MD News Desk: Now Tweeting

For the past few months, the MD News Desk has been bringing you all the latest scoop on what's happening in the entertainment world a couple times of week. Well, in order to bring you the news as soon as it happens (or at least as soon as we hear about it), as of today the News Desk is moving ... to the Official Movie Dearest Twitter page!

There you'll find all the same stories and links as the MD News Desk usually provides (conveniently organized by MD department, from Cinematic Crushes to Women We Love, Out in Film to Videodrone), but in a more timely and efficient manner.

There are several ways to keep up-to-date on all of our informative "tweets". If you have your own account on Twitter, all you have to do is follow us, or you can also receive updates automatically by friending us on the Official Movie Dearest MySpace page. Or you can simply refer to the MD News Desk on Twitter widget located in the upper left hand sidebar of each page right here on Movie Dearest.

Memo from MD: Twitterpated

Well, we resisted long enough: we are now on Twitter and Facebook.

You can follow Movie Dearest on Twitter here, as well as our sister blog, The QuOD - The Queer Online Database, here. All of the regular blog posts will be "tweeted", as well as any breaking news and/or random ramblings.

You can also visit my personal Facebook page here and be a friend or a fan if you so choose. You can find all of the links to the social networking sites we're on listed in the upper left hand sidebar as well.

Introducing: The MD News Desk

In order to keep up with all the latest in entertainment news of interest to our readers, today we are introducing a new regular feature: the MD News Desk. These posts will provide links to news stories from our various departments, ranging from what our Cinematic Crushes and Women We Love are up to lately to the latest in Movie Music to what films will be Coming Soon to a theater near you. Enjoy!

And the List Goes On:
- Premiere.com presents the 40 Most Handsome Hollywood Men (Right Now). Their top five: James Franco, Robert Pattinson, Bradley Cooper, Hugh Jackman and Josh Duhamel.
- Vote now for AfterElton.com's 50 Greatest Gay Movies (polls close this Friday).

RIP:
- Author and investigative journalist Dominick Dunne (who also produced the films The Boys in the Band and The Panic in Needle Park) passed away yesterday at the age 83.

Awards Watch:
- The nominations for the 2009 Alma Awards (which honor the achievements of Latinos in film, TV and music) have been announced, including multiple nods for Lost, Star Trek, Ugly Betty and Vicky Cristina Barcelona.

Coming Soon:
- Martin Scorsese’s Shutter Island (starring Leonardo DiCaprio) has been pushed to next February. Adjust your Oscar predictions accordingly.
- Remake This: Excalibur, Outland and Yellow Submarine.
- A gay porn studio is making a movie titled Whorrey Potter and the Sorcerer’s Balls (NSFW). That's right, it's a parody of Harry Potter (what took them so long?) and will also feature characters named Himmione, Ron Sleazely and Voldemorecock (played by Matthew Rush, naturally).


From Screen to Stage:
- First look: Daniel Craig (porn 'stache and all) and Hugh Jackman in Broadway's A Steady Rain.
- Last call to see The Little Mermaid on Broadway and The First Wives Club in San Diego.
- Obie Award winning puppeteer Basil Twist has joined the creative team of the Broadway-bound musical The Addams Family, most likely to bring Thing to life.
- The documentary film of the Tony-winning musical Passing Strange is now available On Demand as part of "Sundance Selects."
- Find out about the three new songs that Tony winner Maury Yeston penned for the film version of Nine.
- Rachel York (best known as Broadway's Norma Cassidy) will play Cruella de Vil in the new national touring production of The 101 Dalmatians Musical.
- See the legendary chariot race recreated in front of your eyes in the new arena spectacle Ben Hur Live (where's the exclamation point?).
- Broadway will have a White Christmas once again this year.
- Rent alum Jesse L. Martin steps into Sidney Poitier's shoes for the new play based on Guess Who's Coming to Dinner.
- Speaking of Rent, the musical's stage and screen stars Anthony Rapp and Adam Pascal will continue their "seasons of love" tour through January.
- Beware the Gay Bride of Frankenstein.

Hands Off the Merchandise:
- Smells like Bill Shatner: Star Trek cologne now on sale.

