LGBTQ news and entertainment
On the radio show – The Candi & Randy Show – we discussed sex scenes in movies and TV.
One of the scenes I brought up on the show was this one, between two gay characters on the day time drama “One Life To Live.” I thought the writers handled this very well. And had some courage in doing so.
Very well done.
LOL…
(Via JMG)
From the DVD: “Xanadu (Magical Edition)”
I love finding out how and why things happen behind the scenes. This is part one of the commentary found on the “Xanadu (Magical Edition)” DVD released in 2009. There’s lots more of this on the DVD.
Really interesting facts and stories from lots of folks involved with the movie including Kenny Ortega.
While even Olivia admits that the film didn’t work, there was terrific music in the movie.
AND she always mentions with glee that she got to dance with Gene Kelly.
HBO is preparing to release a television film on the 2008 ascent of then-Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin that seems sure to reopen the wounds of that lost campaign and reignite controversy over Palin’s fitness for office and the wisdom of putting her on the ticket.
“Game Change,” based on the 2010 book of the same name by two journalists, is set to premiere on HBO March 10.
Former John McCain campaign aides depicted in the movie, including Steve Schmidt, the campaign’s chief strategist, vouched for its accuracy in interviews with The LA Times this week.
“Game Change” shows Palin, portrayed by Julianne Moore, thrust on to the international stage, only for her handlers to belatedly discover the huge gaps in her knowledge of the world — ignorant of the Federal Reserve System, mistakenly believing Saddam Hussein ordered the 9/11 attacks against the United States and unaware that the prime minister, and not Queen Elizabeth II, ran the British government.
Schmidt and a chief Palin ’08 aide, Nicolle Wallace, said they found it highly credible. Wallace said the film “captured the spirit and emotion of the campaign.”
HBO noted the depth of research behind the movie and said in a statement: “HBO has a long track record of producing fact-based dramas, and our mantra has always been, ‘get the story right.’ We hope that people will withhold any judgment until they have viewed the film.”
The Palin camp’s response was: “Game Change” was based on a “false narrative.”
“This was a surreal experience for me,” Schmidt said of the movie, in which he is played by actor Woody Harrelson. “Ten weeks of the campaign are condensed into a two-hour movie. But it tells the truth of the campaign. That is the story of what happened.”
Since McCain’s loss, the longtime Republican strategist has gradually been revealing more of his feelings about the lost election. The film vindicates the view he and many others around McCain had: the “high-risk, high-reward” choice of Palin, which Schmidt pushed for, had been a terrible mistake.
“My judgment was influenced by an ambition for victory, trying to figure out a way to win the race,” Schmidt said from his Lake Tahoe home. “There is no question she helped to energize the campaign and to catapult John McCain into the lead. But the result was the nomination of someone who was fundamentally not qualified to be in the national command authority. That supersedes any short-term or long-term political advantage. Obviously, I have great regret over that.”
Schmidt and most of the other top operatives from the McCain campaign gave extended interviews to John Heilemann and Mark Halperin, the book authors. Many of the same sources also spoke to Danny Strong, writer of the film, and to director Jay Roach.
One jarring revelation in which the movie reaches beyond the book comes when Schmidt makes a query to assess nominee Palin’s awareness of foreign affairs, asking McCain’s VP pick how she would respond in the White House to news of waning British support for the war in Iraq.
The Palin character, sitting opposite Schmidt in a campaign bus, says McCain would “continue to have an open dialogue” with the queen of England on the subject. Flabbergasted, the Schmidt character informs her the queen is not the head of government. Palin asks who is. He informs her that the country has a prime minister.
Strong said he uncovered that additional episode during the 25 interviews he conducted with principals from Team McCain. Schmidt confirmed the account.
Let’s hear it for Harper!
Dogs rule!
I was asked today, in light of the very public memorial of Whitney Houston, what my thoughts were regarding the “media circus” that became a part of the memorializing this week. And also, how Whitney’s struggles of late had factored into her last years.
The conversation was polite, but seemed to question ‘why celebrate someone so publicly who had stumbled so long ago?’
I was glad I was asked because I haven’t spoken much about Whitney’s passing. The day it happened caught be sideways and I was a bit surprised at how emotional I was.
