coalition of disability groups blasted Ben Stiller’s latest movie Tropic Thunder on Tuesday, slamming the spoof war film’s repeated use of the word “retard” as “disgusting and appalling.”
The American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD) said in a statement it had rallied disability groups urging a boycott of the film, which is released in North America theaters later this week.
Protesters demonstrated at the Los Angeles premiere of the film on Monday, which was attended by Meet the Parents, Night at the Museum and Zoolander actor-director Stiller.
The associated has taken aim at Tropic Thunder for depicting a caricature of an intellectually disabled person — Simple Jack — played by Stiller’s character, an egotistical Hollywood star seeking awards.
Although Stiller has said the sub-plot is intended as a satire on Hollywood, the associated described it as a “continuation of the horrifying portrayal of disabled characters in entertainment.”
“AAPD is also disgusted at the use of the word ‘retard’ numerous times in the movie and promotional items for the film,” the group said.
AAPD president Andrew Imparato, who met with studio backers Dreamworks last week to discuss the movie, slammed the film after viewing it on Monday.
“Both the use of this word and the appalling portrayal of an intellectually disabled character in this movie are incredibly damaging to people with intellectual disabilities,” Imparato said.
“Although the movie is considered satire, this depiction of a person with intellectual disabilities is far from funny.”
Dreamworks has defended the film, insisting the humor is intended to lampoon actors rather than people with disabilities.
Tropic Thunder, which also stars Jack Black and Robert Downey Jr, follows the fortunes of a group of actors who are sent to make a war film only to find themselves in the middle of a real-life conflict.
Two-time Oscar winner Hilary Swank has bought the rights for a film version of the best-selling book French Women Don’t Get Fat, entertainment press reported on Wednesday.
Swank, an Academy Award winner for Boys Don’t Cry and Million Dollar Baby could star in a screen adaptation of Mireille Guiliano’s hit 2004 lifestyle tome, Daily Variety reported.
Guiliano, a former executive with champagne company Veuve Clicquot, scored a hit with her book, subtitled The Secret of Eating for Pleasure which offered insights into how French women manage to stay slim despite enjoying calorie-rich staples such as pastries and wine.
The book reached top spot on the New York Times non-fiction bestseller list and has sold more than two million copies worldwide to date.
Variety reported that the film version would be a romantic comedy about the boss of a champagne company.
George Clooney has snapped up the film rights for a book based on the detention and trial of Osama bin Laden’s driver, it was reported on Wednesday.
Daily Variety said it was not clear what role Oscar-winning actor-director Clooney would take in the project, which will be based on Jonathan Mahler’s book The Challenge.
The story spotlights the efforts of US Navy lawyer Charles Swift and Georgetown law professor Neal Katyal to secure a fair trial for Salim Hamdan, who was last week sentenced to less than five years in prison.
The sentence was later described by Swift as a “stunning rebuke” to the government’s case against Hamdan. Prosecutors had demanded the Yemeni be jailed for 30 years, portraying him as a cunning al-Qaeda warrior.
According to Variety, Clooney could direct, write and star in the film. The report said Clooney was considered a perfect choice to play the role of the idealistic lawyer Swift.
Clint Eastwood’s Changeling, starring Angelina Jolie as the mother of a missing boy, and Darren Aronofsky’s The Wrestler, featuring Mickey Rourke as a washed-up pro wrestler, are among the highlights at this year’s New York Film Festival.
The festival announced its 28-film lineup on Wednesday, including a restored print of Max Ophuls’ 1955 classic Lola Montes. The 46th annual event, run by the Film Society of Lincoln Center, will be held Sept. 26 to Oct. 12.
The opening-night film is The Class, Laurent Cantet’s documentary-like drama about a year at a rough French high school. It won the top prize at this year’s Cannes Film Festival.
The New York festival closes with The Wrestler, in which Rourke plays a former wrestling star now relegated to the bush leagues of his sport.
Changeling, based on a true story, is about a single mother whose 9-year-old son disappears in Los Angeles in 1928. Months later, police bring her a boy who claims to be her son, but she doesn’t believe him and sets out to unravel the mystery with the help of a local minister played by John Malkovich.
Other prominent directors at the festival include Steven Soderbergh, Mike Leigh and Wong Kar Wai (王家衛).
When nature calls, Masana Izawa has followed the same routine for more than 50 years: heading out to the woods in Japan, dropping his pants and doing as bears do. “We survive by eating other living things. But you can give faeces back to nature so that organisms in the soil can decompose them,” the 74-year-old said. “This means you are giving life back. What could be a more sublime act?” “Fundo-shi” (“poop-soil master”) Izawa is something of a celebrity in Japan, publishing books, delivering lectures and appearing in a documentary. People flock to his “Poopland” and centuries-old wooden “Fundo-an” (“poop-soil house”) in
Jan 13 to Jan 19 Yang Jen-huang (楊仁煌) recalls being slapped by his father when he asked about their Sakizaya heritage, telling him to never mention it otherwise they’ll be killed. “Only then did I start learning about the Karewan Incident,” he tells Mayaw Kilang in “The social culture and ethnic identification of the Sakizaya” (撒奇萊雅族的社會文化與民族認定). “Many of our elders are reluctant to call themselves Sakizaya, and are accustomed to living in Amis (Pangcah) society. Therefore, it’s up to the younger generation to push for official recognition, because there’s still a taboo with the older people.” Although the Sakizaya became Taiwan’s 13th
Earlier this month, a Hong Kong ship, Shunxin-39, was identified as the ship that had cut telecom cables on the seabed north of Keelung. The ship, owned out of Hong Kong and variously described as registered in Cameroon (as Shunxin-39) and Tanzania (as Xinshun-39), was originally People’s Republic of China (PRC)-flagged, but changed registries in 2024, according to Maritime Executive magazine. The Financial Times published tracking data for the ship showing it crossing a number of undersea cables off northern Taiwan over the course of several days. The intent was clear. Shunxin-39, which according to the Taiwan Coast Guard was crewed
China’s military launched a record number of warplane incursions around Taiwan last year as it builds its ability to launch full-scale invasion, something a former chief of Taiwan’s armed forces said Beijing could be capable of within a decade. Analysts said China’s relentless harassment had taken a toll on Taiwan’s resources, but had failed to convince them to capitulate, largely because the threat of invasion was still an empty one, for now. Xi Jinping’s (習近平) determination to annex Taiwan under what the president terms “reunification” is no secret. He has publicly and stridently promised to bring it under Communist party (CCP) control,
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