The Latest on TV: Bumps in the Night

Notable movies and other programs on TV for Monday October 1 to Sunday October 7:

October is here, which means one thing: lots of horror movies on TV!

TCM kicks off a month long salute to "Classic Horror Directors" every Friday, beginning with Jacques Tourneur on the 5th. His moody, atmospheric style can be seen in tonight's films, including Cat People, I Walked With a Zombie and The Leopard Man.

More undead on TCM with a marathon of vintage vampire and zombie flicks on Friday, including Vincent Price in The Last Man on Earth and Bela Lugosi in My Son, the Vampire.

This week's movies not on DVD: Alice Faye in Hello Frisco, Hello (Tuesday, Fox Movie Channel), Raymond Massey in Abe Lincoln in Illinois (Tuesday, TCM), Henry Fonda in Stage Struck (Friday, TCM), Dennis O'Keefe in Brewster's Millions and Gina Lollobrigida in Buona Sera, Mrs. Campbell (both Sunday, TCM).

Fonda is TCM's "Star of the Month". You can catch more of his best on Thursday, including 12 Angry Men and Jezebel, with Bette Davis.

If you've missed some of AMC's great Movies That Shook the World series, then this week gives you a great chance to catch up: Philadelphia on Monday and
American Graffiti and The China Syndrome on Friday.

And finally, this week in Diva TV: Susan Lucci joins the Queer Eye guys as they return for one last round on Bravo (Tuesday). And Susan Sarandon brings a little class to Fox's MADtv (Saturday).

Click on the network links to find the show times in your area. All programming is subject to change.

Links via TCM.com, FoxMovieChannel.com, AMCTV.com, BravoTV.com and Fox.com.

Potent Quotables: John Carradine on Multitasking

Katharine Hepburn played the title role in John Ford's Mary of Scotland, and, if she had had her wish, would have also played Elizabeth I. When Kate suggested this to RKO, co-star John Carradine asked:

"But if you play both queens, how would you know which one to upstage?"

Florence Eldridge was cast as the Virgin Queen.

Click here to purchase Mary of Scotlandon DVD from Amazon.com.
Link via Imdb.com.

Ritz Crack-Ups

All the latest on our favorite stories to make the leap from screen to stage and back again:

- And that, my friends, is what you call a farce. The above picture is from the new revival of The Ritz on Broadway. Here are more pictures of Rosie Perez and Kevin Chamberlin in character as Googie Gomez and Gaetano Proclo, and you can see more of the very tall Terrence Riordan in Brooks Ashmanskas' hilariously self-deprecating backstage video tour of the show, now playing at Club 54. In addition to the gorgeous three-story set (you've never seen a bathhouse look so good), you'll also see cast members Patrick Kerr (who you'll remember as nerdy Noel on Frasier), the fabulous Seth Rudetsky and the pornolicious Ryan Idol in all their hirsute 70's glory.

- And if you're into Hairy guys, here's some pics from the recent 40th anniversary concert performance of that flower powerful musical starring Spring Awakening cutie Jonathan Groff.

- If you missed my update last week, the MTV presentation of Legally Blonde - The Musical will now premiere on Saturday, October 13. Meanwhile, the hard-working sorority gals and legal eagles of the show recently won the first ever "Outstanding Broadway Chorus" award from Actor's Equity.

- Elsewhere, the most famous Chorus Line ever will soon hit the road in a national tour.

- Chaka Khan, Bebe Winans and American Idol's LaKisha Jones are the latest pop divas to join The Color Purple, although don't expect Chaka to stick around for long.

- Another "famous book set in the South and turned into a movie" is now also being turned into a stage musical. Are you ready for ... Gone With the Wind: The Musical?

- In this week's Grease: You're the One That I Want update: "Emotional Sandy" Ashley Anderson has joined The Wedding Singer tour and "Ambitious Danny" Chad Doreck talks about becoming one of the Altar Boyz.

Speaking of boy bands, here's news of a show-tune singing one that just may be the gayest thing ever (and I mean that as a good thing).

And speaking of reality shows, How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?, the British program that cast the lead in The Sound of Music, is heading to North America. Don't get too excited though: it will land in Canada.

- Maybe those rumors of a Brokeback Mountain musical weren't too far off after all: Brokeback ... the opera?

- Another tearjerker making the transfer from page to screen to stage: The Joy Luck Club will have their first meeting Off-Broadway.

- Xanadu sweetie Kerry Butler talks about Penny, Audrey, Ariel and Clio-slash-Kira.

- Are you grumpy, old and a man? Then you too can be on Broadway in the upcoming Grumpy Old Men: The Musical.

- On the gay icon front: the first Off-Broadway performance of Charles Busch's Die Mommie Die! will benefit Live Out Loud, which provides gay youth with mentors and role models. On the other coast, get a look at Harvey Fierstein in A Catered Affair, now playing in San Diego.

And on the "he's not gay, but we love him anyway" front: Bobby Cannavale stars in Mauritius on Broadway.

- From the cast of Young Frankenstein, meet Christopher Fitzgerald (who plays "the peculiar Igor"), Fred Applegate (the Lonely Hermit) and Andrea Martin (as Frau Blücher [horses whinny]) in exclusive video interviews over at Broadway.com.

- Chicago still sizzles, as this new internet ad campaign proves.

- Paint Your Wagon hits the trail back to Broadway.

- QueerSighted says it all in the title: "High School Musical Even Gayer on Stage (as if That Were Possible)".

- You can learn all about The Last Starfighter musical, now performing at the New York Musical Theatre Festival, or at least check out Danny Binstock, the hottie they cast in the lead. I'd like to see how he handles a joystick ...

- And finally: To all the Keanu Reeves fans who blasted me last week, check out this article on the soon to hit LA Point Break LIVE! to see that he is, in fact, dispensable.

Links via Broadway.com, Playbill.com, BravoTV.com, AfterElton.com and QueerSighted.com.

Turnin' Back Time: Cher Through the Years (Brought To You By Mattel)

If there is one diva who looks good in plastic, it would be Cher. Over the years, with all the rumored rib removals and rhinoplasties, the singer/actress/ goddess has gone thru more renovations then a Ritz Carlton.

So leave it to the fashion doll geniuses at Mattel to design a line of Cher Barbie dolls that document our icon from her 70's heyday to her 80's comeback era. Clad in miniature recreations of Bob Mackie's finest, these two 11 ½ inch replicas of the former Mrs. Bono are a far cry from the old school Cher doll sold back in the day.

The Barbie 1970s Cher Doll is decked out in feathers and buckskin for the whole "Half Breed" look, while the Barbie 1980s Cher Doll sports her leather and lace look from the infamous "If I Could Turn Back Time" music video (horny sailors not included). It is not clear if her many tattoos adorn her plastic frame, but the dolls do recreate Cher's bountiful black mane quite effectively. (Click on these two links to EntertainmentEarth.com to purchase the dolls.)

We're still waiting for her other looks, such as her notorious Spider-Woman ensemble from the 1986 Oscars or even a movie role or two. Personally, I would love a little Loretta Castorini, but not the post makeover, going to the opera one. I'm thinking the frumpy, grey-haired one, compete with spring-loaded slapping action that squawks, "Snap out of it!" when she smacks the Nicolas Cage Ken doll upside the head.

Links via Hieroglyph.net, Movies.MSN.com, Imdb.com and MovieActors.com.

Out in Film: Rosie O'Donnell

Love her or annoyed by her, you have to admire Rosie O'Donnell for always standing up for what she believes in. And since coming out in 2002, O'Donnell has been a very visible proponent for various gay causes and other charities and was recently ranked #10 in The Advocate's 40th anniversary list of "Gay Heroes" (more on that later).

O'Donnell first came to audience's attention as a stand-up comic on Star Search, which led to TV gigs on Gimme a Break and VH-1. She made her film debut in A League of Their Own and suddenly seemed to be everywhere: Sleepless in Seattle, Another Stakeout, The Flintstones, Exit to Eden, Now and Then. Around this time, she also began her public love affair with Broadway, starring in a revival of Grease and hosting the Tony Awards three times (she would later star in Seussical and Fiddler on the Roof as well).

In 1996, O'Donnell returned to her first love, television, with her own eponymous talk show. The extremely popular series, which would go on to win 24 Emmy Awards (including 11 for O'Donnell herself) in six seasons, brought the Koosh Ball-tossing "Queen of Nice" to the masses. Acting-wise, she continued to make guest appearances on such programs as All My Children, Murphy Brown, Ally McBeal and Will and Grace and appeared in the movies Beautiful Girls, Harriet the Spy, Wide Awake and Disney's Tarzan.

Soon after two huge events in her life (the end of her series, coming out), O'Donnell suffered some public set backs, including a nasty battle over McCall's magazine and the Broadway flop Taboo (which she produced). Last fall, she made her triumphant return to TV talk on The View. Ratings soared, but the on-air controversies began piling up, and she eventually left the program earlier this year.

Meanwhile, while still acting occasionally (the TV movie Riding the Bus With My Sister, guest spots on Queer as Folk and Nip/Tuck), O'Donnell and her wife Kelli Carpenter founded R Family Vacations, which offers luxury cruises for gay families (profiled in the documentary All Aboard! Rosie's Family Cruise) and is an avid blogger. Her memoir, Find Me,was a national best-seller, as will likely be her next book, Celebrity Detox: (the fame game)(on sale October 2), which reportedly will detail her tumultuous time on The View.

In recognition of O'Donnell and the eleven other film-related Advocate "Gay Heroes" (listed here), this week's MD Poll asks the question: "Of these 12 "Gay Heroes" as named by The Advocate, which one is most deserving of such a title?" The poll will run for one week, and can be found under my profile in the sidebar to your right.

UPDATE: The poll is now closed, click here for the results, and click here to vote in the latest MD Poll.

Links via Imdb.com, TheAdvocate.com, BroadwayMouth.blogspot.com, RFamilyVacations.com and Rosie.com.

9 Lives / Fab 4 / Galactica 80 & More

In the next few months, we'll all be gearing up for the holiday season, so lots of nifty new DVDs are on the horizon just in time for gift-giving:

- Nine Lives(Available October 2): This sexy gay-themed drama stars out in Hollywood actor Steve Callahan. So naturally, Out in Hollywood has an interview with him, where he also chats about his other movie coming soon to DVD, East Side Story(December 4).

- I Love Lucy: The Complete Series(October 23): If you don't already have the sitcom that started it all, here's your chance. As a bonus, the set will include the never released I Love Lucy movie.

- Help!(October 30): The Beatles re-team with director Richard Lester for their follow up to A Hard Day's Night. A deluxe edition, which will include reproductions of the script, original poster and lobby cards, will go on sale November 6.

- Ratatouille(November 6): The Disney/Pixar animated hit about a rat who wants to be a top chef makes its DVD debut. Also available that day: the Pixar Short Films Collection - Volume 1,which will include all the classic shorts produced by the studio to date.

- Close Encounters of the Third Kind: 30th Anniversary Ultimate Edition(November 13): For the first time ever on DVD, all three versions of CE3K together in one DVD set: the original 1977 theatrical version, the 1980 special edition and the 1998 director's cut.

- Nosferatu: The Ultimate Two-Disc Edition(November 20): F. W. Murnau's silent classic as it was originally seen, fully restored and complete with the original intertitles and accompanied by the score that played with the film at the time of its original release.

- Walt Disney Treasures: Wave 7 (December 11): Three new titles in the DVD series hosted by Leonard Maltin:

• The Adventures of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit- Before Mickey, there was Oswald. Here's a collection of his rarely seen cartoons.
• The Chronological Donald, Volume Three- More wackiness from that short-tempered duck.
• Disneyland - Secrets, Stories & Magic- All you ever wanted and/or needed to know about the "happiest place on earth".

- Galactica 1980 - The Complete Epic Series(December 26): Anyone who remembers this first attempt to reboot Battlestar Galactica are all laughing that they are actually calling it an "Epic Series". Pure cheese.

Click on the above links to pre-order these titles from Amazon.com.

Also coming soon to DVD are two long awaited gay faves: The Ritz (the bathhouse sex farce starring Rita Moreno and Treat Williams) and Personal Best (Robert Towne's lesbian on the run drama starring Mariel Hemingway), both on January 8.

Plus, just what we were waiting for: direct-to-video sequels to The Lost Boys, Legally Blonde and Open Season.

Links via InsideSoCal.com, TheBeatles.com, UpcomingPixar.blogspot.com, Cinematical.com, DVDTimes.co.uk, BlueSkyDisney.blogspot.com, BuddyTV.com, ObsessedWithFilm.com and Variety.com.

"Grease" is Baby's First Word

In the tradition of the Muppet Babies and the Tiny Toons, here are ... the Greaser Babies! (Cigarette smoking, pregnancy scares and slutty clothing not included.)

MD Poll: Nothing Can Stop the "Beat"

The first MD Poll was a rousing success, with 220 total votes. I didn't doubt that anything could stop "You Can't Stop the Beat" as the favorite Hairspray song; the pulse-pounding grand finale easily topped the list with 40% of the vote (88 total votes). The surprise came with #2: "(The Legend of) Miss Baltimore Crabs" nabbed 25 votes (11%). The lesson to be learned here? Never underestimate the fans of La Pfeiffer.

Onscreen lovebirds Nikki Blonsky and Zac Efron vied for third place with their respective solos "Good Morning Baltimore" and "Ladies' Choice". Harmony was restored, however, when they tied with 23 votes each, for an even 10%. "The Nicest Kids in Town" rounds out the top five with 15 votes (6%).

The next MD Poll will be announced tomorrow in this week's "Out in Film" profile.

