Guild in the 1939 Hollywood adaptation of The Wizard of Oz. Made for television, Dreamer of Oz: The L. Frank Baum Story debuted December 10, 1990. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1988
Set in Vienna during the German occupation, this made-for-cable television drama centers on the friendship between a Jewish girl and the young Christian who helps her escape. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
Former Starsky and Hutch star Paul Michael Glaser warmed the director's chair for Band of the Hand. The film zeroes in on five juvenile delinquents who are plucked from their various detention facilities and unceremoniously dumped in the wilds of the Everglades. The boys begin to panic until hardcase Vietnam veteran Stephen Lang arrives. Lang explains that they've been paroled in his custody, and that it is his task to teach them how to work as a team in order to survive. The logic of this plan is to whip the boys into an elite vigilante unit, then sic them on the various drug dealers of America. The film features early performances by Lauren Holly and Larry Fishburne and Bob Dylan can be heard singing the title song. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Stephen Lang, Michael Carmine, (more)
- 1986
- R
This comedy makes fun of teen comedies as it chronicles a Midwestern town's feverish preparations for a big weekend party. Much of the story centers around the mad scramble for both youngsters and adults to find appropriate dates. The story was penned by Saturday Night Live alumni Al Franken and Tom Davis. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Tom Davis, Al Franken, (more)
- 1984
Roommate, which appeared on PBS in the "American Playhouse" series, involves an unlikely pair of college roommates sharing a dorm room in a Midwestern university in 1952. One's a goody-goody all-American type and the other's a politically active rebel. This real salt-and-pepper scenario provides for some fairly good laughs. Roommate is based upon a story by John Updike. ~ Rovi
- Starring:
- Lance Guest, Barry Miller, (more)
Rating Systems
Blockbuster
BLOCKBUSTER name, design and related marks are trademarks of Blockbuster L.L.C.
2013 Blockbuster L.L.C. All rights reserved.
Portions of Content Provided by Rovi Corporation. 2013 Rovi Corporation.