I was a big fan of Whitney Houston’s talent all the way back to the beginning of her spectacular career. I would sit with my friend Matt Zarley and thrill when she’d sing in public or on TV.
And I was touched that immediately after the attack of 9/11, Whitney re-released her 1991 rendition of “The Star Spangled Banner” with proceeds going to the New York Firefighters 9/11 Disaster Relief Fund and the New York Fraternal Order of Police, both benefiting the departments and families affected by the attack at the World Trade Center.
Yes, I admired her incredible talent. So when I am asked what I think of all this – this is my answer:
When someone has touched so many, many lives – especially with music which is so personal to us all – we feel connected. We feel they are a part of us. Now a part of us is gone. And we feel the need to grieve and say goodbye.
Fortunately, we have Whitney’s music and films to remind us of how brightly she shined.
A few comments have been made in the media and on the internet that, of late, “she wasn’t what she had been” and “she let drugs do her in.”
I honestly don’t know any true details about the struggles we’ve all read about.
But I do know this: I would hate to be judged at the end of my life purely by my darkest days and worst decisions. No one is perfect. I’ve made many mistakes – more than I can count. I’ve also tried to do some good things as often as possible.
I think that’s probably Whitney Houston’s story too.
And in being who she was, she was perfectly human. And her humanity was a big part of her incredible gifts.
The video above is how I will always love her. And I think the lyrics say it best:
“You’re a winner for a lifetime, if you seize that one moment in time.”
We were touched by Whitney for more than just a “moment” in time. And for that, she will feel eternity.
So, for a long time, I didn’t really see the appeal in Adam Levine. People saying how he was so sexy, or hot.
But lately, I think I may be getting it a bit more. Plus, I like Maroon 5.
Although, I’m not a huge fan of all the multiple tattoos. But to each his own on that one.
The above shot is from a publicity shoot meant to raise awareness for prostate and testicular cancer for Everyman.
This time, it was his girlfriend Anne Vyalitsyna getting her hold on him, with her hands the only things covering Levine’s privates from the camera.
Levine is no stranger to nudity, telling the magazine: “I spend most of my life naked. In fact, I often have to be told by the people around me that it’s inappropriate to be as naked as I am. But I live in California, where it’s always warm, so why not?”
Since we tend to not wear a lot while at home, I can relate on that topic, too…
Marriage equality passed in the Maryland House of Delegates, but just barely. And not due to Del. Sam Arora.
And the LGBT community is definitely over Mr. Arora.
Why is this such an issue?
It’s not simply because he’s a Democrat. Arora campaigned as a progressive candidate and openly stated while campaigning that he was a supporter of same-sex civil marriage.
This resulted in support — including financial support — from the LGBT community and marriage equality advocates. Gays and those that support equal rights, including groups like Equality Maryland, endorsed Delegate Arora because he claimed to support the LGBT community.
He even went so far as to co-sponsor legislation that went to the Maryland House floor last year that could have brought marriage equality to the state. Then, strangely, he voted against it. He claimed that, in actuality, what he supported were civil unions.
Obviously that’s a different animal, and that’s not what he stated during his campaign.
His constituents need to make sure they are not represented by a weasel who takes money from “supporters” and then turns his back on them.
History and the voters of Maryland will remember.
Rick Santorum challenged President Barack Obama’s Christian beliefs on Saturday, saying White House policies were motivated by a “different theology.”
A devout Roman Catholic who has risen to the top of Republican polls in recent days, Santorum said the Obama administration had failed to prevent gas prices rising and was using “political science” in the debate about climate change.
Obama’s agenda is “not about you. It’s not about your quality of life. It’s not about your jobs. It’s about some phony ideal. Some phony theology. Oh, not a theology based on the Bible. A different theology,” Santorum told supporters of the conservative Tea Party movement at a Columbus hotel.
“He is imposing his values on the Christian church. He can categorize those values anyway he wants. I’m not going to,” Santorum told reporters.
A social conservative, Santorum is increasingly seen as a champion for evangelical Christians by opposing Democrats over issues like contraception and gay marriage.
“This is just the latest low in a Republican primary campaign that has been fueled by distortions, ugliness, and searing pessimism and negativity – a stark contrast with the President who is focused everyday on creating jobs and restoring economic security for the middle class,” said Obama campaign spokesman Ben LaBolt.