John Waters' Fruitcake Gets Nutty With Posey & Knoxville

-- Brian Juergens from AfterElton.com

Forget Milk, who wants Fruitcake?!

Yes, beloved fairy godfather (or, as he prefers, "Filth Elder") John Waters is back for a new movie and has landed gay-fave Parker Posey and bad boy Johnny Knoxville in two of the roles.

The movie is called Fruitcake and here's what we know about it so far (courtesy of The Hollywood Reporter):

 

Comedian Demetri Martin to Play Gay Lead in Ang Lee's Taking Woodstock?

-- snicks from AfterElton.com

Last week, I blogged about Taking Woodstock,the upcoming biopic of Elliot Tiber, the gay man who was instrumental in bringing the music festival to fruition. Well, it seems that Academy Award-winning Brokeback Mountain director Ang Lee has chosen a leading man, and in a surprising decision, it's stand up comedian (and Beatles-tressed) Demetri Martin. (Martin is currently in negotiations, so nothing's signed yet.)

 

Daily Buzz Bits: Desperate Gale Harold, Rolling Stone OMGs for The Hills

 

Gisele Bundchen really loves her Ipanema sandals collection, it would seem. If only Tom could make her feel that way! – Getty

No need to get sarcastic with the sub-headline, Rolling Stone. You put them on your cover. And investigation into The Hills isn't really required. - USWeekly 

Queer as Folk's Gale Harold will guest star on Desperate Housewives starting May 18. – Just Jared

Jim Carrey and Rodrigo Santoro got Versace-d out on the Miami set of I Love You Phillip Morris. – Towleroad

A Las Vegas-based Cher talked with Oprah about dating Tom Cruise when he was 23 - I know - saying, "He said he felt like such a boob in school and nobody talked to him." - Dlisted

 

Daily Buzz Bits: Mariah & Madonna Top Elvis; Lindsay Lohan Does TMZ

Pint-sized Heroes star Hayden Panettiere will be in Nomi & Ely’s No Kiss List, in which Hayden's gay BF makes out with her boyfriend. – Just Jared

I actually find this clip of Lindsay Lohan parodying a TMZ staffer really funny ... Maybe I just love her too much. And it's good to know TMZ-ers don't respect what they do either. - TMZ

Mariah Carey and Madonna have both topped Elvis on the Billboard charts thanks to "Touch My Body" and "4 Minutes." - Billboard

And here's a look back at those 18 Number 1s from Mimi. - Idolator

Who wants more hot reality TV douches ... and Lauren Conrad exes? MTV's giving Brody Jenner a show of his own, and Vh1 will chronicle ex-con Jason Wahler's "real-life Entourage."

(Lovely Brody pic courtesy of Boy Culture.)

The 2008 London Lesbian and Gay Film Festival

The Chinese Botanist's Daughter

-- browne from AfterEllen.com

It’s that time of year again. Now celebrating its 22nd  birthday, the London Lesbian and Gay Film Festival will screen at the British Film Institute on London’s South Bank from March 27 to  April 10, offering queer-themed shorts, documentaries, and feature films from around the world.

You can view a complete list of the films on offer here. Among the ones reviewed or mentioned by AfterEllen.com are the romantic tragedy The Chinese Botanist’s Daughter  (pictured above), the American TV pilot Don’t Go featuring Guinevere Turner, and the Oscar-winning short documentary Freeheld, about the fight of dying lesbian policewoman Laurel Hester to see her pension go to her partner Stacie Andree. 

There’s also the Taiwanese romance Spider Lilies, the German drama Vivere, the French coming-of-age film Water Lilies, and the South African period romance The World Unseen.

The World Unseen

"Will Gay for Oscar": Co-Star Thinks Daniel Craig Would Bend for the Gold

-- snicks from AfterElton.com

Remember that rumor going around last year that Daniel Craig wanted a gay love scene in the next Bond movie? We covered it HERE (and check out the scintillating comments). Well, a former co-star of his is now saying that Daniel would be willing to do the scene, in exchange for an Academy Award.

Tamer Hassan, Daniel's co-star in the action drama Layer Cake, was recently quoted  in an interview, claiming, "That's Daniel dying for an Oscar. Ever since Brokeback Mountain everyone wants to have a gay scene to win an Oscar".

Cinematic Pairs: Partners or Lovers?