Women We Love:
- Susan Sarandon may play Shia LaBeouf’s mother in Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps.
- Spend An Evening with Liza Minnelli at the Hollywood Bowl.
- Kate Winslet takes on Joan Crawford's most iconic role in a TV mini-series remake of the classic Mildred Pierce, to be written and directed by Todd Haynes.
- West End diva Elaine Paige's Australian concert tour will be filmed for an upcoming DVD release.
- Bette Midler will be on hand as the Academy celebrates the 30th anniversary of The Rose.
- The Ali Forney Center, NYC's homeless shelter for GLBT youth, is naming one of their residences for the late Golden Girl Beatrice Arthur.

Out in Film:
- Gus Van Sant is feeling a little Restless with his next film.
- Cheyenne Jackson and Michael Feinstein hit the studio to record an album version of The Power of Two, their hit cabaret show from earlier this year.
- Adam Lambert will croon a power ballad for Roland Emmerich's latest disaster flick, 2012.
- In addition to the aforementioned Excalibur redo, Bryan Singer is attached to a(nother) Battlestar Galactica reboot as well.
- Congratulations to The Young and The Restless' Thom Bierdz, who will receive the Human Rights Campaign's Visibility Award.

Stay tuned for a second edition of the MD News Desk later today.

Introducing: The Actor Factor!

Today is a special day here at Movie Dearest, as we welcome James Jaeger into the fold as our newest contributor!

James is a Los Angeles based actor who has appeared in many theatrical productions across the country and several local LA stage productions. He is the author of The Peter Putnam Mystery Novels: The Ghost at Patriots Rest and The Wildman on Wandering Wolf Trail. He also appears in Leola Productions' upcoming release of the film The Real Deal.

Our latest "Man on Film" is also a self-confessed obsessive about all things TV, and his column — titled The Actor Factor: A View from Both Sides of the Camera — will tap into his vast knowledge of both classic and contemporary television, beginning with a review of the long-awaited DVD debut of The Lucy Show later today. Jim's future contributions will include more Lucy, as well as looks at some more legendary ladies of the small screen ... think of the desperate, designing and bewitching kind!

Memo from Movie Dearest: Rate This Post!

Blogger has added a nifty new feature that allows readers to rate the individual posts of their favorite blogs, so we here at Movie Dearest HQ have decided to set ourselves up for public scrutiny by adding it on. But of course, we have given it the ol' Movie Dearest spin.

As you can see at the bottom of this (and every) post, you can record your own rating on a scale of 4 to 1 as follows:


4 = "Practically perfect in every way."



3 = "Hello, gorgeous!"



2 = "What a dump."



1 = "Bring me the axe!"


So go ahead and start judging us ... I mean rate the posts ... to your heart's content.

Also, for those of you who leave comments (which are always welcome, by the by), you'll notice that Blogger has spruced those up as well by allowing them to be embedded at the end of each post's permalink page. In other words, you won't be taken to that generic comment page when you click on "add a comment", but to the post's separate page so that you can still see the full post while you're leaving a comment. Like I said, some pretty spiffy stuff, so rate and comment away!

Legends of the FAIL, Take 1

I just discovered (by way of Joe.My.God.) this great internet time waster: The FAIL Blog. A collection of random acts of stupidity caught on camera or film and posted online for our amusement, you'll be LOLing till you cry.

The above "Movie Lineup Fail" reminded me of something I saw long ago on Real People (and if you remember that show, you're my new best friend) where one of the hosts (probably Skip Stephenson) showed a picture of a similar theater marquee: Alien Meatballs Escape from Alcatraz. I don't think they would have shown this one though ...

If I come across any other movie-themed "FAILs", I'll be sure to pass them along here.

Introducing: Our Own Men on Film

I am thrilled to announce the addition of two new contributors to these here parts, both of whom will be bringing you their views and reviews of all the latest and greatest on film and DVD right here at Movie Dearest:

• Reverend's Reviews by Chris Carpenter: Chris currently writes about film and spirituality for the Orange County and Long Beach Blade. Prior to that, he served as film and theatre critic for The Catholic Sun in Phoenix, Arizona for nine years. Chris is an ordained Catholic priest and author of the book Father’s Flicks.
• Reel Thoughts by Neil Cohen: Neil has been the film and stage critic for Phoenix's Echo Magazine for the past fourteen years. Previously, he and a certain someone (yours truly) contributed to the late lamented Phoenix Resource magazine. In his spare time, he is an extremely talented actor, playwright and Shiba Inu owner.

