Birthday shoutouts! LL Cool J (above) is 48, Grant Gustin is 26, Jason Bateman is 47, Holland Taylor is 73, and Faye Dunaway is 75. Here she is talking about one of the most unfairly maligned performances in film history.

ICYMI

Carol and The Danish Girl score major Academy Award nominations. There aren't that many surprises, but I'm still bummed they didn't include my favorite performance of the year.

American Crime star Joey Pollari on playing a closeted teen: "There is a part of him that wants love."

Chris Pratt's balls are "perfect," according to wife Anna Faris.

Adam Lambert will join Laverne Cox in Fox's Rocky Horror Picture Show

Backstreet Boy Nick Carter arrested after trying to choke bouncer.

#FaithfullyLGBT photoseries captures queer people of faith.

Penny Dreadful announces return date, offers sneak peek at Season Three.

IN OTHER NEWS

Our thoughts are with the family, friends, and many, many fans of British actor Alan Rickman, who has passed away from cancer at the age of 69. He made his film debut in Die Hard, and would bring us memorable performances in the Harry Potter films, Galaxy Quest, Love Actually, and many more. He will be greatly missed.

David Bowie's final album Blackstar will become his first #1 when the new album chart comes out.

“In his lifetime, Bowie charted seven top 10 albums on the Billboard 200. His highest-charting album was his last album, 2013's The Next Day, which debuted and peaked at No. 2. He previously visited the top 10 with Let's Dance (No. 4 in 1983), ChangesOneBowie (No. 10, 1976), Station to Station (No. 3, 1976), Young Americans (No. 9, 1975), David Live (No. 8, 1974) and Diamond Dogs (No. 5, 1974)."

22 Oscar noms and snubs for LGBT films and artists.

Mike Huckabee throws a fit defending the Duggars.

Despite what you may have heard, there will not be a Friends reunion at the James Burrows tribute special.

Continuing our discussion about The Razzies, and the inclusion of Fantastic Four, I saw it on PPV and watched it twice (thankfully I only had to pay for it once), and I stand by my assertion that's it is a bad film, but not one of the worst superhero films of all time. I think it was a hugely disappointing film, considering the cast, and it was mangled in editing (they seemed to yank things out at random "let's remove this, and this, and how bout this!"), but I liked a few things about it:

1. The opening, which helped establish the friendship of Reed and Ben.

2. Sue's powers. Who wouldn't want the ability to float away in a giant blue ball, ala Glinda The Good Witch?

3. Well, that's about it.

Reader Josh asked for three worse superhero movies (post 1995), so i'll see your Fantastic Four and raise you Batman & Robin, Ghost Rider and Elektra.

And here's The Weekly ShoutOUT™. Each week we're going to focus on one out athlete/performer and feature a daily pic and career timeline. We'll be showcasing the big names, but also the lesser-known gay and bisexual celebs who deserve more recognition.

This week our 148th ShoutOUT™ is to ... Stephen Spinella

Stephen received another Tony nomination in 2000 for James Joyce's The Dead, and was part of the original Broadway production of Spring Awakening in 2007. In 2009 he starred in Tony Kushner's The Intelligent Homosexual's Guide to Capitalism and Socialism with a Key to the Scriptures.

Three years ago I presented my personal favorite Briefs list, The 100 Greatest Lost Hits of The 80's, and because if there's one thing Hollywood has taught us, it's that sequels and reboots and remakes are ALWAYS better then the original, we're going to the well again with The 100 Greatest Lost Hits of The 80's Part 2: The Even More Forgotten

We'll be spotlighting 100 more of the greatest minor hits of the decade, the songs you don’t hear on any 80’s nostalgia show. Songs that missed the top ten, or top twenty … or top forty. Hopefully these forgotten gems may ring a long dormant bell, or for younger readers, provide a pop music history lesson.

At #28 is "Paranoimia" by Art Of Noise with Max Headroom

For a brief hot minute in the mid-80's, Max Headroom (Matt Frewer) was a pop culture sensation. A virtual reality spokesman for Coke and TV host, he had his own short-lived TV series, and like many a flash-in-the-pan tried for success on the pop chart. The British avantgarde group Art Of Noise overdubbed Max on to their song "Paranoimia" and had a minor hit, peaking at #34 in October 1986.

Congrats to johned, who guessed that yesterday's Pixuzzle™ © ® was Modern Family.

Here's today's Pixuzzle™ © ®. Since it's a new year, let's switch things up again. Here is a scene from a FAMOUS TV SHOW. Can you name it?

And today's Briefs are brought to you by ... Jose