Amber's new indie film "Latter Days"

[sam7777]

Thanks HIP! Great review!!!

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Mr. Cox clearly endorses moving from the first liberating rush of promiscuity into more responsible, more mature, more stable relationships.

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It's great to see a gay movie that isn't about dying or coming out or just pormiscutiy. Promiscuity is great but I also like to see the other side of the equation as well.

[shirrey]

Hi Kittens,



I didn't see this information anywhere else, so I thought I'd let you all know that Latter Days is now playing in Hollywood at the Regent, in Pasadena at the Laemmle and in Irvine at the Edwards University.

[xita]

Ooh, thank you. I hope people get to see it, Amber sure is hot in her waitress uniform

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"Hard work often pays off after time but laziness always pays off now!"

[kajo 2000]

There is a still from the film featuring Amber at tlavideo.com.

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"I want to be Byron... because I want to date young boys." Amber Benson

[xita]

still love the tie

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"Hard work often pays off after time but laziness always pays off now!"

[cattwoman98111]

Cute pic of Amber in the tie...hubba hubba.



i'm still on the look out for this film coming to Seattle, judging from the website, not going to happen anytime soon

Your smile got stuck in my eyes and your mouth makes me forget what i'm saying and your lips make me wonder if your taken, so tell me, are you taken?

[kajo 2000]

There are photos of Amber attending the Los Angeles premiere of Latter Days on 30th January at Wire Image and Film Magic.

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"I want to be Byron... because I want to date young boys." Amber Benson

Edited by: kajo 2000 at: 2/2/04 2:39 am

[urnofosiris]

Woo Hoo, thanks Kajo, the lady is looking good. Nice choice of shoes and pants , and judging from that sweater it must be freezing in LA , but then she was also wearing a turtle neck sweater last july at the Latter Days premiere in LA when it was a furnace outside.

Edited by: DrG at: 2/2/04 4:04 am

[xita]

Ooh too bad tickets were sold out for that when I checked! She looks good, and yes garfield it is cold. I think now that Amber has a book deal, she's given up the whole dress up for a premiere thing .

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"Hard work often pays off after time but laziness always pays off now!"

[BFR from Paris]

I thought it was never cold in California!

Amber should have stayed in Europe, it's getting warmer here



Thanks for the pics, Amber looks great

[xita]

I should say, cold for california, which in the evening probably meant 55 degrees which says here is like 13 celcius.

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"Hard work often pays off after time but laziness always pays off now!"

[urnofosiris]

Dude that is the temperature here now. What the fuck is wrong with the weather nowadays, during the summer it was as hot here as it is in LA and now it is still as hot here, only wetter, much, much wetter.

[BFR from Paris]

Well, it is 13 celsius now, but in January it was very cold!!!

It's like we gained 20 degrees overnight



And yes, last summer was horrible... In Paris, many people died from the heat, actually... it was a public health crisis!



So anyway, we now know that Amber is back in the States, it's too bad she didn't make it to France during her mini-tour but hey, maybe next time!



C.

[kerster25]

Anybody in Chicago planning on seeing Latter Days at the Music Box?? Comes out tomorrow.

[emma peel]

I wonder when the film might make it to Atlanta, cause I really wanna see it.

Janice

[kajo 2000]

There are a few more pics of Amber attending the Latter Days premiere at CelebrityPhoto.com.

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"I want to be Byron... because I want to date young boys." Amber Benson

[urnofosiris]

He should get his head out of his ass. There isn´t a story that has not been told already in some way, shape or form. They may as well stop making movies or writing books altogether, it´s all been done already.

In just about every (romantic) movie ever made the guy gets the girl and the rest of the movie is just the road to that point. That does not mean that road cannot be a very enjoyable trip or the ending any less satisfactory.



Despite a familiar premise (familiar except for the characters being gay) this movie managed to captivate me. It did not falter, it has a good mix of humor and drama, and makes some very powerful points without being preachy. I thoroughly enjoyed it. To me this film towers head and shoulders above many of the big budget romantic comedies that get promoted and praised into high heaven.

Edited by: DrG at: 2/13/04 12:50 pm

[willowlove]

As Latter Days is now playing in Chicago, it gets the notice of America's best known critic, Roger Ebert. He gives it a slightly negative review.



www.suntimes.com/output/ebert1/wkp-news-latter13f.html





LATTER DAYS / **1/2 (Not rated)



February 13, 2004













Davis: Steve Sandvoss

Christian: Wes Ramsey

Julie: Rebekah Jordan

Traci: Amber Benson

Andrew: Khary Payton

Lila: Jacqueline Bisset

Ryder: Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Harmon: Rob McElhenney





TLA Releasing presents a film written and directed by C. Jay Cox. Running time: 108 minutes. No MPAA rating.