Meanwhile, in other Hairspray news: We have learned some more about its eagerly awaited DVD release on November 20th. Both the two-disc "Shake and Shimmy" edition and the Blu-ray version will include such bonus material as a "jump to a song" feature (with optional onscreen sing along lyrics), a step-by-step dance tutorial and "Hairspray Extensions", which will offer multiple views of select musical numbers. Deleted scenes will include the cut songs "I Can Wait" and a Velma-only "Big Blonde and Beautiful" reprise, plus alternate versions of "Welcome to the 60's" and "You Can't Stop the Beat". Two "making of" features will come in at a total of 120 minutes, three minutes longer then the movie itself (not complaining, just saying). The Blu-ray will also have a nifty "picture-in-picture" option where you can watch behind-the-scene footage during the movie (this will also be included on the HD-DVD, available next year).

Also, the new collector's edition soundtrack (now called a "Deluxe Box Set"!) will include the original soundtrack and a second CD that will be packed with recording demos, unreleased songs from the movie, video karaoke and more. The Hairspray movie blog also states that composer Marc Shaiman teased that the set will feature "lots of guest stars!" The new album will be released on November 20th as well.

Click here to pre-order the Hairspray DVDsand/or the new soundtrack CDfrom Amazon.com.
Click here to vote in the latest MD Poll.
Links via HairsprayMovie.com.

Monthly Wallpaper - October 2007: Classic Movie Monsters

October is almost here, which means Halloween is just around the corner. Therefore, this month's calendar wallpaper is a salute to the "Classic Movie Monsters" of yesteryear, in all their black and white glory.

This veritable "monster mash" includes the Universal mainstays Frankenstein (and his Bride), Dracula and The Wolf Man, along with other old school faves The Phantom of the Opera, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, The Invisible Man, The Creature from the Black Lagoon and the original King Kong. Zombies (Night of the Living Dead), pod people (Invasion of the Body Snatchers) and a very large carrot from outer space (The Thing from Another World) are on hand next to such relatively normal-looking creeps as Norman Bates, Rhoda Penmark, Dorian Gray and Baby Jane Hudson.

All you have to do is click on the picture above to enlarge it, then simply right click your mouse and select "Set as Background". (You can also save it to your computer and set it up from there if you prefer.) The size is 1024 x 768, but you can modify it if needed in your own photo-editing program.

Trick or treat!

Link via YouTube.com.

Film Art: Welcome to the Jungle

In preparation for next week's Platinum Edition release of Disney's animated adventure classic The Jungle Book, here is some nifty early concept art of the cast, including the unused character "Rocky the Rhino". (Click image to enlarge.)

Rocky will be the star of his own bonus feature on the two-disc set, available Tuesday (my Toon Talk review of the new DVD will be posted that day as well).

Click here to pre-order The Jungle Book: 40th Anniversary Platinum Editionfrom Amazon.com.

Link via Imdb.com.

The Latest in Theaters: A Piece of the Rock

This week's movies include the latest from two Academy Award-winning directors and four Academy Award-winning actors ... but don't underestimate The Rock. Have you smelled what he's cooking?

- The Game Plan: Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson is a superstar quarterback on his way to the big touchdown when he is sidelined by the seven-year-old daughter (cutie-patootie Madison Pettis) he never knew he had. Kyra Sedgwick co-stars in this family-friendly flick from Disney. (I'll post my Toon Talk review of The Game Plan next week.)
- The Kingdom: Peter Berg directs this, one of many war-themed dramas gunning for Oscar glory this year. Jamie Foxx, Chris Cooper, Jennifer Garner and Jason Bateman (uh, what's he doing here?) go all commando on their search for a mad bomber in the Middle East.
- Lust, Caution: Ang Lee's first post-Brokeback picture received mixed review on the festival circuit, but won Venice's Golden Lion anyway. Leung Chi Wai and Wei Tang get all lusty and caution-less in Shanghai circa the 1940's; already slightly notorious for its NC-17 rated sex scenes.
- The Darjeeling Limited: Owen Wilson, Adrien Brody and Jason Schwartzman are estranged brothers on a cross-country train trip through India seeking spiritual fulfillment yet finding wacky escapades instead. Wes Anderson's latest quirk fest co-stars Bill Murray (what a surprise). Limited opens this week in (wait for it) limited release.
- Feast of Love: Robert Benton oversees this multi-layered tale of love, sex and death starring Morgan Freeman, Greg Kinnear, Jane Alexander and, in a lesbian romance, Selma Blair and Stana Katic.

Visit Fandango - Search movie showtimes and buy tickets!
Links via Imdb.com, TheEnvelope.LATimes.com, MoviesBlog.MTV.com, EdgeBoston.com and InsideSoCal.com.

Movie Music: Miss Bette Davis

Certified film legend, actress unparallel, unquestionable gay icon. Bette Davis was known as many things in her life (some not even nice), but did you know that she was a recording artist as well?

Sure, she warbled her way through such onscreen numbers as the Oscar-nominated "They're Either Too Young or Too Old" in Thank Your Lucky Stars and "I've Written a Letter to Daddy" in What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?, and she even played a "musical comedy girl" (at age 44) in Two's Companyon Broadway.

But in 1976, Miss Bette Davis actually recorded her very own album, titled Miss Bette Davis (as if it could have been called anything else). On it, you can hear the above two movie songs, plus her own surprisingly haunting rendition of the title track from Hush ... Hush, Sweet Charlotte, as well as "It Can't Be Wrong" from Now, Voyager and (for no other reason then to give the listener a break from her singing, I guess), her big "you're not a woman" car speech from All About Eve. These and the other standards that fill out the album are sung in her own, shall we say, distinctive style. Granted, she is no vocalist by any stretch of the imagination, but what she lacks in vibrato she makes up with in sheer bravado.

That ol' show biz moxie is amply apparent in this vintage clip of Davis' appearance to shill the album on that 70's classic daytime talker Dinah! In it, she begs off actually singing "I Wish You Love" due to "this croak", and instead "goes along with" the recording. As you, I and Dinah Shore back in the day know, that's called lip-synching, but Miss Bette Davis, ever the consummate professional, will have known of that nonsense. She may have been many things in her life, but at that moment, she was a singer.

Click here to purchase the Miss Bette Davisalbum from Amazon.com.
Links via Imdb.com and YouTube.com.

Women We Love: Esther Williams

From O.J. to The Rock, athletes-turned-actors have found varying degrees of success in show biz. However, the most popular example originated not from a rough-and-tumble sport like football or baseball, but from the world of competitive swimming: Esther Williams.

A national freestyle champion, Williams was discovered by MGM talent scouts, ultimately starring in a string of hugely popular musical pictures in the 1940's and 50's that made her one of the studio's shiniest stars. The highlights of each of her films were highly choreographed, intricately photographed water ballet spectaculars, each more elaborate then the last. These underwater extravaganzas became such an indelible image of the "Hollywood musical" that they have been paid homage to/parodied by everyone from Mel Brooks to Miss Piggy to Carol Burnett.

But Williams was more then just a pretty face in a bikini who could hold her breath underwater for alarming amounts of time. She was also a very talented light comedienne, perfectly suited for the vehicles tailored for her. She also had a pleasant singing voice, most notably on display in the Oscar-winning song/future standard "Baby, It's Cold Outside" from Neptune's Daughter, sung as a duet with Ricardo Montalban. Her other famous co-stars ranged from Frank Sinatra and Gene Kelly in Take Me Out to the Ballgame to Tom and Jerry in Dangerous When Wet.

It wasn't all fun in the pool though; Williams suffered for her art. While filming Million Dollar Mermaid (my personal favorite of hers), she broke her neck during a high dive. Ruptured eardrums and near-drowning were also common to her while filming. These challenges to her health and safety led to her retirement in the early 1960's, and she rarely returned save for special occasions like That's Entertainment! III.

But we will always remember her for her grace and beauty ... and being able to hold her breath underwater for alarming amounts of time.

Links via Imdb.com and YouTube.com.

Spank That Monkey

Hey, you better stop doing that or you'll get hairy palms

like this guy.

"Don't knock masturbation. It's sex with someone I love."

Sure, Woody Allen talked about it in Annie Hall, but thank god we didn't have to watch him do it. The same cannot be said for certain actors in certain scenes of certain movies, all conveniently collected into The AV Club's appropriately titled list of "14 Tragic Movie Masturbation Scenes".

Ah, masturbation. We all do it, yet nobody wants to talk about it, let alone see it in a movie (well, OK, a non-naughty movie). And when a moment of self pleasure does make it onto the screen, it is usually played for laughs (poor Judge Reinhold in Fast Times at Ridgemont High) or shock value (poor, poor Linda Blair in The Exorcist), or it's there to show how pathetic and/or depraved a character is (poor, poor, poor us for having to watch Harvey Keitel in The Bad Lieutenant).

Interestingly enough, four entries (Parenthood, Happiness, The Squid and the Whale, Babel) deal with prepubescent preoccupation with the practice, while only two (Mulholland Drive, Junebug) feature women giving themselves some attention. Which may lead to the conclusion that, at least in the movies, one group is really really good at it, and the other is really really bad at it. I believe that answer is -- tragically -- clear.

Another intriguing aspect of this list is how many characters don't finish the task at hand. They're either interrupted by a spouse (American Beauty) or parent (Spanking the Monkey) or leave the job undone in unfulfilled frustration (Your Friends and Neighbors). These are the cinematic equivalents of your mother screaming at you from the other side of a locked bathroom door to "stop that or you'll go blind".

Little Children has the ignominious distinction of having not one, but two actors, each in their own, separate "tragic masturbation" sequence. Combined, these two scenes pretty much sum up the whole lamentable lot. Which would you rather be: caught red-handed with panties on your head, or stuck in a station wagon with the worst blind date ever playing pocket pool in the passenger seat?

With examples like these, it is no wonder that wacking off is so often written off as "bad for you". That is, all but one on the list: there is absolutely nothing tragic with what Paul Dawson does to himself in Shortbus. Hell, if all us men could do that, we would never leave the house.

Links via AVClub.com.

Poster Post: 21st Century Women

Next year's eagerly awaited remake of the 1939 classic The Women already has a teaser poster out there. Very chick lit cover art, no?

Link via Imdb.com.

The Latest on DVD: Knock Knock

This week's latest and greatest ... now on DVD:

Featured Titles:

• Knocked Up- Somehow, Seth Rogan gets Katherine Heigl pregnant; hilarity ensues. Available in rated, unrated, two-discs and HD-DVD.
• The Mickey Rooney & Judy Garland Collection- The boy and girl next door put on a show ... four of them in fact, all new to DVD: Babes in Arms, Babes on Broadway, Girl Crazy and Strike Up the Band.
• Creatures from the Pink Lagoon- For those of you too faint of heart for HellBent, here's the gay horror flick for you.
• The Wild Bunch- The director's cut of the Sam Peckinpah western bloodbath classic in all its HD-DVD and Blu-ray gory ... uh, glory.

What Else is New:

• Evening- If Meryl Streep, Glenn Close, Vanessa Redgrave, Natasha Richardson, Toni Colette and Claire Daines aren't enough for you, there's also the always welcome Patrick Wilson and Hugh Dancy. Also available on HD-DVD.
• Black Book- Paul Verhoeven's semi-autobiographical World War II thriller.
• As You Like It- Kenneth Branagh's latest Shakespearean adaptation, starring Kevin Kline, Janet McTeer, Bryce Dallas Howard and Alfred Molina.

Oscar Winners:

• Babel- A two-disc special edition of the globe-spanning drama starring Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett and Oscar nominees Adriana Barraza and Rinko Kikuchi. Gustavo Santaolalla won the gold for his musical score.
• The Panama Deception- 1993's documentary winner takes a look at the 1989 US invasion of Panama.
• Memoirs of a Geisha- Three Academy Awards were given to this historical epic of sex, lies and paper fans, now on Blu-ray.

Keep It Gay, PFLAG Edition:

• Coffee Date- Sally Kirkland is all for it when her son starts dating a man (Wilson Cruz) in this romantic comedy of mixed identities.
• Times Have Been Better- On the other hand, Arnaud Binard's parents are a bit perplexed by his coming out in this French farce.

Scary Stuff:

• Bug- William Friedkin gets under your skin in this creepy-crawly thriller starring Ashley Judd and Harry Connick Jr.
• Cujo: 25th Anniversary Edition- A frantic Dee Wallace, a little Danny Pintauro, and a very big, very slobbery Saint Bernard.
• Inside the Actors Studio: Leading Men- James Lipton ... now he's scary. Here he interviews Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, Sean Penn and Russell Crowe, thankfully not all at the same time.

Click on the individual titles to purchase them from Amazon.com.

Link via Playbill.com.

Cinematic Crush: Ryan Gosling

It's not often that a former Mousketeer gets nominated for an Academy Award. In fact, before this year, it never happened ... or was even considered. Leave it to the multi-talented Ryan Gosling to defy the odds.

Gosling began his show biz life as one of the 90's batch of Mickey Mouse Clubbers (along with the likes of Britney, Justin, Christina and Keri), but it wasn't until this decade that we truly saw what he can do. After a typical teen role in Remember the Titans, Gosling erupted on the screen as a self-loathing Jewish neo-Nazi thug in The Believer. It was clear his child star years were over.

More challenging roles followed in The Slaughter Rule, Murder by Numbers and The United States of Leland. It appeared that Gosling had the angry youth market sown up, but his next project broke that mold. The Notebook, a mainstream tear-jerker, was the last thing you would have expected from him, but he nailed the obsessive love of his character and the onscreen chemistry he shared with co-star Rachel McAdams was palatable (and carried over off screen; the two have been together ever since).

Half Nelson, his next film, was yet another revelation for Gosling. He played a drug addicted high school teacher who was his own worst enemy, netting him his first (but far from last) Oscar nomination. Not one to rest on his laurels, this year Gosling faced off against Anthony Hopkins in Fracture and fell in love with a sex doll in Lars and the Real Girl. Next up: the grieving father of Alice Sebold's The Lovely Bones for director Peter Jackson, and possibly the Batman in the upcoming Justice League of America movie (that is, if you believe the rumors).

Whether or not he dons the cape and cowl of the Dark Knight, it is easy to assume that whatever Gosling does next, we will be there to see him do it.

Links via Imdb.com, EW.com, MoviesBlog.MTV.com and CinemaFusion.com.