-- scribegrrrl from AfterEllen.com

Lately I've been thinking about lover Cindi on The L Word. Well, not Cindi herself, but the "lover" thing. It's hilarious every time Dawn Denbo says it, mostly because the word lover has gone out of favor. It used to be a common term in the gay community — or anywhere, really. Especially in the '70s.

But now lover has the connotation of "f--- buddy," while partner or girlfriend is generally the preferred term for the people you want to keep around for more than just sex. Or at least that's how it seems to me.

So what makes a partner, and what makes a lover? Armed with my trusty (and dusty) DVD collection, I have conducted a sort of survey. I don't suppose it's educational in any way, but it was fun.

1. Cay and Vivian (Patricia Charbonneau and Helen Shaver), Desert Hearts

I just had to begin with a tricky one, didn't I? Cay and Vivian definitely start out as lovers, but if Vivian had stayed, they might have become partners. Still, when I think of them, I don't think of fun times or tender touches or home improvement. I think of steamy sex and mind-bogglingly deep kisses.

Do You Take These Men, For Better or For Worse?

-- snicks from AfterElton.com

Out actor (and #31 on The AfterElton Hot 100 List) Chad Allen is set to star in the new wedding comedy For Better or For Worse. He plays the jilted ex of one of the grooms, and brings his new boyfriend to the wedding, played by Melrose Place stud Patrick Muldoon. Billy's Hollywood Screen Kiss and Shelter star Brad Rowe appears in the film, and is also the producer.

Interestingly enough, the actual grooms of the "screwball gay wedding comedy" have not been cast as of yet, but the wedding party is filling up fast. Along for the ride are such gay friendly stars as Rebecca Gayheart and Janeane Garofalo (who isn't in nearly enough movies). Best of all, the lesbian minister presiding over the ceremony is none other than Soleil Moon Frye!

A Kiss from Sean Penn Made the Milk Shoot Feel Mighty Real for One Actor

-- Brian Juergens from AfterElton.com

Sean Penn reportedly took matters into his own hands (and lips) when shooting a disco birthday party scene for Gus van Sant's Harvey Milk biopic.

Performer Mark Martinez (aka Flava), who plays disco legend Sylvester in the scene, spoke to E! about his time on the shoot, including an impromptu kiss between him and the star:

Sex and the City Movie: Interviews with Kim Cattrall, Cynthia Nixon, Kristin Davis--And Yes! Sarah Jessica Parker!

Theyyyy'reeee baaaack!

OMFG!!! As we all know, the Sex and the City Movie is slated to hit theaters on May 30th. (There’s a new trailer out, yo.) Cosmos will suddenly be back in style, and women will again strut down city streets in slow-motion sporting vertigo-inducing heels. We'll again brunch over stories of trashy conquests and fake orgasms. Welcome back to 1998 all over again!

But for now... How about some interview dish? Yes, I got to interview all of the four female stars of Sex and the City last Thursday and Friday. For real!

I did my best Carrie Bradshaw strut over to the Ritz-Carlton to scooch around a little tables in a hotel room, cramming in next to a bunch of foreign journalists from South Africa, Mexico, France, Denmark and Italy. Then, one at a time, Kim Cattrall, Cynthia Nixon, Kristin Davis and Sarah Jessica Parker paraded through and sat down with us for about 30 minutes each.

Watch the new trailer here! Read all the interview dish after the jump!

Fantasy Casting: Bryan Singer in Milk

-- Brian Juergens from AfterElton.com

Yesterday the news hit the Webs that Gus Van Sant, who pulled a magnificent leapfrog move over director Bryan Singer in getting his Harvey Milk biopic into production first, had extended an invite for the X-Men wonderkind to make a cameo appearance in his Sean-Penn-led film, Milk.

James Franco, Emile Hirsch and Sean Penn Get Retrofied on Milk Shoot

-- Brian Juergens from AfterElton.com

More pics have popped up on the Net of the in-progress filming of Gus van Sant's Harvey Milk biopic (gotta love crowd scenes with lots of shutterbug opps), including first pics of James Franco (who plays Scott Smith, lover to Sean Penn's Milk) and Emile Hirsch (who plays activist Cleve Jones). Lots more pics over on this flikr site, and likely oodles more to come.

Oh, Snap! Kevin Zegers in Vanity Fair Italy Is a Hot Piece!