BY ROGER EBERT



A movie should present its characters with a problem and then watch them solve it, not without difficulty. So says an old and reliable screenplay formula. Countless movies have been made about a boy and a girl who have a problem (they haven't slept with each other) and after difficulties (family, war, economic, health, rival lover, stupid misunderstanding) they solve it by sleeping with each other. Now we have a movie about two homosexuals that follows the same reliable convention.



Although much will be made of the fact that one of the characters in "Latter Days" is a Mormon missionary and the other is a gay poster boy, those are simply titillating details. Consider the sub-genre of pornography in which nuns get involved in sex. We know they're not really nuns, but the costuming is supposed to add a little spice. By the same token, Davis (Steve Sandvoss) is a Mormon only because that makes his journey from hetero- to homosexual more fraught and daring. He could have been a Presbyterian or an atheist vegan and the underlying story would have been the same: A character who considers himself straight is seduced by an attractive gay man and discovers he has been homosexual all along.



Since it is obvious to us from the opening shots that these two characters are destined for each other, the plot functions primarily to add melodrama to the inevitable. And there's change in both men. Christian (Wes Ramsey), who at the beginning is a shameless slut, bets a friend $50 he can seduce his new neighbor, but by the end of the film he truly loves him and has been so transformed by this experience that he volunteers for an AIDS charity and in general is transformed into a nice guy. It's as if the Mormon missionary achieved his goal and converted him, in slightly different terms than he expected.



The $50 bet is a cliche as old as the movies, and of course it always results in the bettor really falling in love, while the quarry finds out about the bet and is crushed. One of the sly pleasures of "Latter Days" is the sight of this gay-themed movie recycling so many conventions from straight romantic cinema, as if it's time to catch up.



The film is made with a certain conviction, and the actors deliver more than their roles require; there are times when they seem about to veer off into true and accurate drama (as when Christian encounters a bitter, dying man), but by the end, when Davis is back in Pocatello, Idaho, and his homophobic mother (Mary Kay Place) is sending him for shock treatment, we realize the movie could have been (a) a gay love story, or (b) an attack on the Mormon Church, but is an awkward fit by trying to be (c) both at the same time.



I also question the character of one of Davis' fellow missionaries, who is outspokenly anti-gay in a particularly ugly way. Is this character modeled on life, or is he a version of the moustache-twirling villain? And then there's Christian's best friend, Julie (Rebekah Jordan), who of course is a hip and sympathetic African-American woman. You get to the point where you realize everyone in this movie has been ordered off the shelf from the Stock Characters Store, and none of them wandered in from real life.



Is there a way in which the movie works? Yes, it works by delivering on its formula. We sense immediately that Davis and Christian are destined to be lovers, and so we watch patiently as the screenplay fabricates obstacles to their destiny. We identify to some degree with them because -- well, because we always tend to identify with likable characters in love stories. Maybe the fact that they're gay will help some homophobic audience members to understand homosexuality a little better, although whether they will attend the movie in the first place is a good question.



What I'm waiting for is a movie in which the characters are gay and that's a given, and they get on with a story involving their lives. Or maybe for a satire in which two heterosexuals move in next to each other and battle their inner natures until finally love tears down the barriers and they kiss, even though one is a boy and the other a girl. That obviously would be silly, and the day will come when a movie like this seems silly, too.









Copyright © Chicago Sun-Times Inc.

[Iamyouknowyours]

I'll agree with some of what Ebert had to say. Yes, it was a somewhat predictable story. Yes, there are some flaws in the script and film (the biggest one being that amber should have had more screentime .... just kidding). But what he missed is that the film was a beautifully acted, touching love story with a rarely seen happy ending for two gay characters (Um, Ebert that is not stock or common at all!) And my friend I dragged along with me fell for one of the obstacles/twists in the story (if you've seen it you probably know what I mean) and therefor did wonder if it would be a tragedy and if they really would get together.



Probably my major complaint of the film is that it was extremely hostile to the mormon religion, and therefor probably turned away the very people that needed to see it most. Not that they would have anyway. And not that putting a positive gay story aimed almost entirely at a gay audience is a bad thing either. Lord knows we need more stories like that.



Excedlent cinematography for a digital flick by the way.



Just my opinion. Feel free to disagree.



PS Anyone notice that Amber was wearing the shirt from her A and U article in one scene?

[emma peel]

Hey, guys. I looked in the paper today, which normally I never do 'cause my gf always takes the paper to work with her. However, we're both off today 'cause it's her birthday. I saw that Latter Days is currently playing in Atlanta at the UA Tara Cinema, 2345 Cheshire Bridge Road, Atlanta. (404) 634-6288/1-800-FANDANGO#553. Here's a link as well:

www.fandango.com/movie_pa...=2/25/2004

I think it's playing at least through March 4, so I definitely will be going, work permitting.