Three 'Women'

George Cukor was known as a director of "women's pictures" (sometimes derogatorily -- the phrase was a thinly veiled euphemism for gay directors), so it is not surprising that he directed a picture known simply as The Women. And oh, what a picture it was.

Easily the cattiest comedy ever committed to celluloid, this comedic camp fest (based on the play by Clare Boothe Luce) starred an all-female cast (rumor has it that even the animals seen in it were all female) headlined by Norma Shearer and Joan Crawford. To say that these two dueling divas (one at the beginning of her illustrious career, the other at the end of hers, arguably) did not get along is putting it mildly. They loathed each other. (I'm sure the above picture was not the first -- or last -- time Cukor had to get in between them). Rounding out the cast was Rosalind Russell, Joan Fontaine, Marjorie Main and even real-life gossip doyenne Hedda Hopper.

A musicalized remake, called The Opposite Sex, added men into the mix as well as some musical numbers. June Allyson, Joan Collins, Delores Gray, Ann Sheridan, Ann Miller, Joan Blondell and Agnes Moorehead starred, along with Leslie Nielsen and Jeff Richards as their objects of affection. Sadly, this often-overlooked gem is not yet on DVD, but it does appear occasionally on the Turner Classic Movies channel (keep an eye on "The Latest on TV" here at Movie Dearest for future airings).

The long in the works third feature version of The Women is currently shooting in Boston, with Diane English (of Murphy Brown fame) writing and directing. Just like the original, English has assembled an impressive all-star cast (back to "for ladies only" again): Meg Ryan, Eva Mendes, Annette Bening (in the roles played by, respectively, Shearer, Crawford and Russell), Bette Midler, Cloris Leachman, Candice Bergen, Carrie Fisher, Jada Pinkett-Smith, Joanna Gleason, Ana Gasteyer, Lynn Whitfield and Debi Mazar. (Yeah, I know. Wow!)

So far, it is not clear if this latest remake has been updated to the present day. Let's hope not; I saw a dreadful production of the play that transplanted the action to the "swinging 60's" and, believe me, the story only works in the period in which it was originally produced, the 1930's.

We will have to wait and see if the third time will be another charm for The Women, but with such an impressive ensemble, hopes are high on this end. These new recruits best be in top form though; they sure have big (shamefully expensive) shoes to fill.

Click here to purchase The Womenon DVD from Amazon.com.
Links via Imdb.com, TCM.com and Variety.com.

Film Art: Edie in Oil

Has there ever been an odder pop culture phenomenon then Grey Gardens? The seminal Maysles Brothers documentary about Edith and Edie Beale, the black sheep cousins of Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis who were filmed living in squalor in a broken-down East Hampton estate circa the 1970's, has inspired everything from fashion to art (such as the oil painting above by Pacifico Palumbo).

The film also spawned a sort-of sequel, The Beales of Grey Gardens, and a Tony Award-winning stage musical (click here to see Best Actress winner Christine Ebersole all decked out in "The Revolutionary Costume for the Day", with the added bonus of Patrick Wilson as presenter).

Rumors of a non-musical, fictional feature based on the original doc, starring Jessica Lange as "Big" Edie and Drew Barrymore as "Little" Edie, have been circulating for some time now. Questionable casting aside (I'm not so sure about those two actresses as these two women), now comes word that the "sort-of" remake will indeed be made, via HBO Films.

Although it is not clear if the new film will be released theatrically before airing on the pay cable giant or not, either way one thing is clear: it will be just the latest addition in the long line of all things Edie ... and Edie.

Click here to purchase the Grey GardensDVDs from Amazon.com.
Links via Imdb.com, styleteria.com, PacificoPalumboFineArt.com, YouTube.com and HollywoodReporter.com.

Klaatu Barada ... Woah!

We all have what I call our own "cinematic nemesis". They are the actor or actress who, single-handedly, can ruin a whole for us.

Mine is Keanu Reeves. Seriously, why does this guy have a career? I know he's very popular for the most part, but, put simply, he doesn't do much for me. Sure, there have been movies that he has been in that I have enjoyed despite his presence (River's Edge, Speed, Something's Gotta Give). Heck, I even liked Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (mostly because it was filmed at my high school though).

However, to me, Reeves is alarmingly inept for such a big, A-list star. His performances range from the misguided (Dangerous Liaisons) to the miscast (The Matrix) to the outright mistaken (Bram Stoker's Dracula). So how does he keep getting cast in high profile movies, I wonder. The answer is as elusive as a comprehension of the Matrix sequels.

And if the idea of a remake of the classic science fiction parable The Day the Earth Stood Still isn't bad enough for you, to add insult to injury, Keanu (or, as I like to call him, "Ka-nu-nu") will play Klaatu, portrayed in the original by Michael Rennie. Do they honestly expect us to believe him as the savior of our planet? God help us all.

In other remake news, Naomi Watts in The Birds or Denzel Washington in The Taking of Pelham One Two Three don't sound too bad, but who could they get to top Roddy McDowall in another Fright Night? And don't you dare say Ka-nu-nu.

Click here to purchase the original The Day the Earth Stood Stillon DVD from Amazon.com.
Links via Imdb.com, Coronadodons.org, Variety.com, ShockTillYouDrop.com, EW.com and Cinematical.com.

The Latest on TV: Fall Has Fell

Notable movies and other programs on TV for Monday September 24 to Sunday September 30:

The fall TV season is upon us, with the networks busy airing the premiere episodes of most of their new and returning series this week. Still, there are a few movies of interest to watch out for in the next seven days.

Turner Classic Movies concludes this month's look at the breakthrough roles of our favorite stars on Tuesday, with Michael Caine in Alfie, Lee Marvin in Cat Ballou, Kirk Douglas in Champion and Edward G. Robinson in Little Caesar.

On Monday, the channel will air the second part of its salute to the lost Warner Bros. First National Teddington Studios films, including three more American premieres.

Other films not yet on DVD for the week include Cary Grant in None But the Lonely Heart (TCM, Monday; featuring Ethel Barrymore's Oscar-winning supporting performance), Henry Fonda and Olivia de Havilland in The Male Animal (TCM, Wednesday), Alice Brady and Cesar Romero in Metropolitan (Fox Movie Channel, Wednesday), Tyrone Power and Joan Fontaine in This Above All (FMC, Friday) and Claude Raines in They Won't Forget (TCM, Saturday).

Bravo will rerun AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies 10th Anniversary Edition on both Tuesday and Wednesday this week.

Over at LOGO: Gay pastors fight to keep their jobs in the documentary Call to Witness (Monday); looks like we're not the only ones who have a little something For the Love of Dolly (Monday and Sunday); and Thursday serves up Second Serve, the Renee Richards story starring Vanessa Redgrave, as well as the GLAAD Media Award-nominated The Opposite Sex: Rene's Story.

And finally: George Lucas and Francis Ford Coppola are among the directors profiled in Fog City Mavericks: The Filmmakers of San Francisco on Starz Monday.

Click on the network links to find the show times in your area. All programming is subject to change.

Links via TCM.com, FoxMovieChannel.com, BravoTV.com, AFI.com, LOGOOnline.com and Starz.com.

In the News: Boys Do Confess

In the News is a new Movie Dearest feature that will take a look at breaking stories wherein the reel world merges with the real world.

Marvin Nissen, one of the two men convicted of murdering Brandon Teena and two other people as depicted in the Academy Award-winning movie Boys Don't Cry, has recently changed his story of what happened fourteen years ago.

Nissen (portrayed by Brendan Sexton III as "Tom" Nissen in the film) now claims that he was the lone killer in the slayings. Nissen's previous testimony stated that it was John Lotter (played by Peter Sarsgaard) who fired the fatal shots at Teena and the others. Lotter is currently on death row in Nebraska, but with this confession, he has asked for a new trial. The Advocate has the full story here.

Hilary Swank won the Oscar for Best Actress for her performance as Teena, whose life was also recounted in the documentary The Brandon Teena Story.

Links via Imdb.com and Advocate.com.

Blonde Ambitions

For the first item in this week's From Screen to Stage, I'll channel big screen - to stage - to small screen star Elle Woods:

- "Ohmygod, you guys! It's only, like, one week until Legally Blonde - The Musical makes its TV debut on, like, MTV! The totally fab Broadway Blog thinks it's, like, an awesome idea, and check out all the pics and chat, like, live from the pink carpet!"

(Whew, that was exhausting ... how does Laura Bell Bundy do it every night?)

UPDATE: Ohmygod, they've postponed it! According to QueerSighted.com, Legally Blonde - The Musical won't air on MTV until Saturday October 13! A quick check of the MTV website confirms this -- so unfair! So, like, here's a montage of clips from the show to tide you over until then.

- New York movie musical fans take note: the "lost" Porgy and Bess movie (starring Sidney Poitier and Dorothy Dandridge) will be screened next week at the Ziegfeld Theatre. And this will be the rare original road show print, with overture, intermission music and exit music ... could a long-in-demand DVD be far behind?

- Speaking of older film favorites not on DVD, the movie version of The Ritz (starring original Broadway cast members Rita Moreno, Jack Weston, Jerry Stiller and F. Murray Abraham) will finally be released in January. This comes on the heels of the current revival starring Kevin Chamberlin and Rosie Perez. Meanwhile, Playbill.com's own Seth Rudetsky recounts his opening night trials and tribulations in his latest column.

- As Chicago celebrates its tenth year in London, could Tori Spelling and hubby Dean McDermott be Broadway's next Roxie and Billy?

- There are worse things Rizzo herself, Jenny Powers, could do then give fans a video backstage tour of Grease. In related news, Playbill News wonders "where are the You're the One That I Want stars now?", including Derek Keeling (smoldering up A Tale of Two Cities), Ashley Spencer (Hairspray's current Amber) and Kate Rockwell (Phantom's latest Christine).

- On the gay icons front: Rosie love Billy, Harvey has his Catered Affair and Ian rakes it in as King Lear. Plus: a "lost" Noel Coward play is found.

- Happy Days are here again - live and onstage. By the cast breakdown, it appears as if the new tuner is based on that episode where Fonzie and his newly reunited love Pinky Tuscadero take on the Malachi Brothers. Hey, at least it isn't the shark one.

- As I mentioned last week, West Side Story is turning 50 this year, and yet another album of its legendary score will be released to commemorate the occasion. But, unlike the previously mentioned (and already panned) compilation album, this will be a new recording, featuring opera singers in the lead roles. Uh, didn't they already try thatonce?

You can pre-order the West Side Story: 50th Anniversary Recordingfrom Amazon.com, available September 25, by clicking here.

- Are you itching to see the Cry-Baby musical? Well, here's our first look at the cast. Hey look, Harriet Harris!

- Those Dirty Rotten Scoundrels are going back on tour.

- Speaking of tours, Broadway World TV interviews The Color Purple tour star Jeannette Bayardelle.

- First, he was the King of Siam, now he's the Prince of Darkness. Ladies and gentlemen: Lorenzo Lamas is Dracula.

- "Why do you wear that stupid bunny suit?" Donnie Darko hits the stage.

- Sally Ann Howes, who you'll recall was Truly Scrumptious in every way in the classic movie Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, is now Mrs. Higgins in the acclaimed My Fair Lady tour.

- It will be a White Christmas in Toronto this holiday season.

- Über-producer Cameron Mackintosh will bring several musical theater classics to Chinese audiences, including the French Les Miserables, the Swedish Mamma Mia! and the British Mary Poppins.

- And finally: Mark your calendars for next year's Tony Awards.

Links via BroadwayMouth.blogspot.com, Broadway.com, Playbill.com, QueerSighted.com, YouTube.com, BroadwayWorld.com, MSNBC.msn.com and IHT.com.

Alice Ghostley: 1926 - 2007

Alice Ghostley, the beloved character actress who made a career out of playing flustered or dingy types, has died.

An accomplished stage performer (she won the Tony Award for the drama The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window, and played Miss Hannigan in the original Broadway run of Annie), Ghostley was mostly known for her nearly 50 years on television.

Among her many appearances, Ghostley played an ugly stepsister to Julie Andrews' Cinderella, the bumbling Esmeralda on Bewitched, and eccentric Sugarbaker family friend Bernice Clifton on Designing Women, which earned her her one and only Emmy nomination. On film, she appeared in such classics as To Kill a Mockingbird, The Graduate and Grease.

Links via Imdb.com and NYTimes.com.

They'll Really Tie the Room Together

I never thought I would see the day when you could have your very own Jeff Bridges action figure, at least one that came with his own cocktail instead of a day-glo frisbee.

The latest in Big Lebowski-ness are these two "Urban Achiever" figures of The Dude himself and his brawny sidekick Walter Sobchak, played by John Goodman in the movie (love the removable tinted sunglasses, big guy).

Bowling balls, an ex-wife's dog and a can of coffee complete the ensemble, although, just like in the movie, they're missing a rug.

Click here to purchase from Entertainment Earth: Big Lebowski Urban Achiever 8-Inch Figures Wave 1 Set.
Links via SciFi.com and Imdb.com.

Out in Film: Robert Gant

Thanks to his memorable role as everyone's dream husband Ben Bruckner on the landmark Queer as Folk, Robert Gant has become one of the most prominent -- and desirable -- out gay actors in Hollywood. Put it this way: He could have just as easily been profiled in the Cinematic Crush section here at Movie Dearest.

Gant actually started his professional life in Los Angeles as a lawyer, but show biz couldn't keep him away. He started with memorable guest spots on some of the gay friendliest shows on television, including Ellen, My So-Called Life, Melrose Place and Friends. (In the latter, he and fellow future QAF-er Matt Battaglia both vied for a fickle Phoebe's affections.)

A recurring role on Caroline in the City led to a permanent one on Popular as an eccentric school principal; all that law school must lend Gant a scholarly air, as he was next cast as Professor Bruckner in QAF's second season. Gant's Ben was linked romantically with Hal Sparks' Michael, and their characters faced such challenging storylines as Ben's HIV+ status, gay marriage and adoption.