Both Chris and Neil have been dear friends of mine for many a moon, and I am very excited and proud to share their wit and wisdom with you all.

Costume Dramas: Audrey Hepburn Edition

Welcome to Costume Dramas, an occasional feature spotlighting memorable movie costumes. And who better to spotlight first then the best dressed woman in cinematic history, Audrey Hepburn.

Has there ever been, before or since, an actress that was as effortlessly glamorous as Audrey? From the legendary black dress of her Holly Golightly in Breakfast at Tiffany's to the flower girl gone upper crust stylings of her Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady, her classic look has made her a fashion icon for the ages. No wonder the Gap used her Funny Face image to hawk their unworthy wares in an infamous commercial. Heck, she even made a habit look good in The Nun's Story.

Of course, Audrey merely wore the clothes; but the designers behind them were amply rewarded beyond that honor: six of her films were nominated for Best Costume Design, with three ultimately winning the Oscar.

Giving Props: Baby Jane Hudson Doll

This post starts off an occasional feature spotlighting memorable movie props.

What could be more creepier then a life size "Bette Davis Jr." doll? How about if it is being toted around by a life size Bette Davis?

As seen in the classic thriller What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?, the Baby Jane Hudson doll was surely modeled after actual Shirley Temple dolls. Again, not sure which is creepier.

Introducing: The MD Awards

Here we are at the end of 2007, and Movie Dearest celebrates its first calendar year with the first of what will be an annual tradition here: the Movie Dearest Awards!

Honoring the best in film, television and the stage as covered here on MD, the awards are like the Oscars, the Emmys and the Tonys all rolled into one. Now all the MD Awards need is a nifty nickname like them; how about ... the "Emdies"? The "Dearies"? Or (dare I suggest it) the "Kirbys"???

Cast your vote on this all-important decision in the special MD Poll below, and enjoy this year's winners in six categories in the posts that follow.

On Location: The Christmas Story House

This post starts off an occasional feature spotlighting famous movie locations.

If A Christmas Story is your favorite Christmas movie too, then you and I will get along just fine. Which means Brian Jones and I would probably be BFFs, since he took his love of the droll comedy beyond an annual Christmas Eve viewing: he bought Ralphie's house. Not only that, he restored the three-story, wood-frame house in Cleveland to its appearance in the movie and opened it up for all to enjoy about a year ago.

Not only can fans take a tour of the actual house used during filming, but you can even visit the Higbee's Department Store ("I like Santa") and the Chinese restaurant ("fa-ra-ra-ra-ra"), where Peking duck is always on the menu. And of course, you can purchase your very own "major award" at the gift shop. And if you don't know what that is, then you sir, are no friend of mine.

Click here to buy A Christmas Storyon DVD from Amazon.com.
Links via Imdb.com, CBSNews.com, AChristmasStoryHouse.com and YouTube.com.

Pink is the New Out

Let's face it: we talk about a lot of gay celebrities here at Movie Dearest, from Ian and Ellen to Rosie and Cheyenne, we love 'em all. We love them for their talents, and love them some more for being out and proud in this crazy world we live in today.

But, to be honest with you, it's tiring and gets redundant having to write and read "openly gay" next to so many names, not that I do it all that much anyway. See, I know my MD readers are smart and well read, and they know their gay celebs.

However, what about the ones that you may not be aware of? Through the course of writing this blog, I have come across a couple names that even I did not know were "one of the family", and I'm sure I'm not the only one.

So, as a service to my readers, and also as a means in furthering gay visibility here in cyberspaceland, I have come up with what I believe is a subtle yet effective way to distinguish all the famous GLBT people mentioned on this site. You may have noticed already that some names in recent posts are colored in a light shade of pink. Well, as you can surmise, pink is the new "out", at least here at MD. From here on out, every out GLBT celebrity named herein will be hued in pink. Furthermore, I am currently working my way back through all the past (350-plus!) posts to update those as well.

