Rob Epstein
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Does Amanda Seyfried Save 'Lovelace'? Only Just - Reviews Roundup
By Jack de Aguilar in Movies / TV / Theatre on 08 August 2013
Good, but could have been better is the jist.
Lovelace, the biographical film about Linda Boreman, better known as Linda Lovelace, tells the story of the pre-internet porn film, Deep Throat. Primarily, though, it follows Linda from religious country girl to enthusiastic spokesperson for sexual freedom.
"I read the script and I was like, 'Wow, this is the riskiest thing that's happening [in Hollywood] right now,'" said Seyfried to Elle magazine this month. "The first thing you think about is that it could have ruined my career. At the same time, I was like, 'This is my chance to show them, to show the industry, to be recognized.'"
Continue reading: Amanda Seyfried On Taking 'The Riskiest Role In Hollywood'
Lovelace Trailer
Linda Lovelace was a hugely successful pornographic actress who hit global stardom with her 1972 hardcore film 'Deep Throat'. Although apparently happy, feisty and at ease on the surface, she suffered severe abuse and violence at the hands of her husband and manager Chuck Traynor who forced her into the sex industry at gunpoint; a stark contrast to her previous life, being well-known by her friends for keeping all her previous boyfriends at a good distance. While she apparently seemed to enjoy the highlife of national and international stardom, she made attempts to quit pornography to the anger of Traynor, who did everything he could to frighten her into submission. A vulnerable woman who spent her life being used, and who would go on to be a key figure in later anti-pornography movements.
Continue: Lovelace Trailer
Amanda Seyfried Goes Deep For Her Role As Linda Lovelace In Porn Star Biopic [Trailer]
By Lauren James in Movies / TV / Theatre on 04 July 2013
Porno fans rejoice! Legendary porn star Linda Lovelace is being brought back to life by Amanda Seyfried in upcoming biopic 'Lovelace' and the first released trailer gives a flavour of what to expect.
Amanda Seyfried will play Linda Boreman AKA porn star Linda Loveless who shot to porn fame and notoriety after she starred in the hugely successful 1972 movie Deep Throat. Directed by Howl's Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman, the biopic follows Lovelace's life between the age of 20 and 32, escaping from a strict religious family in a small town to her abusive and self-titled manager, Chuck Traynor (Peter Sarsgaard).
According to Slash Film, the film will reveal Lovelace's "tough, complicated life" as although she was widely an icon of sexual freedom, her husband's abuse and sale into prostitution transformed the once "charming girl-next-door with an impressive capacity for fellatio" into a fierce antiporn activist, writing books on the evils of the porn industry as she told her true story to the world. Written by Trust's (2010) Andy Bellin, The Guardian praises the "handsomely mounted period piece" and admires the range of leads Seyfried and Sarsgaard, whilst HitFix reckons the film plays too safe and "doesn't go deep enough" for their liking in a "bland biopic."
Continue reading: Amanda Seyfried Goes Deep For Her Role As Linda Lovelace In Porn Star Biopic [Trailer]
Harry Reams, The Accidental 'Deep Throat' Star, Dies Aged 65
By Michael West in Movies / TV / Theatre on 21 March 2013
Harry Reams, the adult movie actor who shot nearly 400 porn films, has died in Utah.
Harry Reams, the former porn actor best known for starring opposite Linda Lovelace in Deep Throat, has died of pancreatic cancer in Utah. Reams - who starred in almost 400 adult films - was working the lights on the famous adult movie but ended up scoring the lead role after the original star was "unable to perform his duties," according to the Hollywood Reporter.
Manhattan-born Reams was arrested in 1974 for conspiracy to distribute obscenity across state lines, eventually appearing in a court case that had broader culture implications for creative freedom. Jack Nicholson and various other stars lent their support though co-star Lovelace testified against him. He was convicted in 1976, though the verdict was overturned in 1977.
Reams struggled with alcoholism, though gave up drink in 1989, married, and became a real estate agent. In 2005, he revealed he never saw Linda Lovelace after the criminal trial and remained bitter over the conflict. "The only opportunity I had to briefly make contact with Linda Lovelace was vicariously through a friend of hers, who called me up to tell me that she needed some money; she needed a liver transplant and couldn't afford it. So I sent a thousand dollars to her... and never heard back, never got a thank-you." Lovelace - who later denounced her career in pornography - died in 2002 following complications from a serious automobile accident.
Continue reading: Harry Reams, The Accidental 'Deep Throat' Star, Dies Aged 65
Paragraph 175 Review
Good
There have been hundreds of Holocaust documentaries in our time, and Paragraph 175 is certainly one of them. The new angle here is that, for what may be the first time, homosexual survivors of the Holocaust atrocities have come forward--some hesitantly--to tell their stories. The problem, shameful as it is to admit, is that the flood of Holocaust documentaries that came before have stripped this film of its potential fire and intensity. From beginning to end, I caught myself thinking, "Yes, these are horrible stories. Now tell me something new." And that something never came.
The film gets its title from Paragraph 175 of the German Penal Code of 1871, which states, "An unnatural sex act committed between persons of male sex or by humans with animals is punishable by imprisonment; the loss of civil rights may also be imposed." According to the film, this law was later modified by the Nazi party to include a broader definition of homosexuality and, of course, the loss of civil rights was uniformly imposed. It was finally abolished in 1969.
Continue reading: Paragraph 175 Review