Alabama drive-in bans new “Beauty and the Beast.”
Tale as old as time
An Alabama drive-in theater canceled its engagement of Disney’s new live-action “Beauty and the Beast” over the inclusion of a gay character. An evangelical pastor, citing “Beauty” and a same-sex kiss in the cartoon “Star vs. the Forces of Evil,” called for a Disney boycott for “trying to push the LGBT agenda into the hearts and minds of your children — watch out!”
Or as a headline on the satirical site the Chaser put it: “Outrage at inclusion of gay character in film about woman-buffalo romance.”
Director Bill Condon said to Screen Crush: “It’s all been overblown … why is it a big deal?”
After all, it’s not as if “Beauty” veers off into R-rated territory. It includes a moment of LeFou ( Josh Gad) questioning his feelings for friend Gaston (Luke Evans).
The Henagar Drive-In posted on its Facebook page: “We will not compromise on what the Bible teaches. You can feel free to come watch wholesome movies without worrying about sex, nudity, homosexuality and foul language.”
Co-owner Carol Laney told the New York Times, “It does not mean I’m a bigot … God’s word says this, that’s not me.”
Laney said she hadn’t seen the film.
Disney must be on to something, though, when those protests are joined by the Russian Minister of Culture Vladimir Medinsky boycotting away the gay. Medinsky told the BBC that “Beauty” would be examined to determine whether it spreads “gay propaganda” among minors.
Guess this means Henagar (and Moscow) won’t be screening Oscar winner “Moonlight” anytime soon.
To see the video for the theme song, “Beauty and the Beast,” as covered by Ariana Grande and John Legend, go to https://youtu.be/axySrE0Kg6k
Trivia question
Who wrote a 1999 essay warning that “Mulan” was propaganda generated by “some mischievous liberal”? Here’s more from the piece: “Obviously, this is Walt Disney’s attempt to add childhood expectation to the cultural debate over the role of women in the military.”
A powerful R‘X’ for success
The adored, major-award-winning “Deadpool” is the highestgrossing R-rated film ever. This month, “Logan” grossed $238 million worldwide in its first weekend. Its Tomatometer rating is currently 93 percent; among audiences: 94 percent.
That is certainly not to predict an R-rated foray by the “X-Men” proper — Jean Grey and Cyclops aren’t killing machines like Wolverine or … anything like Deadpool, really.
What has made “Logan” a sensation at that hard-R rating is the truthfulness with which it approaches the character and his world. This is a guy with occasionally uncontrollable homicidal tendencies (“berserker rages”) and unbreakable knives as weapons.
As The Chronicle’s Peter Hartlaub wrote, “In nine ‘X-Men’ films over 17 years, Wolverine’s biggest nemesis has arguably been a PG-13 rating.”
To see a 15-minute Moviefone chat with Hugh Jackman and Patrick Stewart: www.youtube.com/ watch?v=SR6Hd9yDadc
Revving up for another
“Logan” screenings include the preshow teaser for “Deadpool 2” (2018), or whatever it ends up being called. The goof on the Superman mythos includes a few Easter eggs for fans.
To see the video: http:// tinyurl.com/h5xnlf6
‘Manchester’ by the green screen?
Kenneth Lonergan’s “Manchester by the Sea” collected two Oscars, but was it robbed of a third?
A new “For Your Consideration” behind-the-scenes video reveals the technical mastery behind the $8.5 million film’s mind-blowing visual effects: “Manchester by the Sea: VFX Breakdown.” The video is on Funny or Die, so yes, it’s a joke. To see the video: http:// tinyurl.com/za4wdld
The flip side ¼
A post on Cracked.com reveals the vaguely nightmarish nature of some children’s films before their visual effects were complete. The writer deftly describes the real behind-the-scenes looks, taking these family films from “whimsical backstage tomfoolery” to “mescaline nightmare.”
The Cracked post is at http:// tinyurl.com/hjwap8x
Trivia answer
That would be then-conservative commentator Mike Pence: “Moral of story: women in military, bad idea.”