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10 articles from 2008

2 October 2008 10:00 PM, PDT | From The Scorecard Review | See recent Scorecard Review news

Towelhead Directed by: Marc Abraham Cast: Summer Bishil, Maria Bello, Aaron Eckhart, Peter Macdissi Time: 1 hr 56 mins Rating: R Plot: A tale a troubled Arab girl who forges through the tumultuous tweens amidst amplified adversity. Along with reaching her sexual awakening, young Jasira learns the yings and yangs of bigotry and racism without much help from her anti-role model parents. Who’s It For? This is film based on the novel written by Alicia Erian. It’s interesting to see how successful books are morphed into feature films. Also, anyone interested in witnessing what could be the most provocative coming age story about a thirteen-year-old girl. Yes, I’ve seen Thirteen. Expectations: Those of you expecting the rumored controversy this film with initiate should ready yourself. It’s difficult to fully assert how far this film goes with the material. Far past previously set standards for what’s expectable, especially

20 September 2008 9:00 AM, PDT | From ScreenRant.com | See recent Screen Rant news

Short version: Towelhead manages to balance humor and drama in this cautionary tale of a 13 year old girl’s burgeoning sexuality.

Like many films shown at Sundance this year, Towelhead combined different styles (humor and drama), but does it more successfully than most. It’s the story of a thirteen year old girl who is half Lebanese / half WASP whose physical development is quite ahead of her age. Towelhead (aka Nothing is Private) was written, directed and produced by Alan Ball, the same fellow who wrote the screenplay for the similarly themed American Beauty a few years ago.

Expectedly, due to the content of this film, it has only been picked up for limited distribution at theaters but it’s definitely worth seeing if you can handle the subject matter.

Summer Bishil (who was 19 at the time the movie was filmed) plays 13 year old Jasira. The movie puts the audience

Vic Holtreman

12 September 2008 9:03 AM, PDT | From wenn.com | See recent WENN news

Actor Aaron Eckhart felt awkward during his sex scenes in upcoming film Towelhead - because his co-star Summer Bishil found them funny.

The Dark Knight star plays a bigoted reserve soldier in the controversial movie, which tells the story of an Arab-American girl's encounter with racism after her family moves to a Texas town.

She conducts an affair with her neighbour, played by Eckhart - but he hated filming their intense sex scenes because Bishil joked her way through them.

He tells MTV.com, "Those were difficult times for me. The way I did it was to really trust (director) Alan (Ball). It was in the words. I really trusted Summer, and I tried to get her to trust me, to build a relationship when we were doing physical scenes.

"We'd really rehearse them mechanically, and I'd say, "Ok, I'm going to put my hand here, I'm going to do this". She was so good-humoured about the whole thing and well-adjusted - I think I found it more difficult."

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12 September 2008 3:10 AM, PDT | From NYPost.com | See recent New York Post news

'Towelhead," wherein a Muslim-American girl faces all manner of abuse in a Houston suburb, is a blackly funny provocation from Alan Ball, the genius who wrote "American Beauty" and created "Six Feet Under."

Ball's directing debut doesn't reach the heights of either of these earlier works, and some will find its incendiary mix of politics, race and adolescent sexual awakening offensive. But, at its best, it's another incisive satire on American culture.

During the first Gulf war in 1989, 13-year-old Jasira (played by Summer Bishil, 19 at the time

By LOU LUMENICK

11 September 2008 12:04 PM, PDT | From avclub.com | See recent The AV Club news

Perhaps the best way to explain what's so wrong about Towelhead is first to consider what's right about it, and that begins and ends with Summer Bishil, excellent as a 13-year-old who experiences a rude sexual awakening. The mixed-race daughter of two raging narcissists—her mother neglectful and irresponsible, her father inordinately strict and oppressive—she gets mixed messages from home and little but contempt from her classmates, who don't like the color of her skin. So when her sexual curiosity naturally begins to pique, as it will with any girl that age, Bishil doesn't have a clue where to go with it, which leads her to seek pleasure where she can get it, and love in wildly inappropriate places. Consider this plot thread in isolation, and Ball had the makings of something like Catherine Breillat's Fat Girl, which captured this particular rite of passage with raw terror. Instead,

Scott Tobias

8 September 2008 7:07 AM, PDT | From ifc.com | See recent IFC news

By Neil Pedley

Some might be quick to dismiss this week as part of the post-summer lull, but others might see it as a week of films that have been years in the making . it's been 13 since the now re-paired Robert De Niro and Al Pacino were last on screen together, while Diane English's remake of "The Women" took 12 to make it to the big screen, and the Flaming Lips' "Christmas on Mars" spent a mere seven years in the offing. As for fans of the Coen brothers, it only seems like forever since "No Country for Old Men."

