From the director of such diverse projects as My Own Private Idaho, Good Will Hunting, and Elephant comes Gus Van Sant’s latest — a biopic centered on the life of Harvey Milk, an activist for gay rights and the first gay man to be elected to the board of city supervisors in San Francisco. Though Milk was assassinated in 1978 at the age of 48, his memory lives on, not only in political memory but also in the artistic imagination: in 1984, the documentary The Times of Harvey Milk won an Academy Award, and in 1995, the Houston Grand Opera premiered an opera entitled Harvey Milk.

Van Sant’s filmic interpretation of Milk’s life, with a script written by Dustin Lance Black, features a star-studded cast: Sean Penn plays the title role alongside co-stars James Franco and Josh Brolin. Penn, who won an Oscar for his leading role in Mystic River and who has been nominated three other times, may rack up another nomination for his portrayal. After all, the Best Actor winners for 2004, 2005, and 2006 all played real-life historical figures, with Jamie Foxx as musician Ray Charles in Ray, Philip Seymour Hoffman as writer Truman Capote in Capote, and Forrest Whitaker as dictator Idi Amin in The Last King of Scotland. Just in the next few months, other biopics that will be released include Ron Howard’s adaptation of the stage-play Frost/Nixon, Martin Scorcese’s highly anticipated W, Steven Soderbergh’s epic (in length, at least!) Che, and the Tom Cruise vehicle Valkyrie.

Typically, Fall and Winter releases like Milk are referred to in the press as “prestige films,” meaning that they have been released at a time during the year that will garner the most attention from the Academy. Films released directly after the Oscars ceremony are more likely to be forgotten when nomination time rolls around. No pressure, Mr. Penn.

With a limited release date of November 26th, those of us who are too impatient can check out the Milk poster online or watch the trailer.

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Annie’s Picks (for Biopics)

The biopic — or the historical biography film — is a tricky genre, as there is no guarantee of historical accuracy. The best attitude going into these films, though, is to enjoy the ride and, if the history or the central character piques your interest, check out a book from the library and learn about the subject in earnest. In fact, some of my favorite biopics are the ones that are blatantly fictionalized, such as Tim Burton’s biopic of a B-movie director in Ed Wood (1994). While all the facts may not be right, Burton captures the spirit of Wood’s films and gets a brilliant performance out of star Johnny Depp (pre-pre Jack Sparrow). Other biopics that feature dazzling lead performances include The Queen (2007), Amadeus (1984), and Badlands (1973).

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