In the "real world", Gant is an advocate for several gay elder groups, and has his own production company (with actor Chad Allen and producer Christopher Racster), which is dedicated to producing positive gay-themed projects in film and television. Their first feature, Save Me, was a hit at OutFest and should be hitting theaters soon.

After QAF ended, Gant has guest starred on such other TV series as The Closer and CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, and he also starred as the title character in the hysterical satirical short, Billy's Dad is a Fudge-Packer (available to watch in full at Planet Out).

And speaking of videos, it sure is nice to know that I'm not the only one who has a thing for Bobby Gant.

Links via Imdb.com, GayBlade.com, PlanetOut.com and YouTube.com.

Naked Boys Filming

What do you get when you combine the lurid thrill of gratuitous onstage nudity with upbeat musical theater song and dance? The answer is Naked Boys Singing, the hit Off-Broadway show that has been wowin' 'em (in more ways then one) since 1999.

And if the bumper crop of movie musicals this year hasn't been enough, the Boys will be hitting the big screen themselves this fall as well (and no, it won't be in 3-D). Naked Boys Singing: The Motion Picture (it isn't really called all that, but don't you wish it was?) will be the opening night feature at Out Takes Dallas, Texas' own gay and lesbian film festival, and it will be appearing at several other festivals as well prior to its limited theatrical release in October.

For a tease of the new movie, visit its official website, filled with cast pictures (sorry, no full frontal -- you'll have to see the movie for that!), video sneak peeks and a pictorial history of the global phenomenon that is Naked Boys Singing.

You can also get a gander at the movie's trailer (for once, that term is tres apropos) over at YouTube, where you can also see Under the Pink Carpet's backstage look at the New York production.

Links via NakedBoysSinging.com, Imdb.com, OutTakesDallas.org, NakedBoysSingingMovie.com, YouTube.com and UnderThePinkCarpet.tv.

The Latest in Theaters: Jane, Jesse and Jessica

This week's newest releases are all over the map, from a literary-minded chick flick to a grim biographical western to a high concept romantic comedy to a real life adventure tale to a post-apocalyptic thriller to one for the tweeners:

- The Jane Austen Book Club: Sure, the title is guaranteed to scare away every heterosexual male in existence, but take a look at the cast: Hugh Dancy, Maria Bello, Emily Blunt, Marc Blucas, Jimmy Smits, Amy Brenneman, Kevin Zegers and Kathy Baker. (Is it just me, or do the guys out-hot the gals?)
- The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford: Brad Pitt is the legendary outlaw, Casey Affleck the young recruit who betrays him. (Is it just me, or do they pretty much give away the whole movie with that title?)
- Good Luck Chuck: Is it just me, or does this movie seem like, if it were made two years ago, it would have starred Vince Vaughn and Cameron Diaz instead of Dane Cook and Jessica Alba?
- Into the Wild: Sean Penn directs this based-on-a-true story drama about a recently graduated college student (Emile Hirsch) who gives up his conventional life to hitchhike to Alaska. This one does star Vince Vaughn, as well as Catherine Keener, William Hurt, Marcia Gay Harden, Jena Malone and Hal Holbrook.
- Resident Evil: Extinction: Milla Jovovich returns for the third go-round in this video game-to-movie series.
- Sydney White: We loved her as Penny Pingleton, so Amanda Bynes as a modern day Snow White (complete with seven nerds instead of dwarfs) sounds like harmless fun. Or is it just me?

Visit Fandango - Search movie showtimes and buy tickets!
Links via Imdb.com, Men.Style.com, Premiere.com and EdgeBoston.com.

The Brady Bunch

Regarding the viral saga of Timmy/Shimmy started on the "Crazy Days and Nights" blog by "Ent Lawyer", all has been revealed.

I'll cut to the chase: "Timmy" was Arthur Blake, and "Shimmy" was indeed Alice Brady. Although the original blind item alluded that Blake "took over" completely for Brady at some point (at least that's how I read it), that was not the case after all. Blake, a natural mimic, stepped in for Brady on those occasions when the frail actress was too ill to work, which was apparently often.

Therefore, both Brady and Blake reportedly appeared in Brady's Oscar nominated role in My Man Godfrey and a few other films, most notably her Academy Award-winning role as the infamous Mrs. O'Leary in In Old Chicago (pictured above in the "center square" of my Brady Bunch-esque homage to Brady. Fittingly, that was maid Alice's spot on the beloved sitcom, as we all know). Cesar Romero was the closeted gay star who met Brady/Blake while filming Metropolitan, leading to a secret love affair with Blake that lasted a few years.

As I stated previously, who knows if this is indeed true or not (either way, it sure is fascinating), and it will be interesting to see if any "legitimate" media picks up the story, or if anyone truly "in the know" will come out to confirm it. Then there is the intriguing question of whether the Academy will respond.

Regardless of any future developments, "Ent" brings up a good point regarding all his readers who were so obsessively involved with cracking this "Old Hollywood" BI. It has turned on many people to an interest in classic film, and, hopefully, they will actually watch some of these often forgotten treasures that they have read about; if anything else, I'm sure In Old Chicago has jumped to top of many people's Netflix queues as a result of all this. I know it has in mine.

Click here to purchase In Old Chicagoon DVD from Amazon.com.
Links via CrazyDaysAndNights.net and Imdb.com.

Dead Man's Helmet

So yeah, today is "International Talk Like a Pirate" day.

Now, I could go all Captain Jack on you and rattle off a few "Arrrr's" or an "Ahoy, matey" or even a robust "Avast, me hearty", but no. The message I have for you today is far too serious for such swashbuckling shenanigans.

That message is this: there are other kinds of pirates out there, and they are not to be trifled with. So just remember that when you're spouting your little "Shiver me timbers" or "Raise the mizzenmast", you ... landlubber you.

Women We Love: Mink Stole

We don't usually fall for uptight prudes or religious zealots, but when they're played by Mink Stole, we'll make an exception.

As all purveyors of queer cinema know, Stole gained fame (notoriety?) as one of the original members of John Waters' guerilla filmmaking ensemble. In fact, she was one of the cast members who were infamously arrested during the making of Mondo Trasho, wherein she also memorably tap-danced topless.

Stole frequently played more then one character in the early days, such as the "religious whore" who "seduces" Divine with a rosary in Multiple Maniacs. She and Divine often played adversaries onscreen, most notoriously in the midnight movie classic Pink Flamingos as two clannish matriarchs competing for the title of "The Filthiest Person Alive".

Female Trouble, Desperate Living and Polyester followed, but it was the original Hairspray that finally found Stole and Divine playing on the same side (ironically, it would turn out to be Divine's final film with Stole). In Cry-Baby, Stole spent much of her time in an iron lung, but she was back with a vengeance as the prudish neighbor Dottie Hinkle in Serial Mom. Her profanity-riddled telephone exchanges with Kathleen Turner have become legendary.

Through the years, Stole's roles in Water's films (Pecker, Cecil B. Demented, A Dirty Shame) grew smaller, but her own cult status earned her roles in such gay-themed movies as Leather Jacket Love Story, But I'm a Cheerleader and, most recently, Eating Out 2: Sloppy Seconds. But to us, she will always be Connie Marble. Or Taffy Davenport. Or Marge the Neuter. Or ...

Link via Imbd.com.

Birthday Bash for AFI's 40th

In celebration of their 40th anniversary, the American Film Institute is throwing a celebration that will surely have classic movie buffs everywhere wishing they all lived in LA. I know I do.

On October 3 at the ArcLight Hollywood cinema, AFI will screen not one, not two, but eleven classic films. And that's not all: each of the films will be introduced by the star and/or director of that film:

• Julie Andrews for The Sound of Music
• Warren Beatty for Bonnie and Clyde
• Billy Crystal and Rob Reiner for When Harry Met Sally ...
• Kirk Douglas for Spartacus
• Clint Eastwood for Unforgiven
• Morgan Freeman for The Shawshank Redemption
• Tippi Hedren for The Birds
• Angela Lansbury for Beauty and the Beast
• George Lucas for Star Wars
• Jack Nicholson for One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
• Sylvester Stallone for Rocky

Or maybe it's all for the best I don't live in Los Angeles. All of the films will be screened at the same time, so you can only see one! Talk about your Sophie's choice!

I'd probably see Beauty and the Beast, because I would love to see Angela. Plus, it's the shortest one, so then I could sneak into another theater to catch a glimpse of Julie, or maybe Tippi. Which one would you choose?

Tickets for the event go on sale today at AFI.com.

UPDATE: Wow, I'm not sure when it happened, but according to AFI's website today (Sunday, September 23), this event is now completely SOLD OUT.

Links via AFI.com.

Poster Post: Some Day My Prince Will Come

The next Chronicles of Narnia movie just got a lot more interesting. Future crush object Ben Barnes stars as Prince Caspian, the savior of Narnia or something.

But who cares, that prince is a hottie, as you can see for yourself in this production video. It must be that one-two punch of a British accent and a cleft chin.

Prince Caspian will hit theaters next May. Click on the picture above for access to a huge high-res image of the poster.

Click here to buy Chronicles of Narniaposters from Amazon.com.
Links via Cinematical.com, Imdb.com and YouTube.com.

The Latest on DVD: Leather and Polyester Edition

Two throwbacks to times of more questionable fashion choices are amongst this week's latest DVD releases:

Featured Titles:

• Cruising- After all the talk and debate, it is finally here in a deluxe "Leather Daddy" edition. OK, not really.
• Brothers & Sisters: The Complete First Season- On the heels of Sally Field's deserved Emmy win, this set not only includes every episode you've seen, but even one you haven't.
• Grindhouse Presents: Death Proof- The Quentin Tarantino half, in a two-disc special edition.
• Saturday Night Fever: 30th Anniversary Special Collector's Edition- White polyester suit not included.

Classics Corner:

• Deliverance- A new Deluxe Edition. Also available in HD-DVD and Blu-ray, so you can now see every pore on Ned Beatty's body.
• Anne of the Thousand Days/Mary, Queen of Scots- A royal double feature, these costume epics star two Oscar-nominated actresses: Geneviève Bujold and Vanessa Redgrave, respectively.
• The Threepenny Opera- Beware Mack the Knife in this Criterion edition of G.W. Pabst's version of the Kurt Weill musical.
• Robinson Crusoe on Mars- Daniel Defoe's classic gets a sci fi twist in another Criterion release.
• Alligator- OK, this one is more camp then classic, but it does feature Robert Forster and a big rubber gator.

What Else is New:

• Pittsburgh- Jeff Goldblum stages The Music Man with Ed Begley Jr. and Illeana Douglas in this offbeat documentary.
• The Gymnast- Lesbians in the air ... and in love.
• Zoo- Uh ... I'm just going to quote Imbd's plot outline on this one: "A look at the life of a Seattle man who died as a result of an unusual encounter with a horse."

What's on TV:

• Smallville - The Complete Sixth Season- Last year, Superman-to-be Tom Welling was almost out-super hunk'd by Justin Hartley's Green Arrow.
• The Best of Rocky and Bullwinkle: Vol. 2- More wackiness with moose und squirrel.
• Josie and the Pussycats: The Complete Series- Yeah, I know, now I got the theme song stuck in my head too.

Special Editions and Box Sets:

• The Roger Corman Collection- Includes eight of the cult director's drive-in classics, including Bloody Mama, A Bucket of Blood and The Man With the X-Ray Eyes.
• Wall Street: 20th Anniversary Edition- Greed is good, even two decades after the fact.
• Flashdance: Special Collector's Edition- What a feeling. Take your passion, and make it happen.
• Troy - Director's Cut- Available in a two-disc edition or an "ultimate collector's edition", as well as on HD-DVD and Blu-Ray, so you can now see every pore on Brad Pitt's body.

Click on the individual titles to purchase them from Amazon.com.

Link via AfterElton.com.

Where the Boys Are

The Sex and the City movie just got a little hotter: Jason Lewis, along with David Eigenberg and Evan Handler, will join the previously announced Chris Noth as our four fabulous fashionista's significant others.

At least one newcomer to the film (which just got a prime release date) has been added. Oscar-winner Jennifer Hudson will play Carrie Bradshaw's assistant, which leads me to believe a new job is in store for our favorite sex columnist.

As for the show's two main gay characters, Mario Cantone is rumored to return, but what about Willie Garson? I don't know what Carrie ... or I ... will do without Stanford Blatch.

UPDATE: Is America ready for a woman president? The Daily Show's Samantha Bee channels Carrie Bradshaw to find out.

Links via Imdb.com, MoviesBlog.MTV.com, People.com and LATimes.com.

Film Art: Minnelli by Warhol

We all love Liza. We can't help it; it's in our genes. Of course, some of us have more in the genes then others ... not that there's anything wrong with that.

Links via Imdb.com and YouTube.com.

Toronto: 'Eastern' Wins Northern Prize

Eastern Promises, David Cronenberg's crime thriller starring Viggo Mortensen, won the top prize at the just completed Toronto International Film Festival. As conventional wisdom states, that means this unconventional film is now officially a "frontrunner" in this year's awards race. Nevertheless, we'll have to wait and see if its grim subject matter doesn't turn off older Academy members like the duo's last outing, A History of Violence, although that didn't hurt The Departed last year.

Shaping up to be this year's Little Miss Sunshine is Jason Reitman's quirky look at teenage pregnancy Juno, with no less then Roger Ebert predicting an Oscar nod for its 20-year old leading lady, Ellen Page. See for yourself with the official trailer for the comedy, which boasts a fine supporting cast that includes such favorites as Allison Janney, J.K. Simmons and Jennifer Garner, herself receiving some early Oscar buzz.

Cate Blanchett's two diverse biopics continued to receive mixed responses, even if everyone was enthralled by her own performances as the Virgin Queen and the Folkie King in, respectively, Shekhar Kapur's Elizabeth: The Golden Age and Todd Haynes' I'm Not There.

However, the most divisive film of the festival, and likely the year, was Alan Ball's Nothing is Private. The bleak drama features a controversial sex scene between Aaron Eckhart's character and a 13-year-old Arab-American girl (played by 19-year-old Summer Bishil) that the ultra-conservative Fox News likens to "kiddie porn". Here's what the trades had to say about it.

