Got ‘Milk’?
By Craig Kennedy - September 3rd, 2008; 1:35 pm
Nick Plowman of Fataculture just gave me the heads up that Apple has the first trailer for Gus Van Sant’s Milk starring Sean Penn, James Franco, Emile Hirsch, Josh Brolin and Diego Luna.
From where I sit, it’s a pretty terrific trailer that will no doubt stir up a lot of controversy.
The story of murdered San Francisco city supervisor Harvey Milk, the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in the United States, opens November 26.
Filed under: Trailers
Tags: Diego Luna, Emile Hirsch, Gus Van Sant, James Franco, Josh Brolin, Milk, Sean Penn
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Is it just me, or is that one of the first times I’ve ever seen a writer’s name displayed prominently in the marketing?
Penn looks like he gives a stunning performance here. Wait for everyone to start screaming “OSCAR!” in 5…4…3…2…
GREAT trailer. I was skeptical before, but I’m encouraged now. I like that they managed to convey some hope and joy and playfulness in the trailer, it’s not all Big Heavy Change Message. it has that certain contagious enthusiasm, ya know?
Brolin looks promising here, too. What a cast.
Yeah, I’m sold. Cautious interest is now increasing anticipation.
An acting blow out to be sure, but also the hope and joy and playfulness that JB mentions. Yet they’re not soft pedaling the story or the message. At all.
Well that just jumped up several spots on my Most Anticipated list.
That was a very odd display of the “written by” credit at the end of the trailer. It’s not just the prominence of the display, but the fact that it comes after everything else, even the tiny font credits (whatever they’re called).
It would’ve been odd even if I’d known the name Dustin Lance Black….which I don’t….which makes it even stranger.
It’s as if we should know who that is. To the IMDB!
Hmmm… his credits are quite mediocre. A few episodes of Big Love, a few gay films. He is an exec producer on Milk, so maybe it was an internal ego decision? Or does his name have some weight within the gay community, so it’s a stamp of authenticity, kind of like a Holocaust survivor writing a WWII film?
Mysteries, mysteries…
It took forever for this project to be brought to fruition amd I was highly skeptical about it EVER being made.
Not that I gave it a great deal of thought, but this is the way that I thought it SHOULD be done if they ever managed to put it across.
MARVELOUS cast. Everybody looks to be at the top of their respective game - and I do adore SEAN and EMILE.
Unless something goofy happens right out of left field, I’m solidly on board for this.
Genuinely anticipating this film….
Correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t think this is the version that took ages to finally make it into production. I remember reading an article with the producers who championed the project for over a decade, and how devastating it was to them when this version made it off the ground and they had nothing to do with it. People kept coming up to them and saying, “Congratulations on finally getting your dream project made!” And they would have to tell them that it wasn’t theirs.
Ah, here’s a link.
http://www.filmstew.com/showArticle.aspx?ContentID=16807
Yeah, it was the Bryan Singer / Christopher McQuarrie version that was in development for 16 years. Bummer for them.
Looks terrific. I am so sold and so excited. I’m especially ecstatic that Milk’s life will be reaching so many people who may have never heard of him.
Everyone’s comments are so good it would take me forever to address them all. First, yes I think the trailer looks promising. It’s hard to separate my own excitement and personal sentiments when estimating how much general appeal the film will have. However, it does appear headed for good critical reception and award nominations.
I suspect this is one of those rare films made with love and by a tight-knit, committed group of people. I know that sounds corny, but that’s my impression. Associated with the film are some key figures of San Francisco’s gay movement (like Cleve Jones) as well as those currently well-connected to and highly regarded by the gay community (like Penn & Van Sant).
The story features some heavily dramatic moments in recent U.S. history and uses plenty of authentic locations, aided by municipal cooperation and the presence of tons of committed extras.
The film’s central character is a popular martyr, and the role is played by an actor (Penn) who appears to have taken a good stab at capturing Milk’s essential nature (the playfulness, humor, and joy that jennybee mentions). Brolin, too (with the help of that severe haircut) seems to have made some bold choices with his characterization of Milk’s and Mayor Moscone’s killer, Dan White. Speaking of which, I wonder how much of Moscone we’ll see — he, too, was an interesting character. And to what extent will Dianne Feinstein’s role in this be portrayed? (Not much, I suspect, if at all, although we did get to see plenty of Dianne in The Times of Harvey Milk.)
Van Sant appears to have been not only a politically popular choice for director but also an effective one.
This might be one of those so-called edgier films we see during many awards seasons, and I think the Academy will try to elevate it through multiple nominations.
Evan, although I have no direct knowledge of this, it appears that Dustin Lance Black has written what some well-connected people in the gay community regard as an excellent screenplay. I think he knows the producer, which may be one of the reasons his name figures prominently in the credits. Along these lines, I’d guess that the people around this film have tried to coddle and protect the project for fear of it being bastardized by the Hollywood system — sort of a Northern vs. Southern California thing, with Penn, a longtime Bay Arean, figuring prominently in the mix.
Steve Carrell would not have been a bad casting choice, but I get the feeling that Penn is better suited — I think his basic nature has more fluidity as a person and actor to inhabit the role successfully.
A must see.
Looks interesting. I don’t know much about Milk to be honest, so this should be interesting to see fresh to the story and character. I don’t often get that opportunity with biopics. Also interesting to see what Van Sant will do with this material. This appears to be much more straightforward than the films he’s been delivering the last few years, although I can’t imagine he would deliver what might be considered a “mainstream” movie either.
Anyway, this did just move up my anticipated list a few notches, although after Paranoid Park I was already curious to see what Van Sant was going to do next.
Great cast. Is it ironic that coming off No Country, Brolin follows up with a…”memorable” haircut of his own?
Is this a Milk thread? Should I mention for the 10,000th time I saw them filming this right in front of the Castro Theatre back in the winter? I can see in the trailer Penn/Milk speaking to a large crowd right in front of the theatre. Spoiler I have from my experience: The Poseidon Adventure is the film on the marquee!
I guess the trailer is about what I expected in terms of tone. I’ve been interested in this, partly as a Bay Arean interested in the region’s history and everything, but I have to admit for some reason the trailer isn’t shaking my sense of anticipation for this much one way or the other. Again, though, like with W, Brolin, in just miniscule-sized clips, looks like he’s trying hard, and in a good way.
Fabulous clip. I can’t wait, thanks for putting it up, Craig.
Alexander, maybe you were already more interested than I was? I was curious and hopeful, but kind of on the fence. There are so many ways something so loaded like this could go horribly wrong…like imagine if Oliver Stone’s version actually got made, but the trailer puts my mind at ease. Looking forward to it.