I dig Kevin Zegers' look; he's like Jared Leto but actually attractive. ... In case you don't know who Kevin is - not that this picture doesn't have merit in itself - he played Felicity Huffman's hustler son Toby in Transamerica. Kevin also appeared on the cover of OUT magazine in '06.

This spread is from the January issue of Italian Vanity Fair - but yeah, I don't really need to know what he was in there for - maybe The Jane Austen Book Club?

Check after the jump for more pictures of Kevin...

Five Gay Films That Deserve Sequels More Than Rambo Did

-- Lyle Masaki from AfterElton.com

This past weekend, a new Rambo movie hit theatres, the first in 20 years. Recently, we've also seen a new Rocky film arrive 16 years after the previous one, a Die Hard sequel that took 12 years to reach theatres and a fourth Indiana Jones film - 19 years after Indiana Jones and the Lost Crusade - is expected to draw huge audiences in May.

Seeing so many characters return after a long absence got me thinking about the various gay characters who'd I'd like to see again and gay films that deserve a sequel more than Rambo does:

Diego Luna, More Join the Cast of Milk

-- Brian Juergens from AfterElton.com

Last week we noted that the cast of Milk (which at that point included Sean Penn, Josh Brolin, James Franco, Emile Hirsch, Victor Garber, Stephen Spinella, and Denis O'Hare)  couldn't get any better. Well, it's a new week! Focus Features has announced that Diego Luna (Y tu mama tambien, The Terminal) has joined the cast of Gus van Sant's Harvey Milk biopic, playing Jack Lira, a troubled young lover of Milk.

Gay-Related Movies at Sundance 2008

Sundance Festival kicked off in Utah yesterday, and thanks to some tips from Queer Lounge, the gay-films-promoting non-profit, I learned 22 out of the festival's 125 movies are queer-related. Not bad!

Check out the full gay movie list here. ... And that's Peter Sarsgaard lookin' all shirtless and mountain-man in one of Queer Lounge's picks, Mysteries of Pittsburgh.

A few more from the gay Sundance lineup, after the jump!

Orlando Jones to Play Gay (Again) in Indie Dramedy Misconceptions

-- Brian Juergens from AfterElton.com

Wacky pregnancies are the new precocious children when it comes to indie movie formulas, thanks to the runaway success of Juno. News hit today that a new film that deals with two gay men having a child through a religious conservative surrogate mother entitled Misconceptions has locked its central cast, which includes Orlando Jones (who played the gay character George on Men in Trees for the past few seasons) and David Moscow as his "life partner". Here's a blurb on the plot:

My 2008 Women-in-Entertainment Resolutions

-- Ace from AfterEllen.com

A couple of nights ago at midnight, I watched fireworks from a friend's roof, kissed my girlfriend and thought about the career and personal changes I could make in the new year. Then I decided self-improvement was overrated, and it would be more fun and less work to make resolutions for others. I suspected that my girlfriend wouldn't let me make them for her, so I turned my attention to the powers-that-be in Hollywood and on Broadway. Here's what I resolve they do for women in entertainment in 2008.

Ewan McGregor Joins Jim Carrey in Gay Prison Romance

-- Dennis Ayers from AfterElton.com

According to today's Variety Ewan McGregor has signed on to play opposite Jim Carrey in the gay prison romance, I Love You Phillip Morris.

Carrey was attached to the project earlier this year. He will play Steven Russell, a married con man who gets sentenced to 3 years in the Texas prison system and falls in love with his cellmate, the titular "Phillip Morris." McGregor will play Morris.

When Morris is eventually released from jail, Russell escapes no less than three times in order to be with him.

Golden Globe Nominations: Jodie, Cate, Juno, Tina and More

-- scribegrrrl from AfterEllen.com

The nominations for the 2008 Golden Globe Awards were announced this morning, and there are many AfterEllen.com favorites among the nominees.  Here are the highlights:

MOVIES

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture — Drama

• Cate Blanchett, Elizabeth: The Golden Age
• Julie Christie, Away From Her
• Jodie Foster, The Brave One


• Angelina Jolie, A Mighty Heart
• Keira Knightley, Atonement

I'm thrilled to see Jodie on that list (especially considering the lukewarm reviews for The Brave One), but I'm even happier about Angelina's nomination. A Mighty Heart deserves a bigger audience, and Angelina deserves much more credit for her performance in it. I thought it was some of her finest work yet.  Meanwhile, I can't wait to see Atonement — everybody's raving about it.