Other notables at the fest:

• Breakfast With Scot: In this, the so-called "gay hockey movie", Tom Cavanaugh and Ben Shenkman star as a couple who look after their flamboyant nephew (think Ugly Betty's Justin, only in Canada).
• A Jihad for Love: This documentary, filmed in secret over a six-year period, examines the often dangerous lives of gay Muslims.
• Then She Found Me: Helen Hunt stars in her directorial debut, where she plays a baby-wanting woman who meets her long absent birth mother, played by ... Bette Midler?!
• Trumbo: Blacklisted screenwriter Dalton Trumbo is the subject of this doc, which, considering its subject, is sure to nab an Oscar nom.
• And continuing their road to glory: Atonement, In the Valley of Elah, Into the Wild, Michael Clayton and No Country for Old Men, another wacky crime caper (à la Fargo) from the Coen Brothers, starring Tommy Lee Jones, Javier Bardem and Woody Harrelson.
• Or not: Rendition and Cassandra's Dream.

Even with some promising standouts, the general consensus is that ... there is no consensus. Which means it should be an exciting awards season this year.

UPDATE: Here's the official trailer for Atonement. Anyone else reminded just a tad of The Children's Hour?

Links via GoldDerby.LATimes.com, TIFF07.ca, AwardsDaily.com, RogerEbert.SunTimes.com, YouTube.com, EW.com, EdgeBoston.com, Blogs.MercuryNews.com and MoviesBlog.MTV.com.

Cinematic Crush: William Holden

Often underrated but never overlooked, William Holden was a Golden Boy long before he got his big break opposite Barbara Stanwyck in that film. He could have easily coasted through life on his boy-next-door looks and rakish charm, but he proved time and time again that he had talent behind that cleft chin and those dreamboat eyes.

Holden became a leading man when Montgomery Clift turned down Sunset Boulevard, and never looked back: he was a natural. As Joe Gillis, the opportunistic yet tortured screenwriter-turned-kept man, Holden earned his first Academy Award nomination. He would win the Oscar three years later as a cynical P.O.W. in Stalag 17.

As adept at comedy (Born Yesterday, The Moon is Blue) and romance (Sabrina, Love is a Many-Splendored Thing) as drama (The Country Girl, The Bridge on the River Kwai), Holden never took himself too seriously. All you have to do is watch his legendary guest spot on I Love Lucy to see that. He never shied away from the hunk factor either, often appearing shirtless in the posters advertising his movies (Picnic being the famous example).

In later years, Holden alternated between acclaimed pictures (The Wild Bunch, Network -- his third and final Oscar nomination) and far lesser fare (The Towering Inferno, Damien: Omen II) while his handsomeness grew more rugged and his personal life more tempestuous. But he will always be a "golden boy" in our hearts.

Links via Imdb.com and IMPAwards.com.

Who's Cruising Who?

A lot of movies are talked about long after they come out, but those are usually good ones. Cruising, the notorious gay killer thriller written and directed by William Friedkin and starring Al Pacino, is not a good movie by any means. Yet, here we are, 27 years later, still talking about it.

The controversy surrounding the making of the film places it in a unique place in gay history. However, aside from occasional airings on pay cable or dusty VHS tapes, it has mostly stayed buried since its box office failure back in 1980. More people have heard about Cruising then have actually seen it, and the coverage the book and film The Celluloid Closetgave it pretty much damned it in the eyes of most, sight unseen. Friedkin rarely discussed it, and as far as Pacino was concerned, he never made it (for example, it was conspicuously absent from his recent AFI tribute).

Nevertheless, the film did develop a sort of "cult" following through the years, largely due to its scarcity. It was even unofficially "remade" as a comedy, two years after it was first released, as the even more dreadful Partners. (If you really want a laugh though, skip that one and watch Boy Toys, a scene-for-scene "remake" of Cruising ... using Ken dolls. Warning: lots of gratuitous fashion doll nudity and violence.)

So now that Cruising is making its long-delayed DVD debut this Tuesday, a lot of people have been talking about it even more; Friedkin himself is particularly chatty about it. Some say it's worth another look, while others naively wonder what all the fuss was about; this being the internet, there are diverse opinions ranging from the clinical and balanced to the superficial and dismissive.

However, if you read one article about Cruising, make sure it is this superlative piece from Entertainment Weekly contributing writer Mark Harris. Harris covers all the bases regarding the film's infamous makings and deconstructs it with not just a critical eye, but with the eye of a gay man. He also calls to task Friedkin and producer Jerry Weintraub, who (in the DVD extras) try to frame the movie as "a work of art ahead of its time". Yeah, right. If anything, Cruising was a product of its time, not a victim of it.

UPDATE: For his typically laugh-out-loud take on something other then Top Chef, be sure to check out Steven Frank's irreverent look at Cruising over at After.Elton.com.

Click here to pre-order Cruisingon DVD from Amazon.com. Click here to buy Cruisingposters from Amazon.com.
Links via Imdb.com, AFI.com, YouTube.com, eBAR.com, Cinematical.com, NYBlade.com, SFBayTimes.com, VillageVoice.com, BrightLightsFilm.com, SFBG.com, NewNowNext.com, AfterElton.com and EW.com.

Awards Watch: God Bless America

Tonight was yet another bizarre year in the bizarre history of the Emmy Awards. (James Spader? Over James Gandolfini? Really???) Questionable wins aside, let me first give a shout out to the four actors from "my shows" that did win:

• America Ferrera, Best Comedy Actress for Ugly Betty: Not only is it fantastic to see somebody win who so very much deserves it, but our gal America was so gracious and humble in her acceptance speech, I confess to tearing up just a tad. You go, Betty, we love you!
• Katherine Heigl, Best Drama Supporting Actress for Grey's Anatomy: What a year our Izzie Stevens is having -- first she's Knocked Up, then she wins what was probably the most competitive race of the night, and on top of all that, she was the best dressed of the evening; seriously, she looked fabulous. (And it's "High-gull", not "High-jull" ... you would think they would prep their announcers on such things.)
• Terry O'Quinn, Best Drama Supporting Actor for Lost: He rightfully should have won two years ago, so it's great to see this incredible character actor finally get the gold. His John Locke is a complicated role, and he pulls it off brilliantly every week.
• Sally Field, Best Drama Actress for Brothers & Sisters: I love this show, and Field's Nora Walker is the heart and soul of it. She gave a great speech too ... until she got flustered ... and then she was cut off in the middle of an anti-war statement. Gee, what a surprise from the Fox Network ...

Rob Marshall also won for his classy Tony Bennett special, as did another Tony ... the awards show, that is. Also, the über-gay friendly Ugly Betty won two other awards (and if you too can't wait for that show's second season to start, here's a hilarious preview to tide you over until September 27).

All right, back to the show. Some random observations:

• The "in-the-round" set: A good idea in theory, but it seemed to throw most everybody who stepped foot on it. Just goes to show how many television actors these days have very little experience in the "thea-tah". (I did love that cool circular video screen though.)
• Ryan Seacrest: Ryan, Ryan, Ryan ... you know, you were doing OK ... until you came out in that costume from The Tudors and said it looked "a lot less gay on the rack". Are you kidding me? At what point did you think that was funny, let alone that it would fly in this day and age? What flabbergasts me about the whole thing is that the whole thing was just that: a lame gay joke. GLAAD better be all over this by tomorrow is all I'm saying.
• I also expect some backlash to be directed at Conan O'Brien and Bill Maher for their little skits showing, respectively, Mexican immigrants piling into a pick up and a toe-tappin' bathroom brigade. Oy, where do I start?
• It always amazes me that these award shows really think they can get it all in during the allotted time, so they have clips of all the early acting nominees but then have to cut them for the bigger categories later in the show. In other words, we get to see a bit of Ed Asner's nominated performance in something called The Christmas Card, yet none from Helen Mirren's winning performance in Prime Suspect 7: The Final Act. Go figure.
• Forgetaboutit! The cast of Jersey Boys was awesome! But is it just me to think that it was a big stretch to connect it to The Sopranos (winner of Best Drama Series for its polarizing finale season)? And did we really need to see Silvio whacking Adriana to the tune of "Can't Take My Eyes Off of You"?
• Ellen and Portia looked great on the red carpet together, but I missed Neil Patrick Harris with beau David Burtka. And T.R. Knight looked very dapper, except when they cut to him after an Isaiah Washington joke; then he looked pissed.
• And finally: What was up with that creepy guy staring at Queen Latifah during the Roots tribute?

Click here for a complete list of this year's Emmy winners.

UPDATE: If you missed them too, here's a pic of Neil and David on the Emmy red carpet.

Links via YouTube.com, TheEnvelope.LATimes.com and AfterElton.com.

The Latest on TV: A Hitch in Time

Notable movies and other programs on TV for Monday September 17 to Sunday September 23:

AMC continues their "7 Nights of Hitchcock" this week, with several of the master's best, including The Birds, Rope, Vertigo, Psycho and Shadow of a Doubt. To get you in the mood, the channel's website has a list of his ten most famous onscreen murders. Gee, I wonder what #1 is?

Over at Turner Classic Movies, they serve up their second batch of lost Warner Bros. First National classics from London's famed Teddington Studios on Monday. Three of the titles have never been seen in the United States in any way, shape or form.

Tuesday on the channel brings more "A Star is Born" films, movies that gave big stars their big break. Lana Turner, Ava Gardner, Bette Davis and Patricia Neal are spotlighted this week; Neal's The Founthead will be followed by her own Private Screenings one-on-one with Robert Osborne.

On Saturday, TCM presents a look at the first "talkies" of several silent greats, including Harold Lloyd in Welcome Danger and Lon Chaney in The Unholy Three, both not available on DVD.

Other classic movies on TV but not DVD for the week include Anne Bancroft in The Pumpkin Eater (Monday, TCM), Jennifer Jones in Tender is the Night (Tuesday, Fox Movie Channel), Greta Garbo in The Kiss (Tuesday, TCM), Tyrone Power in Lloyd's of London, Susan Hayward in The President's Lady and Bette Davis in The Virgin Queen (all Saturday, FMC) and Mickey Rooney in Young Tom Edison (Sunday, TCM).

If you ever wanted to learn more about the exciting world of location scouts, then be sure to catch one of the screenings this week of IFC's Action Indies: Extraordinary Location Scouts.

And on LOGO this week, Monday brings No Dumb Questions, a documentary about how three small children come to terms with their uncle becoming their aunt. M. Butterfly, David Cronenberg's film version of the Tony Award-winning play starring Jeremy Irons and John Lone (which is surprisingly not on DVD) airs Tuesday. More docs on Thursday (When Ocean Meets Sky takes a look at the notorious gay hotspot, Fire Island) and Saturday (100% Woman concerns a transsexual mountain bike champion), and, just for fun, be sure to catch the light-hearted look at gay TV faves, from Wonder Woman to The Golden Girls, in Inside TV Land: Tickled Pink on Sunday.

Click on the network links to find the show times in your area. All programming is subject to change.

Links via AMCTV.com, TCM.com, FoxMovieChannel.com, IFC.com and LOGOOnline.com.

Timmy - Shimmy - Coco - Pop

I'm human and I'm gay, so I love a little gossip. Now, I'm not talking about what is usually printed as "gossip" nowadays in the tabloids. I couldn't care less what blonde bimbo #213 is doing with himbo actor#156. That's nothing, amateur hour.

No, I like my gossip dirty, the kind that the rags would never dare put in print for fear of legal repercussions. I'm talking about the stuff that you only hear about when everyone involved is long dead and buried. Kenneth Anger's Hollywood Babylon- now that's gossip worth reading and savoring.

So I love a good "blind item". Names aren't named, so the writer can actually say, for example, that this Hollywood starlet is a big pothead or that "Prima Donna bitch" actor has a thing for the lads. Trying to figure out who it is, well, that's half the fun.

Naturally, the internet is rife with gossip sites and blogs (even some that are not run by obnoxious disgraces to their community), and probably the juiciest one out there is "Crazy Days and Nights". Written by an "Entertainment Lawyer" (so you know he has great access to all the dirt), "CDAN" is currently running a doozey of a "long blind item" that has his readers scrambling to decipher all the hints and clues to a story that, if true, could be the most shocking secret in Hollywood history.

It is a story filled with deception, sex, intrigue, heartbreak, skin conditions and the Academy Awards. If it were a movie, audiences and critics alike would scoff at the implausibility of it all. And yet, that is what makes it so fascinating.

"Timmy" was an aspiring actor in the studio years that never quite broke out of bit parts and the chorus line. He was also a homosexual, a fact that was always unspoken in those days. Circumstances led him to an unbelievable attempt at stardom: "Timmy" became "Shimmy" - an actress.

"Shimmy" worked her way up to lead roles, where she met a closeted A-lister that would become "Timmy's" secret love for many years. Around this time, "Shimmy was cast in the role of a lifetime, a role that lead not only to critical acclaim and the "very big award" (an Oscar?), but also to the ultimate demise of "Shimmy".

You'll have to read the whole "BI" to get all the details, but suffice to say, this is one hell of a story, even if it is all fiction or just the latest in a long line of outrageous celebrity rumors or Hollywood urban legends.

Obsessive "CDAN" fans (some of who have even created their own line of t-shirts touting their picks!) have investigated the pasts and filmographies of dozens of award-winning actresses, from Shirley Booth, Sandy Dennis, Marie Dressler, Judy Holiday, Josephine Hull, Mercedes McCambridge, Hattie McDaniel, Mary Pickford and Luise Rainer (all of whom have been directly discounted by the author) to Fay Bainter, Janet Gaynor, Anne Revere, Margaret Rutherford, Gale Sondergaard, Jo Van Fleet, Shelley Winters (!), Teresa Wright and Alice Brady, who has emerged the "favorite" at last call.

Yep, in his latest update, "Ent Lawyer" has promised the big reveal, with a complete explanation of all the who's, what's and why's, this Wednesday.