"Able Danger"

Another week, another 9/11 conspiracy film, this one actually getting released on the seventh anniversary of the tragedy. Loosely inspired by "The Maltese Falcon," this Dv noir offers something of a date movie for far-left conspiracy theorists who take issue with perceived abuse of power on the part of our government.

Neil Pedley

27 August 2008 12:09 AM, PDT | From Aceshowbiz | See recent Aceshowbiz news

Amidst Muslim leaders' demand of the retitling of "Towelhead", the Warner Independent Pictures' controversial drama stays firm with its chosen title. Rejecting the idea to make some changes in the naming of the film, its director/producer/writer Alan Ball reasoned that the title is important for the movie to be true to its original concept.

Insisting that the title will be kept, Ball shared his point of view on the matter. "As a gay man, I know how it feels to be called hateful names simply because of who I am," he explained. "Therefore, I felt it was important to retain the title of Alicia Erian's novel, in which she so effectively dramatizes the pain inflicted by such language, something many people of non-minority descent never have to face."

"I believe one of the unintended consequences of forbidding such words to be spoken is imbuing those words with

AceShowbiz.com

26 August 2008 9:06 AM, PDT | From wenn.com | See recent WENN news

The director of controversial movie Towelhead has hit back at calls to retitle the film, insisting it is "important" to stay true to the original concept.

Muslim leaders have urged movie executives at Warner Bros. to rename the flick because the word is "offensive and exploitative" to American Muslims and Arab-Americans.

But Alan Ball, who directs the film adaptation of the Alicia Erian novel, insists he will keep the title as it was intended.

He says, "As a gay man, I know how it feels to be called hateful names simply because of who I am. Therefore, I felt it was important to retain the title of Alicia Erian's novel, in which she so effectively dramatises the pain inflicted by such language, something many people of non-minority descent never have to face.

"I believe one of the unintended consequences of forbidding such words to be spoken is imbuing those words with more power than they should ever have, and helping create the illusion that the bigotry and racism expressed by such cruel epithets is less prevalent than it actually is, which we all know is sadly not the case."

The film, starring Aaron Eckhart, Summer Bishil and Toni Collette, is about a young Arab-American girl's struggles with life and sexual obsession. The heroine of Erian's story is dubbed 'Towelhead' by her enemies.

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25 August 2008 6:32 PM, PDT | From wenn.com | See recent WENN news

Muslim leaders are urging movie executives at Warner Bros. to retitle their new movie Towelhead because the word is "offensive and exploitative".

Los Angeles members of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) insist the derogatory term is offensive to American Muslims and Arab-Americans. They go so far as to state the term 'towelhead' as "a racial and religious slur".

In a letter sent to studio executives, the Islamic civil rights and advocacy group has asked that the film, directed by Alan Ball, be called Nothing is Private - a title previously used in some markets.

CAIR-LA Executive Director Hussam Ayloush writes, "The word is commonly used in a derogatory manner against people of the Muslim faith or Arab origin... We have no desire to inhibit the creative process or your right to produce any film you wish. However, I ask you to take the above concerns into consideration and examine the social implications of releasing the film under its current title.

"It is unfortunate that a major film studio would choose to exploit an ethnic slur as a sensational promotion for a movie. Mainstreaming a bigoted term in this manner will only serve to legitimize and normalize anti-Muslim prejudice in our society."

The film, starring Aaron Eckhart, Summer Bishil and Toni Collette, is adapted from Alicia Erian's novel about a young Arab-American girl's struggles with life and sexual obsession. The heroine of Erian's story is dubbed 'Towelhead' by some ignorant and bigoted Americans.

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1 July 2008 10:38 AM, PDT | From toxicshock.tv | See recent toxicshock news

Warner Independent released a brand new movie trailer for the upcoming film “Towelhead” by director Alan Ball (Six Feet Under) and starring Summer Bishil, Aaron Eckhart, Peter Macdissi, Toni Collette and Maria Bello. Plot: A young Arab-American girl struggles with her sexual obsession, a bigoted Army reservist and her strict father during the Gulf War. Based on Alicia Erian’s novel “Towelhead”.

Brian Corder

10 articles from 2008