NewNowNext NOISE: Gay Pop-Culture Video Blog! We Answer the 2007 Rewind Polls!

With 2007 coming to a close, we at NNN thought we'd give you a special recap-ish episode of NewNowNext NOISE. This week, John and I answer a few poll questions from the NewNowNext 2007 Rewind page, LOGOonline.com's gay music, pop-culture and news year-in-review.

Of course, you can take on all these questions yourself, but for our segment, we tackled: Best Gay Movie, Juiciest Nude Photo Scandal (as you can see), Best Gossip Blog, Cutest Male Pop Star and Best Online Series. Whew! Check out the video blog for our '07 weigh-in!

Harvey Milk Adds Hirsch, Brolin, and Franco To Its Cast

-- Brian Juergens from AfterElton.com

The Hollywood Reporter has the great news that three more excellent actors have joined the cast of Gus Van Sant's Harvey Milk biopic, Milk. Sean Penn had already been signed to play the martyred gay rights pioneer in the film, and now the supporting cast is fleshing out as well.

Josh Brolin will play assassin Dan White (who shot both Milk and Mayor George Moscone, who has yet to be cast); previously Matt Damon and Mark Wahlberg had been rumored as being up for the role. James Franco will be playing Milk's partner, Scott Smith (all together: "Aaaaaawwwwwww!!"), who also managed his campaign to the supervisor's office. Emile Hirsch (whom Penn just directed in Into the Wild) will play gay rights activist Cleve Jones, a friend of Milk who would go on to found the NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt.

This all sounds great, and the securing of these young talents hopefully ensures that this film won't go by unnoticed by the mainstream.

Ang Lee: Homophobia Might Have Cost Brokeback Mountain the Best Picture Oscar

-- Michael Jensen from AfterElton.com

File this one under very frustrating but interesting nonetheless. The Los Angeles Times' Tom O'Neil, who writes the entertainment blog The Envelope, recently sat down with Brokeback Mountain director Ang Lee. Amongst other things, the two men (in a recorded interview) chatted about Lee's new film Lust, Caution which was just deemed ineligible for the Oscars. But later the chat turned to Brokeback Mountain's Best Picture loss to Crash and here is the frustrating part -- the battery on the camera died and the cameraman didn't notice. Oy. (Hattip to AfterElton.com reader Wayman!)

O'Neil reports that at first Lee downplayed on homophobia on the Academy's part, but when pressed finally admitted it might have been a factor. O'Neill writes in The Envelope:

Sundance Gets a Little Gayer

-- Brian Juergens from AfterElton.com

Sundance announced another slew of films on its 2008 slate yesterday (these are the out-of-competition offerings), and it's as depressingly gay-anemic as the list of films in competition, it does at least feature a few legitimitely intriguing gay-related movies.

First and most exciting to me is Tom Kalin's Savage Grace, starring Julianne Moore and Eddie Redmayne. The exciting bit is the fact that this is Kalin's first feature film since Swoon, the groundbreaking meditation on the Leopold/Loeb murder case that helped kickstart the queer indie film movement here in the States back in 1992.

Sundance Not Very Gay...Again

-- Michael Jensen from AfterElton.com

The Sundance Film Festival just announced the line-up for their big annual blow-out which launches January 17th in Park City, Utah. Alas, there isn't a whole lot of gay again this year. I checked over the listings and the only two things that popped out at me included the film adaptation of Michael Chabon's The Mysteries of Pittsburgh and the documentary Derek about director Derek Jarman who died of AIDS in 1994. UPDATE: Our cinephiliac contributor Adam Lubitow spotted UK doc Be Like Others, which is about transgender Iranian men. Also, the U.S. doc American Teen, which follows four high school students in Indiana, has been accused of offering to pay subjects to "act gay" for the film.

As I'm neither a huge fan of documentaries or Derek Jarman, it's Pittsburgh I'm most curious about. Jon Foster (pictured above) plays the bisexual Art Bechstein who falls into a love triangle with a married couple. It's been years since I've read the book, but I recollect loving it and am very interested to see how they handle the gay plot threads.

The movie also stars Mena Suvari, Sienna Miller, and, best of all, Peters Sarsgaard, whom gay fans no doubt remember from his turn in Kinsey. It does give me a bit of pause that the film is directed by Rawson Marshall Thurber who last directed Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story.