In the end, I can only imagine what all these actresses up in "movie heaven' must be thinking about all this. Perhaps they are printing up their own t-shirts: "I'm NOT Timmy".

Links via BlindItems.typepad.com, Amazon.com, UrbanDictionary.com, Wikipedia.org, CrazyDaysAndNights.net, Nerve.com, JoBlo.com, SpreadShirt.net and Imdb.com.

Potent Quotables: Jack Twist on Commitment Issues

That exchange is from, of course, Brokeback Mountain, spoken by Heath Ledger as Ennis Del Mar and Jake Gyllenhaal as Jack Twist. (Click on picture to enlarge.)

And if that landmark film is something you yourself can't quit, then you too may be a "Brokie".

Click here to purchase Brokeback Mountainon DVD from Amazon.com.
Links via Imdb.com and SFBayTimes.com.

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Bathhouse

Broadway is having a gay ol' time with the return of an old favorite in this week's round up of all things From Screen to Stage:

- The revival of Terrence McNally's door-slamming sex farce The Ritz, set in a New York bathhouse circa the 1970's, starts previews today. Actually, it was supposed to start yesterday, but a last-minute cast change pushed back the opening. (No, don't worry, it wasn't Ryan Idol.)

The new production stars Kevin Chamberlin, Rosie Perez (in the role made famous -- and Tony winning -- by Rita Moreno) and our favorite Playbill columnist, Seth Rudetsky. In his latest column, Seth recounts the horrors of tech week ... and having to pee next to a porn star.

- If you didn't get enough of Cheyenne Jackson in this week's "Out in Film", then get thee to YouTube, where you can see him and a very Aussie-fied Kerry Butler in their performance of "Suddenly" from Xanadu, as seen this week on The View.

- Mark your calendars for Saturday, September 29: That's the day Legally Blonde - The Musical will debut on MTV. To tide you over until then, QueerSighted chats with Elle's nemesis, a former Miss America (seriously), actress Kate Shindle.

- Have you ever dreamed of owning the complete score of Annie, a.k.a. "The Red Album"? How about hearing any of the infamous Annie 2: Miss Hannigan's Revenge? Well, your show tune wishes will finally be answered with the upcoming "30th Anniversary Cast Recording" -- and then some. Several Annie alumni returned for the event, including original orphan Andrea McArdle and movie Hannigan Carol Burnett. The sun truly will come out tomorrow.

- In other anniversary news, West Side Story is nearing its 50th. To celebrate the occasion, the Library of Congress will open a new exhibit displaying rare photos, set designs and other items exploring the "Birth of a Classic".

Also in honor of the landmark musical's golden anniversary, a new tribute CD has been released, featuring such stars as Barbra Streisand, Julie Andrews and Kristin Chenoweth singing such classics as "Tonight" and "I Feel Pretty". Click here to purchase A Place for Us: A Tribute to 50 Years of West Side Storyfrom Amazon.com.

- In more news on the classics, South Pacific will get its first Broadway revival ever, and they've already found their Nellie and Emile. Meanwhile, don't hold your breath for that starry revival of Guys and Dolls, and Lou Diamond Phillips is the new King Arthur in Camelot on tour. Yes, I said Lou Diamond Phillips.

- Also making its first return to Broadway: Les Liaisons Dangereuses, told and retold many times on film, most famously as Dangerous Liaisons and Cruel Intentions.

- Sweeney Todd: The Movie will spawn Sweeney Todd: The Soundtrack and Sweeney Todd: The Companion Book.(You can pre-order the book from Amazon.com by clicking the link.)

- The Grinch will get some new songs for Christmas this year.

- And finally, in this week's Hairspray news: Jim J. Bullock will replace Jerry Mathers as Wilbur Turnblad. In other words, Monroe Ficus is taking over where Beaver Cleaver left off. And with Paul Vogt as Edna, who knows where Tracy came from ...

Links via Playbill.com, Broadway.com, YouTube.com and QueerSighted.com.

Boxing Leonidas

For all you parents out there wondering where to find school supplies for your little Spartan warrior, leather clad dominatrix or zombie killer, then EntertainmentEarth.com has the lunch boxes for you.

The way-cool toy company has these kick ass metal lunch boxes based on the R-rated slaughterfests 300, Sin City and Grindhouse, complete with matching thermoses!

I especially like the 300 one, with the oh-so-appropriate-for-a-lunch-box-if-not-the-schoolyard tagline "Tonight, we dine in Hell!" emblazoned on it for all the kiddies and uptight PTA-ers to see.

Hey, if anything, they're better then some of the lame-ass ones we had as kids. Bobby Sherman? The Flying Nun? The Osmonds???

Click here to purchase from Entertainment Earth: the Sin City Lunch Box, Grindhouse Double Feature Lunch Box or the 300 Lunch Box
Link via RetroCrush.buzznet.com.

Out in Film: Cheyenne Jackson

Unless you follow the New York theater scene, you may not know Cheyenne Jackson, but you should. As you can see by his picture, the 6'3" actor is incredibly handsome, but he is also incredibly talented. And although his film work has been minimal so far, it is only a matter of time until he is as big a star in Hollywood as he is on Broadway.

Jackson (who was named "Cheyenne" after his father's favorite TV western) made his debut on the Great White Way in 2002 (just six weeks after arriving in the Big Apple) in the Tony Award-winning stage version of the movie musical Thoroughly Modern Millie. He later starred as Radames in Disney's Aida and originated the role of Matthew in Altar Boyz prior to that hit show's Off Broadway premiere. He had to give up that part though when he was cast in the "Elvis" role in All Shook Up, the popular Presley-inspired jukebox musical.

Jackson's film debut was in the short film Curiosity (which can be viewed in its entirety here), while his first feature was the controversial 9/11 drama United 93, where he played real-life gay hero Mark Bingham. He will next appear onscreen in the horror film Hysteria, due next year.

Presently, Jackson is wowing audiences in a pair of roller skates and short shorts in the unexpected Broadway hit Xanadu, and he was just cast in the upcoming Lifetime television series Family Practice.

To learn more about Cheyenne, visit his official website, and if you haven't seen Jackson perform, be sure to check out this duet with Queer Eye's Jai Rodriguez, where they deliver an awesome rendition of the "Elephant Love Medley" from Moulin Rouge!

Links via Imbd.com, YouTube.com, Wikipedia.org, Playbill.com and CheyenneJackson.com.

Attention All Hairhoppers! November 20 is D-Day!

D-day as in DVD day!

Hairspray, this summer's smash musical hit, is hitting DVD November 20 in a big way with four different versions: a single-disc version, a two-disc "Shake & Shimmy" edition in both standard DVD and Blu-ray, plus a special goodies-packed gift set. (An HD-DVD will be released sometime next year.)

The "Shake & Shimmy" edition will come with one of those funky covers that changes pictures when you tilt it (like the Transamerica DVD), in this case from the teens to the adults, as pictured above.

I hardly ever listen to audio commentaries or watch deleted scenes unless I have to, but in this case, I can't wait to devour everything they give me. In addition to that, the two-discer will include a "making of" doc, featurettes on all the dancing, a sing along option (oh yeah) and, most intriguingly, an all new musical number called "I Can Wait". I have no clue what this song is, but personally, I can't wait to hear it.

The two-disc version is included in the deluxe gift pack, which comes in a mini-metal locker (in either "Link Lime" or "Penny Pink"! Cute! But where's the Tracy Turquoise or Edna Eggplant?) that you can decorate with the stickers and photos included, plus a nifty Hairspray tote bag (Big Edie will like that).

And if that isn't enough Hairspray for you for one day, a special two-disc deluxe edition of the now Certified Gold soundtrack will also be released on November 20th! This limited run CD will include "karaoke versions of Hairspray hits, non-soundtrack songs, never-before-heard outtakes, demo recordings, trading cards and more in a special gift set package!"

So start saving your allowance, Hairhoppers! The DVDs and new CD are not yet available for pre-order on Amazon.com yet, but I'll post the links when they are.

And don't forget to vote for your favorite Hairspray song in the MD Poll! You can find it in the sidebar at right, below my profile.

Links via HairsprayMovie.com.

Film Art: An Introduction

Not exactly poster art, this new section will feature film subjects as depicted via various forms of art, from paintings to drawings to sculptures and more.

The above image is of Pan from, of course, Pan's Labyrinth, Guillermo del Toro's haunting adult fairy tale.

Click here to purchase Pan's Labyrinthon DVD from Amazon.com.
Link via Imbd.com.

The Latest in Theaters: Viggo-A-Go-Go

So much for the dregs of summer: with no less then seven films opening this weekend, the fall movie season looks to be in full swing.

- Eastern Promises: Viggo Mortensen was so great in A History of Violence, it's no wonder he's back with David Cronenberg for another look at the darker sides of human nature. Bonuses include Naomi Watts and, oh yeah ... Mortensen goes full frontal in an extended fight scene.
- The Brave One: Jodie Foster is getting some unlikely early Oscar buzz as yet another woman-in-peril in Neil Jordan's vigilante thriller. Terrence Howard co-stars, as he does in ...
- The Hunting Party: ... where he and Richard Gere play journalists on the trail of a Bosnian war criminal.
- December Boys: Or: Harry Potter Comes of Age. Daniel Radcliffe stars in this orphan drama, rumored to include D-Rad's first onscreen sex scenes.
- Across the Universe: Julie Taymor's psychedelic musical romance mines The Beatles catalog in what is hopefully not another Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. That notorious bomb had a character named "Strawberry Fields", while this one's leads are named "Jude" and "Lucy"; clever, or contrived? Who knows, the film is already infamous for some behind-the-scenes shake-ups between Taymor and studio head Joe Roth. (In related news, be sure to check out Film Babble Blog's excellent rundown of how The Beatles' music has been used in movies over the years.)
- In the Valley of Elah: Paul Haggis' follow-up to Crash has received mixed reactions at the recent festivals, but you can't deny its Oscar pedigree: Tommy Lee Jones, Charlize Theron and Susan Sarandon, who also stars in ...
- Mr. Woodcock: ... this less prestigious outing with Billy Bob Thornton and Seann William Scott, who's getting too old for these kind of things.

Visit Fandango - Search movie showtimes and buy tickets!
Links via Imdb.com, SFBG.com, NYObserver.com, EdgeBoston.com, DeadlineHollywoodDaily.com, FilmBabble.blogspot.com and IFC.com.

Heroes for Our Time

In their current issue celebrating their 40th anniversary, The Advocate has revealed their list of the "40 Greatest Gay Heroes", compiled from readers' votes from a nomination list of 100 prominent GLBT people from the past 40 years.

As I previously reported, there were several individuals with ties to the entertainment world, and the final tally includes twelve gay men and women (pictured above) who have made their mark on film, including the number one spot and four more in the top ten:

• #1: Ellen DeGeneres - Click here for her Out in Film profile.
• #5: Melissa Etheridge - The Grammy Award-winning singer/songwriter won the Oscar last year for An Inconvenient Truth.
• #7: Harvey Fierstein - Tony Award-winning actor/playwright; star of Torch Song Trilogy on both stage and screen; originated the role of Edna Turnblad in Hairspray on Broadway.
• #8: Elton John - Won Oscar, Grammy and Golden Globe for The Lion King, also starred as the Pinball Wizard in Tommy and won the Tony for Aida.
• #10: Rosie O'Donnell - Now known primarily as an outspoken talk show host, she co-starred in such films as A League of Their Own, Sleepless in Seattle and The Flintstones.
• #13: Greg Louganis - The Olympic Gold Medal-winner has done some acting as well, including the film It's My Party.
• #16: Ian McKellen - Click here for his Out in Film profile.
• #18: Larry Kramer - Controversial activist, author and playwright (The Normal Heart), he was nominated for an Oscar for his Women in Love screenplay.
• #19: k.d. lang - The Grammy-winning singer occasionally acts, such as in Salmonberries and the recent The Black Dahlia.
• #22: Armistead Maupin - Best-selling author, he adapted his popular Tales of the City for television and The Night Listener for film. He also contributed to the movie version of The Celluloid Closet.
• #25: Tony Kushner - The Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning playwright of the Angels in America saga also won an Emmy for his TV adaptation. Also Oscar nominated for his Munich screenplay.
• #29: John Waters - Iconoclast cult queer filmmaker, creator of Pink Flamingos, Polyester, Serial Mom and the original Hairspray.

Congratulations to all! The Advocate has not yet posted the full list online, but you can see it over at Homorific (and in the comments section below); and be sure to vote in the Advocate "Gay Heroes"-themed MD Poll, located under my profile in the sidebar at right.

UPDATE: The poll is now closed, click here for the results, and click here to vote in the latest MD Poll.

Awards Watch: The Host

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced today that Jon Stewart will return as this year's Oscar host.

He is a good fit this year considering that a couple of the politically-charged films making the festival rounds lately (Redacted, In the Valley of Elah, Rendition) are shaping up to be strong contenders in this year's race.

Stewart was funny (for the most part) the last time he took the gig in 2005, although I could have done without the by-then redundant Brokeback Mountain parody, which never should have been included (none of the other Best Picture nominees were made fun of in such a way, so why single out the "gay cowboy" movie? Come on Academy, you should have known better).

In other award news:

• Gil Cates will return as producer of the Oscar telecast for the record-setting 14th time (his last time at the helm was also 2005).
• The Academy's music branch has banned the "for your consideration" soundtrack CDs studios sent out for Original Song and Original Score contenders.
• More banning: the Directors Guild of America won't allow DVD screeners to be sent to their members.
• And speaking of DVD screeners, Fox Searchlight gets a jump on the competition by sending out the very fist batch of the year for the movies Waitress, Once and The Namesake.

Links via Oscars.org, YouTube.com, AwardsDaily.com and TheEnvelope.LATimes.com.

MD Poll: Your Favorite Hairspray Song!

I'm kicking off a new feature here at Movie Dearest: the MD Poll! And since we all loved this summer's runaway hit, the very first poll asks the question: "What is your favorite Hairspray song?"