Now, some may think that pink is a stereotypical "gay color", but I say think of it along the lines of the "pink triangle", a symbol created to victimize us, but reclaimed by us to symbolize our pride. Besides, it would be really tedious to do everyone's name in rainbow colors.

In conclusion, here's where you come in. If a name happens to slip past me, let me know by shooting me an email (address in the sidebar to your right, below my profile) or just post a comment in the handy-dandy comment section at the bottom of each post. If possible, provide a link to a valid source (it goes without saying, but I'll say it anyway: MD does not traffic in unwanted outings or rumor mongering, and any such posts will be deleted). On the other hand, if I accidentally "pink" someone who is not an out GLBT person, let me know ASAP as well.

Link via Wikipedia.org.

Trivial Pursuits: An Introduction

The Many Faces of Dracula

Yes, another Movie Dearest section. This one will focus on all the film facts, movie minutiae and cinematic secrets we all crave. In other words: it's trivia time!

Therefore, in recognition of the Internet Movie Database's nifty new "Character Page" feature, this first installment of Trivial Pursuits will focus on movie characters, specifically horror movie characters, in keeping with this month's Halloween theme.

For example, did you know that:

• Count Dracula is the horror movie character most often portrayed onscreen, by such actors as Bela Lugosi, Christopher Lee, Frank Langella, George Hamilton, Gary Oldman and Gerard Butler.
• In addition to the five Psycho feature films, Norman Bates appeared in a TV movie titled Bates Motel.
• Oscar Wilde's Dorian Gray has been played by an actress on film at least twice.
• Shuler Hensley, who played the Frankenstein Monster in the movie Van Helsing, will play the character again in the upcoming Broadway musical adaptation of Mel Brooks' Young Frankenstein.
• Jack Torrance's first name is actually John.
• Ruth Gordon reprised her Academy Award-winning role as Minnie Castevet in the TV movie sequel, Look What's Happened to Rosemary's Baby. Patty Duke Astin took over for Mia Farrow as Rosemary.
• King Kong was once portrayed by ... Dudley Moore?
• Five years before they battled each other on the big screen in Freddy vs. Jason, Freddy Krueger and Jason Voorhees "guest-starred" together on an episode of The Simpsons.
• Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde have been played by such actors as John Barrymore, Fredric March (who won the Oscar for his performance), Spencer Tracy, Jack Palance, Kirk Douglas, Anthony Perkins, Michael Cain, John Malkovich and ... David Hasselhoff.

Links via Imdb.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.

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.

Videodrone: An Introduction

Welcome to Videodrone, where your link to the latest trailers and funniest online videos is just a click away.

The first of these "America's Funniest Net Videos" is brought to you via QueerSighted and features familiar quotes from such favorites as 9 to 5, Tootsie and (well what do you know) Mommie Dearest.

To view the video, just surf on over to the other site. I'm generally not going to post videos directly on this site because, frankly, those YouTube boxes are ugly.

Links via QueerSighted.com and YouTube.com.

Hands Off the Merchandise: An Introduction

While preparing my Hairspray articles, I came across this USA Today article announcing a new line of Hairspray Barbies ... oops, I mean dolls (oh crap, now Mattel is going to sue me).

Anyhoo, aren't they fab? From left to right, there's Amber, Link (dreamy), Tracy (love the highlights), Edna (!), Seaweed and Penny. I'm just bummed they didn't do a Motormouth Maybelle one. Just imagine: Queen Latifah with kung-fu grip!

This news also inspired me to create a new section here at Movie Dearest to showcase unique and unusual toys, dolls, lunch boxes and other paraphernalia under the title "Hands Off the Merchandise". Fitting, huh?

Click here to buy the Hairspray dollsfrom Amazon.com.

Link via USAToday.com.

The Origin of Movie Dearest

When I first started thinking about creating this blog, I knew that I had to have a great title. After all, all great movies have great titles, right? In other words, I didn't want to be the Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever of the internet.

I knew that it would be better to have a title that was catchy, short and no-nonsense, two to three words tops (although in my research I did find that the best blog title EVER was more then that).