There are still some other announcements to come from Sundance and we'll keep you posted!

All the Pop-Culture, News and Gay-ness of '07: Check Out NewNowNext: 2007 Rewind!

Gay in '07, what?

Trying to take in all the wonders of gay pop-culture, celebrity meltdowns and juicy scandals from 2007 almost puts me into overload. What a year, right? Iggy-gate?  Sanjaya? Leave Britney alone? Come on!

And that's just the beginning. If you need a little closure (cause some stories were almost too much, let's face it), check out the NewNowNext: 2007 Rewind page! We break down all the pop-culture heavyweights from 2007...from celebrity feuds, to Pride parades, to Internet sensations to mug shots (Oh - the mug shots!). We could just rehash forever - but we worked to pick the best-of-the-best and the gayest-of-the-gay.

Remember me, U.S. Americans?

Let's break it down: The page has tons of polls (topics range from celebrities-gone-wild, TV, movies, actual news, among others), so you can weigh in and see what others are saying.

Also, there are plenty of gay-leaning photos (and some straight eye-candy) in the flipbooks section, as well as a handy news and pop-culture timeline to help you put it all in perspective. Did Britney shave her head in July...or did Lindsay re-re-enter rehab in February? Don't worry - we've got you.

Gimme More, 2007!

Ex Hollyoaks Hunk Plays it Gay in The Street

-- Fallen Angel from AfterElton.com

He’s best known for playing lovable rogues like Jambo in Hollyoaks and Gaz in Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps. But British actor Will Mellor jumped at the chance to leave his comedy roots behind and play it straight as a gay builder in BBC1’s multi award-winning drama series, The Street.

In the third episode of a six-part series (broadcast last Thursday on BBC1, but Virgin Media customers can still watch it on Catch Up TV On Demand!) Mellor played the part of Tom, who ended up seducing his married workmate Charlie, portrayed by Welsh actor and star of 300 Vincent Regan.

Speaking to the Scottish newspaper the Daily Record, Mellor said: "It's my first gay role. I play a character who is a builder on a site. He's just one of the lads, a typical blokey bloke, but none of the lads know he's gay.

"He's attracted to a guy who (is) working with him who is married with kids. My character thinks he can see in him that he's possibly bisexual or hiding that he's gay or whatever.

Just How Gay is Beowulf?

-- Adam Lubitow from AfterElton.com

Last week I stumbled across Kyle Smith’s review of Beowulf, the new film from Robert Zemeckis that, with the help of "performance capture" technology, reimagines the great Anglo-Saxon epic poem as a medieval action extravaganza. Intrigued by Smith's comments about the homoerotic content in the film, and curious to see whether the film was indeed carrying on in the well-muscled footsteps of 300, which somehow managed to simultaneously be both homoerotic and homophobic,  I ventured out to see the film for myself. I’m sad to report that I left the theater disappointed; both with the movie and with the lack of any substantial gay content.

Outside of one (rather memorable) scene, the gay content is limited to the muscle-gazing that comes standard in films of the “sword and sandal” genre, and an adolescent preoccupation with groin-threatening spears. The most memorable scene in the film does 300 one better by having its buff hero strip down completely before doing battle with the misshapen monster named Grendel. (Check out some revealing screencaps after the jump!)

Sean Penn Set to Play Harvey Milk

-- Lyle Masaki from AfterElton.com

Sean Penn has been signed to play gay rights icon Harvey Milk in one of two dueling biopics about the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in the USA. Penn will take on the title role in Gus Van Sant's Milk.

We reported earlier when rumors came out of the Toronto Film Festival saying that Penn was in talks to play Milk. At the time Matt Damon was also discussing the possibility of playing Milk's killer, Dan White (who also killed Mayor George Moscone). Damon is reported as having dropped out due to scheduling conflicts.

The other Milk biopic in development is Bryan Singer's adaptation of The Mayor Of Castro Street, the book written by out journalist Randy Shilts. According to Variety, is reporting that project is currently in limbo due to the writers' strike: a final script wasn't turned in before the strike began and, therefore, the project won't be able to move forward until the strike ends.

Andy Towle adds a couple additional casting rumors about the film, saying that James Franco could be playing Milk's brother, Robert, while Mark Wahlberg might take on the role of Dan White. Towle warns that these are completely unsubstantiated, so take them with a grain of salt.