Do you wake up singing "Good Morning Baltimore" everyday? Are you one of "The Nicest Kids in Town"? Ever dream of Zac Efron picking you as the "Ladies' Choice"? If "You Can't Stop the Beat", then this poll is for you. You can find it in the sidebar at the right, just below my profile.

I'll be running this first poll for two weeks to get a feel for the response; future polls may run longer or shorter, depending on the reactions. And if you have any ideas for a future poll, just leave your suggestions in the handy-dandy comments section below.

One more thing: if you need a refresher listen to the songs, you can hear excerpts from the official Hairspray soundtrack album right hereat Amazon.com, where you can buy it too (if you haven't already)!

UPDATE: This poll is now closed. Click here to see the results, and click here to vote in the latest MD Poll.

Link via HairsprayMovie.com.

Women We Love: Salma Hayek

We all went to see Desperado for the then red-hot Antonio Banderas, but when we left the theater, we all had one question on our minds: "Who was that smokin' hot babe?" It was Salma Hayek, of course, and we have been in love with the Latin beauty ever since.

At first, Hayek specialized in sexy siren roles, usually with unlikely names like Santanico Pandemonium (From Dusk Till Dawn) or Serendipity (Dogma). She was much too good for her one attempt at mainstream romantic comedy (Fools Rush In), and for a while there she was stuck in smallish roles in mediocre movies (54, The Faculty, Wild Wild West).

Hayek was bidding her time though, preparing for the role of a lifetime as the influential Mexican painter Frida Kahlo. Producing the film as well as starring, Hayek's performance in Frida was a revelation, delving deep into the pain and passion of the controversial artist. All the hard work paid off for Hayek when she earned her first Academy Award nomination as Best Actress.

After reprising her Desperado character for the sequel, Once Upon a Time in Mexico, Hayek co-starred in After the Sunset and Ask the Dust, and has continued producing with the unexpected television hit, Ugly Betty. She even appeared on the critically acclaimed comedy series (nominated for ten Emmy Awards) in another smokin' hot performance, as a no-nonsense career woman who was, no surprise, also quite the babe.

Links via Imdb.com and Wikipedia.org.

Awards Watch: Kennedy Center Honors 2007

The classiest award show out there is the annual Kennedy Center Honors. Maybe it is because the ceremony is prerecorded, thereby eliminating any time overruns or unexpected "live" fumbles. Another factor is that we know who the five winners are long before the program airs in late December, and these are lifetime achievement awards to truly deserving recipients, so there is never the urge to yell at the screen "how did he win!?"

The program is made up of retrospectives and performances honoring the artists representing all mediums (film, music, stage, television), which are always worth watching. But in the end, I feel that what sets this award ceremony apart from all the rest can be summed up in three words: no acceptance speeches.

It may seem odd that one of the highest accolades an artist can receive doesn't allow him or her to get a word in edgewise (merely allowing them to stand and take a bow), but it sure makes for a quick evening.

This year's honorees include three individuals who have left their marks on film:

• Steve Martin - The "wild-and-crazy" star of such comedy classics as The Jerk, All of Me, Little Shop of Horrors, Roxanne, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Parenthood and Father of the Bride. He has also hosted the Oscars twice.
• Diana Ross - The Supreme diva, known mostly for her recording career, was Oscar nominated for playing Billie Holiday in Lady Sings the Blues. She also starred in the camp favorites Mahogany and The Wiz.
• Martin Scorsese - The Academy Award-winning director (aren't you glad we can finally say that, even if it was for The Departed?) behind the film classics Mean Streets, Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, GoodFellas, Gangs of New York and The Aviator.

Pianist Leon Fleisher (who was the subject of an Oscar nominated short) and Beach Boy Brian Wilson (who did appear in some Beach Party movies) will also be honored at the 30th annual ceremony held at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in early December. The event will be broadcast on CBS in a two-hour special on December 26.

Links via Kennedy-Center.org, AP.Google.com, Imdb.com and Wikipedia.org.

In Memorium - 09/11/2001

Link via Imdb.com.

The Latest on DVD: Seriously?

Seriously! This week's new DVD releases. Seriously.

Featured Titles:

• Grey's Anatomy - The Complete Third Season: Seriously Extended- Now you see where I was going with that.
• The Graduate: 40th Anniversary Collector's Edition- "Koo-koo-ka-choo, Mrs. Robinson, Jesus loves you more than you will know ..."
• The Fly Collection- "Oh waiter, there's a fly in my DVD round-up ..." Includes the three classic Fly movies, two starring Vincent Price.
• Away from Her- Grab the tissues and notify the Academy: Julie Christie plays an Alzheimer's patient.

Special Editions and Box Sets:

• Vincent Price: MGM Scream Legends Collection- More of Price in seven of his fright flick favorites, including Witchfinder General, Theater of Blood, Tales of Terror and The Abominable Dr. Phibes.
• The Valentino Collection- A quartet of films from the silent screen stud.
• Tom and Jerry: Spotlight Collection, Volume 3 - The cat and mouse team bring you more classic cartoon merriment and mayhem.
• The Lost World: Special Edition- Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's adventure novel is brought to life in two screen versions: from 1925 starring Wallace Beery, Jocko the Monkey and the author as himself, and Irwin Allen's 1960 remake starring Michael Rennie, Jill St. John, Fernando Lamas and Claude Raines.
• The Return of the Living Dead: Collector's Edition- "I know you're in here, because I can smell your brains!" The cult horror fave in a new two-discer.
• Face/Off: Special Collector's Edition- Cage as Travolta and vice versa.

Keep It Gay:

• The Noel Coward Collection- Seven discs of Coward's best plays, stories and more, including Design for Living, Hay Fever and Private Lives.
• Punish Me- Sexual gamesmanship between a juvie punk and a by-the-book probation officer.
• White Palms- A hardnosed coach meets a driven gymnast.

At the DVD Drive-In:

• Gorilla at Large- Starring Anne Bancroft (yes, the same Anne Bancroft who starred in The Graduate, above) and the "world's largest gorilla".
• The Food of the Gods- Starring Marjoe Gortner and an "enormous killer chicken".
• Tales from the Crypt- Starring Joan Collins and the "evil crypt keeper".
• Film Crew: Wild Women of Wongo- The former MST3K guys take on the prehistoric women subgenre with this 1950's B-movie.

TV on DVD:

• Prime Suspect 7: The Final Act- Helen Mirren in her Emmy Award-winning role as Detective Jane Tennison.
• The Starter Wife- Starring Will & Grace's Debra Messing as a Hollywood ex-wife starting her life anew.
• The Addams Family - Volume 3- They're creepy, they're kooky.
• Charmed: The Final Season- The witchy sisters in their swan song year. Also available in a box set containing all eight seasons.
• Bones - The Complete Second Season- Stars a post-Angel David Boreanaz.
• Supernatural - The Complete Second Season- Ghostbustin' with hotties Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki.

Click on the individual titles to purchase them from Amazon.com.

Metal Head

"Stop, in the name of love ..."
Robert Downey Jr. in a natty designer business suit? Check.

A redheaded Gwyneth Paltrow as "Pepper" Potts? Check.

Two incredibly awesome exoskeleton super suits? Double check.

Cue up the Black Sabbath, the Iron Man trailer is here.

Links via Imbd.com and Apple.com.

Netflix Knows I'm Gay

OK, so, I got a little email today from Netflix, touting all the bells and whistles they have added to their new-fangled "Community" section. So, I jumped over to check it out, even though I hardly ever use any of those features ... seriously, does anyone?

Anyway, one of the new features is a list of, well, lists, made up of movies that you may want to watch. Now, being the all-knowing "movie guy" that I am, I don't really need Netflix (or Amazon, or Imdb ...) to tell me what to watch, but I took a gander anyway and here is what I found, verbatim. (And, I might add, I did not make any of this up ... well, except for my catty parenthetical comments):

• "GLBT Flicks-O-Rama" (I love anything that's "O-Rama".)
• "Great Gay Movies!!" (Gay movies so great, they deserve not one, but two exclamation marks!!)
• "Fabulously Gay Cinema" (Like, there could be any other?)
• "Gay Things to Make You Laugh" (Not at, with; you know, like drag queen nuns or leathermen in buttless chaps.)
• "The G-List" (Minimalist.)
• "I'm Gay, So What?" (Out and proud.)
• "The Pantheon of Gay Cinema" (Elitist.)
• "GAY MOVIES WORTH SEEING" (DEMANDING.)
• "Gay Family Jewels" (Naughty.)
• "*** Rainbow Cinema ***" (I assume those asterisks represent sequins.)
• "Steve's Great Gay Films" (If you've seen Steel Magnolias, you know why this is funny.)
• But my absolute favorite is: "My Fave SAL MINEO Movies" (which, somehow, is only three movies long ...)

Now, I know that Netflix has all kinds of computer gizmos to track what movies you like, rent, rate, et cetera. But still, it's just a bit ... unnerving to be pegged so succinctly and yet so accurately. Is it because I'm in the midst of an Ugly Betty marathon? Perhaps it was that recent double feature of Puppetry of the Penis and Private Dicks: Men Exposed that tipped them off. I know: it was the Hugh Jackman Oklahoma! that did me in.

I can just see the poor minimum wage Netflix employee with the Carpal Tunnel ripping open the latest red envelope from me and saying, "What? Another gay movie?"

Aside from this ... profiling, I highly recommend Netflix to any and all movie fans. For more information, and to sign up for a free trial subscription, click on their ad located in the sidebar.

Links via Imdb.com.

If Adventure Had a Name ...

That's it ... per Shia LaBeouf at (of all things) last night's MTV Music Video Awards.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

Yup, all that wait, and that's what we got ...

Is it just me, or does it remind you of a certain Friends episode ... Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Duck, anyone?

Hmm ... I wonder if the skull is Waterford Crystal?

Links via SpielbergFilms.com, Imdb.com and Waterford.com.

Sean Penn Got Milk

Gus Van Sant's Harvey Milk biopic just got the edge on Bryan Singer's adaptation of Randy Shilts' The Mayor of Castro Street by casting two A-listers to play Milk and his assasin, Dan White. Academy Award-winners Sean Penn and Matt Damon (who won the screenplay Oscar for Van Sant's Good Will Hunting) will reportedly star in the as-yet untitled project, set to start shooting as early as this December.

Penn would play Milk, the late San Francisco city supervisor who was the first prominent US politician to be openly gay, and Damon would play White, who murdered both Milk and SF Mayor George Moscone in 1978.

White's trial, where he used the infamous "Twinkie defense" to claim his innocence, was a scandalous miscarriage of justice, resulting in a sentence of only seven years. As depicted in Rob Epstein's 1984 Oscar-winning documentary, The Times of Harvey Milk, the resulting uproar over the final verdict (dubbed the "White Night Riots") was as important to the still-growing gay rights movement as Stonewall was almost a decade earlier.

In addition to the documentary, Milk's story has been told on television and the stage (including the 1999 TV movie Execution of Justice, based on the play by Emily Mann), but a narrative feature has been in development for years, with such stars as Robin Williams (himself a long-time SF resident) and Hugh Jackman rumored to play Milk at various times.

Click here to purchase The Times of Harvey Milkon DVD from Amazon.com.
Links via Reuters.com, Wikipedia.org and Imbd.com.

Venice Loves Lee's 'Lust'

Despite harsh reviews from the trades, Ang Lee won his second Venice Film Festival Golden Lion award for Lust, Caution, just two years after his Brokeback Mountain did. Brian De Palm's controversial Redacted took the Silver Lion, while Todd Haynes received a special jury prize for his unconventional Bob Dylan bio, I'm Not There.

Cate Blanchett, one of the many actors who play Dylan in that film, won the fest's Best Actress, and her Babel husband Brad Pitt nabbed Best Actor for The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford.

Ed Radtke's coming-of-age drama The Speed of Life won the festival's first Queer Lion award, created to honor films that include "accurate portrayals of gay characters". Kenneth Branagh's Sleuth came in second with an "honorable mention".

Other movies that have been crossing the award season radar that took home awards include In the Valley of Elah, The Darjeeling Limited, Atonement and Jonathan Demme's documentary on Jimmy Carter, Man from Plains.

What these early awards mean in the long run remains to be seen, although Tom O'Neil over at Gold Derby sure gives it a try.

Links via LaBiennale.org, Imdb.com, HollywoodReporter.com and GoldDerby.LATimes.com.

Jane Wyman: 1914-2007

Jane Wyman, the Academy Award-winning star of Johnny Belinda and many other film classics, passed away this morning at the age of 93.

Wyman started her career in Hollywood as a contract player at Warner Brothers, but it wasn't until she was loaned out to Paramount for the Oscar-winning The Lost Weekend that she became a star. Roles in The Yearling, The Glass Menagerie and Here Comes the Groom solidified her stardom, and she'll always be a favorite for her two Douglas Sirk melodramas (co-starring Rock Hudson) Magnificent Obsession and All That Heaven Allows, and as the rigid Aunt Polly in Disney's Pollyanna.

Her later career was mostly devoted to television, including her own self-titled anthology series and the popular primetime soap, Falcon Crest, for which she won the Golden Globe playing the winemaking matriarch, Angela Channing.

Links via Imdb.com and HollywoodReporter.com.

Cinematic Crush: Jake Gyllenhaal

With his boy-next-door looks and easygoing nature, it is no wonder that Jake Gyllenhaal has topped many a list of our favorites. Moreover, he would likely be number one with us even without the help of Jack Twist.

Gyllenhaal's film debut at age eleven as Billy Crystal's son in City Slickers didn't exactly show signs of his future greatness; it was his breakthrough role in the inspirational October Sky that marked him as one to watch, and we were rewarded with his brilliantly messed up Donnie Darko for doing so. (Darko also introduced us to Jake's equally talented sister, Maggie.) He went on to nail his alienated youth roles in The Good Girl, Moonlight Mile and even Bubble Boy, plus The Day After Tomorrow, a rare foray into special effects-laden blockbusters.

