Just in time for the Milk raves that are about to pour in, Gus Van Sant made a cameo on Entourage as himself, telling Vinnie Chase he didn’t like his work but thought the actor was getting better as an actor. The cliffhanger was that Martin Scorsese has just hired Vinnie to star in his reworking of The Great Gatsby. When Entourage returns this Summer there will be plenty of Marty, to be sure. Meanwhile, Van Sant is praised by the AP’s Christy Lemire who writes:
With “Milk,” though, Van Sant boldly returns to mainstream filmmaking with a story that, on its surface, could have been shamelessly mawkish. Instead, he presents the last eight years in the life of Harvey Milk, the slain San Francisco politician and gay rights activist, with a mix of vivid details and nuanced heart.
And about Penn:
He’s also drawn from Sean Penn one of the most glorious performances ever in the actor’s long and varied career. Van Sant and Penn could have deified this man, who did so much for so many and worked so tirelessly for so long, and paid the ultimate price. And yes, we see all that ‚Äî the sacrifice and the struggle and the infinite wellspring of hope in the face of failure. But we also see Milk’s all-consuming drive, often at the expense of his personal life. We see the way he could manipulate and cajole, even if it was for the greater good.