I also wanted the title to reflect the three main elements of the site: movies, both classic and current; gay and gay-friendly themes; and a slightly irreverent tone. I also liked the idea of tying it into a particular movie.

So what one movie encapsulates these themes (rather brilliantly, I might add)? One that is classic yet current, queer yet a little queer (the other definition).

Well, you know the answer of course: the camp-tastic Mommie Dearest, a mainstream, modern movie (1980 isn't that long ago, is it?) about one of the classic era's biggest stars (Joan Crawford, as if you need me to tell you that) that bombed on its initial release yet was embraced by gay audiences, turning it into the cult classic that it is today.

With a slight tweak to the title and some Photoshop work on the original iconic poster art, and viola! A star is born.

Links via LittleBlogToo.blogspot.com, Imdb.com and IMPAwards.com.

Group Mentality Affection

As opposed to what, "Walt Disney's Saddest Songs"?

When I was a kid, I loved to get those Disney song compilation albums, and not just for the music on them. I loved the album art with all the characters from the different movies on it, all mixed together. It was as if there was some parallel universe where, say, Baloo from The Jungle Book lived next door to Dumbo. I would listen to the records and stare at these album sleeves for hours, imagining the adventures of Peter Pan and Pinocchio, Snow White and Cinderella (cleaning, of course), all seven of the dwarfs and all one hundred and one Dalmatians, all together in their merry Disney neighborhood (no, not Celebration).

As I grew older, this "group mentality affection" (GMA for short) spread to my comic book collection, where such multi-hero super-groups as the Justice League of America and The Avengers were particular favorites.

My GMA of course applies to movies in general as well. All those film clip montages that they always show at the Oscars? You know, the ones most use for a quick potty break or a smoke outside? I can't get enough of them (Chuck Workman is a genius in my book). And I think this is one of the reasons why I love the AFI "100 Years" specials so much every year. To me they're like cinephile porn.

All of this is my roundabout way of drawing your attention to the nifty filmstrip artwork that graces this blog's header. I created it not just to make the top of each page more dynamic and professional looking, but to give readers a sense of what you'll find below it.

Each individual film image is from a favorite film of mine that represents not only some particular obsession of mine (animation, gay-themed films, a young Marlon Brando's chest), but also the evolution of film from the early silent era to the modern classics of today, thus conveying that this blog will cover all of film history, not just movies from the past twenty years or so (like every other movie site out there it seems).

And yes, each frame represents a different decade, but I'll leave it to you to name the nine films represented, from left to right (i.e., from the 1920's to the 2000's) in the handy-dandy comments section below.

Link via Imdb.com.

Someone Stop This Madness!

Well, that's it for the introductions. You may be wondering out there "when is he going to stop talking about what he's going to write about and start writing?!" I know, I know, keep your pants on - except for maybe you, Mr. Craig - I'm getting there.

I actually do have a bunch of cool stories to link to and articles to post, so expect those in the next day or so. I've got a lot of catching up to do on this end, but it will all get there soon, promise.

The reason I posted these introductions was to give this blog some organization from the start and to give you an idea of what to expect from me and from Movie Dearest. Plus, down the line, when new readers click on the labels for each post, everyone will have a good starting point for each section, which will eventually form their own kind of "lists", if you will.

Which leads me to my next point. If you haven't noticed by now, I like to make lists, especially about movies. "Best, worst, most", those kind of things. One thing about lists though, especially when you're talking about movies, is that they so quickly become outdated. For example, once you make that definitive list of Bulgarian coming-of-age musical-comedies, along comes Babushka Can Tango and you have to start all over again. It is my intention that this blog will serve as a continuing "list of lists" of all the subjects I've just detailed and more.

(Yes, if more wacky ideas for sections pop into my head, they'll lead off with an introductory post just like these to keep things all nice and ordered; I'm a little anal that way ... and on that note I'll quote Kevin Walker, "No gay jokes.")

So you see, there is some method to my madness ...

In the meantime, you may want to look over to the side bar on the right side of your screen to the "Archive" section. I've grouped them in actual chronological order for now so you can start, in the immortal words of Maria von Trapp, "at the very beginning," with the very first Movie Dearest post.

Enjoy, and I'll be back soon.

Link via Wikipedia.com.