But 2005 was Gyllenhaal's year. He was great as a math geek in Proof and as a hard-boiled marine in Jarhead. Then he took a trip to Brokeback Mountain. His Jack was the free-spirited optimist trapped in a world that could never understand him. Gyllenhaal's powerful, tragic performance earned him his first Academy Award nomination, a slew of other awards, and a permanent spot in the ranks of the great actors of his generation.

Recent roles in the serial killer thriller Zodiac and the upcoming terrorism drama Rendition have further proved his right to be there.

Links via Imdb.com, AfterElton.com and EW.com.

The Latest on TV: Whatever Happened to Fay Wray?

"That delicate satin draped frame. As it clung to her thigh, how I started to cry, 'cause I wanted to be dressed just the same ..."

Frank-N-Furter had it right when he sang about the willowy starlet that was Fay Wray, whose 100th Birthday salute is one of the many notable programs on TV for this week (Monday September 10 to Sunday September 16).

TCM will celebrate the actress who was beauty to King Kong's beast on Saturday. In addition to her most famous film, other movies include The Mystery of the Wax Museum and The Most Dangerous Game.

The channel continues its month long look at the breakthrough roles of our favorite stars Tuesday, spotlighting Errol Flynn, Laurence Olivier, John Wayne and James Cagney.

Norman Jewison is in the Private Screenings seat Thursday, followed by a selection of his films, including my personal fave, Moonstruck ("Ya got a love bite on your neck ... You're life's going down the toilet!").

Miyoshi Umeki, the Oscar-winning actress who recently passed away, is remembered on Tuesday with Flower Drum Song.

Recommended TCM movies not on DVD for the week include one of guest programmer Barry Levinson's picks, Some Came Running (Frank Sinatra, Shirley MacLaine) on Monday, plus The Human Comedy (Mickey Rooney) and The Corn is Green (Bette Davis, both on Wednesday) and City for Conquest (Cagney, Thursday). Meanwhile, you can catch King of Burlesque (Alice Faye, Wednesday) and Sunrise (Janet Gaynor, Friday) over at Fox Movie Channel.

AMC kicks off their "Seven Nights of Hitchcock" Sunday with a Grace Kelly double feature: Rear Window and Dial M for Murder.

On LOGO this week: Dress Gray, written by Gore Vidal, is a military murder mystery starring Alec Baldwin, Lloyd Bridges and hunky Melrose Place alum Jason Beghe (Tuesday); And the Band Played On author Randy Shilts is the subject of Reporter Zero (Thursday); and Camp Out is the first summer camp for gay Christian youth (Saturday).

MUST SEE OF THE WEEK: Broadway babes Cheyenne Jackson and Kerry Butler will perform a number from the hit musical Xanadu on ABC's The View Wednesday.

If you missed it in June, Bravo will rerun AFI's 100 Years ... 100 Movies: 10th Anniversary Edition on both Monday and Tuesday.

And finally: if you're jonesing for an award show, how about the Emmys on Fox Sunday, hosted by ... Ryan Seacrest? Uh, maybe you should wait for the Globes ...

Click on the network links to find the show times in your area. All programming is subject to change.

Links via TCM.com, SFGate.com, FoxMovieChannel.com, AMCTV.com, LOGOOnline.com, Playbill.com, ABC.go.com, BravoTV.com, AFI.com, Emmys.com and Fox.com.

Mighty Mormon Power Rangers

For those of you who are still carrying a torch for Latter Days' Elder Davis (and, after seeing these modeling shots of Steve Sandvoss, who wouldn't be?), you may be interested in a little project that has all the gay and Mormon websites out there atwitter. (I know, who knew that such a thing could ever happen.)

A group calling themselves Mormons Exposed has released a 2008 beefcake calendar entitled "Men on a Mission", filled with a dozen buff and beautiful "former Mormon missionaries" displaying their abs and pecs for all of god's children to see.

These marketing geniuses, who certainly know their prime customers (namely, gay men and randy Mormon women), even offer an eyebrow-raising promotional video (more Dieux du Stade then LDS) that will have you salivating over Elders Matthew, Casey, the two Brandons and the rest, in and out of their white shirt/black tie ensembles.

The creators claim (on their MySpace page, no less) that the calendar is "NOT affiliated with or endorsed by the Mormon church" (duh), although some interesting t-shirt designs for sale in their online store may make you question their insistence that they do not intend to shed a "negative light on the Mormon faith".

Yeah, OK, and while your at it, I'll take the "I'm My Own Uncle" tee in "Brigham blue", XL.

UPDATE: The completely irony-free Contessa Brewer interviews Chad Hardy, co-founder of Mormons Exposed, on MSNBC.

Click here to purchase Latter Dayson DVD from Amazon.com.
Links via Imdb.com, OhLaLaParis.com, MormonsExposed.com, YouTube.com, 3Couleurs.Blogspot.com, MySpace.com and MSN.com.

Horse Play With Daniel Radcliffe

The weekly look at all that's in the works from Broadway to Hollywood and back again:

- For you muggles out there who couldn't make it to London for his au naturale performance in Equus, Daniel Radcliffe promises that he will soon be blinding horses stateside by the end of next year, if all goes well. Radcliffe's Harry Potter uncle Richard Griffiths (Tony winner for The History Boys) will co-star.

- Like, ohmygod! Taking their cue from Hairspray and Grease (both of which have been benefiting nicely from exposure in other mediums), Legally Blonde will soon be filmed live for a future broadcast on MTV. And if you so desire (and are willing to wear a pink shirt), you can even be in the audience.

- Speaking of Grease (and really, when are we not?), meet the revival's scene-stealing Rizzo, Jenny Powers, and check out the track list for the newest cast recording, on sale October 2 (Click here to pre-order the new albumfrom Amazon.com).

Meanwhile, Grease: You're the One That I Want hostess Denise Van Outen has (get this) been cast as the militant Maureen in London's Rent. Not to be catty, but isn't she a teensy bit past her prime mooing years?

- In more music news, original Maureen Idina Menzel has released a club mix of her big Wicked showstopper, the divalicious "Defying Gravity". Click here to purchase the CDfrom Amazon.com.

- As playwright Terrence McNally and stars Rosie Perez and Kevin Chamberlin chat up The Ritz, Seth Rudetsky dishes on his co-star/fellow "bathhouse patron" Ryan Idol. Seth also recounts his recent one-on-one with Xanadu hunk Cheyenne Jackson.

- Get ready to return to La Cage aux Folles, via a West End revival; no word yet if the star of the recent New York run, Gary Beach, will "strap on his fake boobs again" for it though.

Elsewhere, this is what the Episcopalians think about a high school musical about drag queens. Who woulda thunk it?

- Director Rob Marshall has revealed his star-studded, international cast for his big screen adaptation of Nine, although only one (Sophia Loren) is actually Italian.

- "They're the Dreamgirls ..." The originals, that is: Sheryl Lee Ralph, Loretta Devine and Jennifer Holliday will reunite in LA for a "one night only" benefit performance. And I'm telling you, I'm going ... (OK, I'll stop now.)

- Tours from around the world: 42nd Street in China, Little Shop of Horrors in the UK and 12 Angry Men in the US of A.

- Billy Elliot, soon to be grande jeté-ing his way to Broadway, celebrates his 1,000th performance in London.

- Angela Arden has found her son. Charles Busch will be joined in Die Mommie Die! with current gay soap sensation Van Hansis (a.k.a. As the World Turns' Luke Snyder).

- In an unusual move, the producers of Young Frankenstein will reportedly not release the show's weekly grosses. Hmmm ...

- The 39 Steps is stepping closer to Broadway.

- In our Hairspray news of the week, the title of this Playbill article says it all: "Love Finds Beaver Cleaver".

- Do video games and show tunes mix? We'll find out when The Last Starfighter takes to the stage.

- Remember the opening number of the movie Hair, with all the hippies dancing about, all Twyla Tharp-y like, in the middle of Central Park? Well, now you'll be able to see that in person.

- While Claire Danes (who, having never seen My Fair Lady, must have had a really sad childhood) prepares for George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion, John Lithgow mulls a return to Broadway with Arthur Miller's All My Sons.

- I don't know why but I don't care: the San Francisco Jersey Boys will perform on next Sunday's Emmy Award telecast. For a taste of the original Broadway Four Seasons, here's their electrifying performance at last year's Tony Awards.

Links via MoviesBlog.MTV.com, Playbill.com, Broadway.com, AfterEllen.com, AfterElton.com and YouTube.com.

Potent Quotables: What's Up? Edition

Question: what do you get when you combine the images above with the following quote:

Scientist: "Beware! Beware of the big green dragon that sits on your doorstep. He eats little boys ... puppy dog tails, and BIG FAT SNAILS! Beware ... take care ... beware!"

And then divide it with this:

Garth: "Did you ever find Bugs Bunny attractive when he put on a dress and played a girl bunny?"

The answer?

This.

UPDATE: Unfortunately, YouTube has removed this video due to copyright issues with Warners. It was a funny and highly creative mash-up of Bugs Bunny cartoons with the Ed Wood camp classic Glen or Glenda.

Links via Imdb.com and YouTube.com.

Full Frontal Theater

Ever since the nude wrestling match between Alan Bates and Oliver Reed in Women in Love, we have had the occasional opportunity to see celebrity penises out in the open for all to enjoy.

These often fleeting, forever frustrating glimpses of gratuitous male nudity range from the dramatically necessary (Geoffrey Rush in Quills, Peter Sarsgaard in Kinsey) to the outrageously hilarious (M.C. Gainey in Sideways, Ken Davitian in Borat), from the famous (Richard Gere in American Gigolo, Jaye Davidson in The Crying Game) to the infamous (Vincent Gallo in The Brown Bunny, the entire cast of Shortbus), even from the animated (Bart Simpson in The Simpsons Movie) to the prosthetic (Mark "Dirk Diggler" Wahlberg in Boogie Nights).

And it doesn't seem to matter whether you are an established name actor (Marlon Brando in Last Tango in Paris, Kevin Bacon in Wild Things, Heath Ledger in Brokeback Mountain) or a rising star (Christopher Atkins in The Blue Lagoon, Viggo Mortensen in The Indian Runner, Daniel Craig in Love is the Devil) or even an actual male (Felicity Huffman in Transamerica): they have all dropped trou for our viewing pleasure.

Knowing full well that "art house" stands for "soft core", we have sat through many a pretentious pic from foreign lands (A Room With a View, Total Eclipse, Y tu Mamá También, The Dreamers) to get a peek at "the full monty" (which reminds me: The Full Monty).

Where else but in "the cinema" can we get our fill of the private parts of Ewan McGregor (The Pillow Book, Velvet Goldmine) and Harvey Keitel (Bad Lieutenant, The Piano) on ample (or maybe, not so ample ...) display?

Well, thanks to the wonders of the internet, fuzzy screen shots of all of the above and more (minus the disapproving glare of Saint Joan) are just an unrestricted 'Google' away ... or is that 'Ogle'?

Link via Cinematical.com.

Valley of the Dolls, Part 2

This edition of Valley of the Dolls takes a look at two of Tom Tierney's Glamorous Movie Stars paper doll books:

Glamorous Movie Stars of the Sixties
How's that for a cover: Jane Fonda in her plastic Barbarella bra, Natalie Wood vamping it up as Gypsy Rose Lee and Barbra Streisand, in full Dolly drag, looking like she's preparing to swallow something very large and very long.

And certainly Kim Novak belongs here, and I can even understand Julie Andrews in her various nanny uniforms, but ... Anne Bancroft? As Annie Sullivan ??? Sure, because being upstaged by Patty Duke is so glamorous ...

Glamorous Movie Stars of the Seventies
Don't you just love how Liza Minnelli looks so ... well, Liza-y? The collection also includes Diane Keaton (in her Annie Hall duds), Sally Field (in a shorty robe from Hooper) and Faye Dunaway (as a bullet-ridden Bonnie Parker? One can hope).

The odd one out seems to be Meryl Streep, who wasn't exactly glamorous in her 70's films like Manhattan or Kramer vs. Kramer. Of course, they could fill a whole book now with her fabulous ensembles from The Devil Wears Prada alone.

Click the above links to purchase the books from Amazon.com.

Out in Film: Heather Matarazzo

"We were sitting in my pink room with pink carpeting. It was summer and we were sitting Indian-style across from each other, and I was so incredibly nervous. And I thought, "Yeah, I am definitely gay."

-- Heather Matarazzo, describing her first kiss with a girl.

One of the most auspicious film debuts in recent memory was that of the then eleven-year-old Heather Matarazzo as the outcast nerdette Dawn Wiener in Todd Solondz's Welcome to the Dollhouse. Since that film, Matarazzo has brought to the screen many memorably quirky characters, but she will always be remembered, for better or worse, as the "Wienerdog".

Splitting her time between movies and television, Matarazzo has co-starred on the short-lived series Townies and Now and Again and guest-starred on Roseanne and The L Word. On film, she gave a stand-out performance in The Devil's Advocate, and also appeared in 54, Scream 3, Sorority Boys and re-teamed with Solondz for his Storytelling, although her scenes were eventually cut (subsequently, she declined his offer to reprise her Dollhouse role in his Palindromes).

Matarazzo gained mainstream fame as Anne Hathaway's BFF in The Princess Diaries and its sequel, The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement. She then starred with her Diaries co-star Mandy Moore in the religious satire Saved! and her Roseanne co-star John Goodman in the college comedy Freshman Orientation (just now making its way into theaters).

Recently, Matarazzo starred in Eli Roth's gory Hostel: Part II and has appeared in several gay-centric documentaries, such as Fabulous! The Story of Queer Cinema, providing a younger gay person's point of view.

Links via Imbd.com and InsideSoCal.com.

Potent Quotables: Sarah Silverman on Homoeroticism

“That movie 300? Turns out how they got that title was they measured how gay it was on a scale of one to ten.”

-- Sarah Silverman at this year's MTV Movie Awards.

And for further proof, click here.

Click here to purchase 300on DVD from Amazon.com.
Links via Imbd.com and YouTube.com.