Tee hee, the UA Tara ( ) Cinema appears to be the only theater playing Latter Days in the Atlanta area. Maybe someone other than me has a "unique" sense of humor. I've never been to that theater, but I've noticed that they've shown gay and gay friendly films before.

Janice

Edited by: emma peel at: 2/25/04 2:23 pm

[kajo 2000]

From lgff.org.uk:

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Latter Days

Apr 1 - 18:20 National Film Theatre, NFT1

Apr 5 - 18:10 National Film Theatre, NFT3



When four young Mormon missionaries move in they excite the interest of their next door neighbour a promiscuous young gay waiter called Christian, an identikit LA gym boy who is toned, tanned and horny. He homes in on Elder Aaron, a cute innocent blonde. When his workmates at the restaurant bet him that he can't get Aaron into bed, he goes into overdrive. However, things take an unexpected turn when he discovers he is falling in love with the Mormon boy. With a great cast which includes Jacqueline Bisset, Amber Benson from Buffy the Vampire Slayer and newcomers Wesley A. Ramsey and Steve Sandvoss, this is a dramatic story of love determined to survive in spite of religious disapproval.



Brian Robinson





Directed by: C Jay Cox

With: Jacqueline Bisset, Steve Sandvoss, Wesley A Ramsey

Country: USA

Year of Production: 2003

Running Time: 110 minutes

Sponsored by: Accenture

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I found this info at the official Latter Days website message board.



If you click on the above link you can book tickets for the National Film Theatre screenings.

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"I want to be Byron... because I want to date young boys." Amber Benson

Edited by: kajo 2000 at: 3/6/04 5:53 am

[SisterDebMac]

Just saw "Latter Days" and it was wonderful. It's funny and sexy and the cast is all terrific.



Amber is in the movie a lot more than I expected based on what she said about the size of her part. She is in several scenes and she has a fair amount of dialog, most of it sly and jokey. She seemed to be having fun.



I live in the Atlanta area. Someone was asking when it would play in Atlanta, well that time is NOW. And get this, it's playing at the Tara theatre...

[Jennpurr]

A little birdy told me that Amber has a dirty mouth in this movie.



Weeeee...



Jen

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"I could never hide this little light of mine, If God made a mistake then I should die before I wake, Maybe it's my fate to swim against this tide, Swallowing my pride." - Melissa Etheridge, "Meet Me In The Dark."

[xita]

I think we mentioned that a while ago in this very thread jenn.

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"Hard work often pays off after time but laziness always pays off now!"

[eccentrictulip]

for any new england kitties, there's a screening in boston this friday, the 12th.......anyone planning on going?

~*I would like to be the air that inhabits your body for one moment

only. I would like to be that unnoticed and that necessary*~ Margaret

Atwood

[MellindraX]

I'm going on Friday in Boston, daring Heaven and Hell to stop me! Lord knows they've tried



But I'll be there, and I'm even dragging a friend! I'm all giggly and excited, it's positively sickening.

I’ve never purposely gone out to take somebody out. Well, maybe, in elementary school I once did try to trip somebody. –Amber Benson

[Jennpurr]

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I think we mentioned that a while ago in this very thread jenn.

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Do you remember what page it's on? I haven't read the whole thread.



Jen

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||My Fan Fiction and More!|| ||My Yahoo Group||
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"And when I close my eyes I can see Him hanging there, Oh the precious wounded Lamb of God; All the majesty in this world cannot compare to the glory; The beauty of the body, That was broken for our forgiveness..." ~ Avalon, "The Glory."

[maudmac]

It's a pretty short thread, Jen. Have a peek through it. Good stuff.

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I have no professional training. I already gave my best. I have no regrets at all.

[Jennpurr]

Thanks, Holley. I'll do that.



Jen

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||My Fan Fiction and More!|| ||My Yahoo Group||
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
"And when I close my eyes I can see Him hanging there, Oh the precious wounded Lamb of God; All the majesty in this world cannot compare to the glory; The beauty of the body, That was broken for our forgiveness..." ~ Avalon, "The Glory."

[urnofosiris]

Xita is the one who mentioned it first in her review from last july. Just in case you read over it, here it is:

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Amber plays a co-worder of the pretty gay boy. She plays a waitress. Her role is small but she has some great lines and she gets to say some great swear words (yes including her very favorite one!).

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If you look at the Amber clips you can hear most of the swear words, only her favourite one is missing, but I recommend to go and see the movie yourself if you can. There is nothing like hearing Amber swear on the big screen with surround sound.