LGBTQ news and entertainment
In that Michael Douglas stars in the upcoming “Ant-Man” flick from Marvel AND starred in the HBO award-winning bio-pic “Behind The Candelabra,” check the genius mashup of the two trailers from YouTuber Peter Wilson.
“I want to be everything to you, Scott—father, brother… lover.”
According to EW, HBO had it’s biggest movie debut in almost a decade with Behind the Candelabra this past Sunday night:
Across two Sunday plays, Candelabra totaled 3.5 million viewers.
The performance is especially impressive coming on Memorial Day weekend, when TV viewing levels typically decline several percent. Compare Candelabra‘s performance to HBO’s previous recent record-setter Game Change, which had 2.1 million viewers for its Saturday night debut last year.
It’s worth noting that director Steven Soderbergh has said no major studio would make the film as it was perceived to be “too gay.” A $5 million film with Michael Douglas and Matt Damon almost didn’t get made?
After the debut of HBO’s “Behind the Candelabra” this past Sunday, the producers have released an extended 14 minute behind the scenes/”making of” video that explores the discussions and process of making the movie.
I, along with millions this weekend, caught the film and enjoyed it. I thought the acting, especially by Michael Douglas and Matt Damon, was very strong. At one point in the film I realized I had completely bought into the idea that I was watching “Liberace” and “Scott Thorson” and not these two actors.
It’s almost hard to say I “enjoyed” the film, though, as the story that unfolds before us is almost creepy and unsettling at each turn. This is not a happy love story. There’s something tragic about the entire encounter from the very beginning.
If you are an HBO subscriber, I highly recommend the film. And if you aren’t, check out the video above. I’d say it’s good enough to get you to try a subscription. The original programming on HBO is some of the very best TV there is.
Wait – Liberace was gay?
“Behind The Candelabra” premieres on Sunday, May 26th.
For more on HBO Films, go to http://itsh.bo/I83VP6.
HBO’s big Liberace movie with Matt Damon and Michael Douglas debuts Sunday, May 26th, but Entertainment Weekly has an exclusive behind-the-scenes look in this week’s issue.
Behind the Candelabra is based on Thorson’s 1988 memoir about Liberace’s over-the-top world of palatial houses, extravagant clothes, and secret affairs. (Liberace never publicly came out as gay before dying of AIDS in 1987.) It’s a world that Douglas actually witnessed first-hand, since his father, actor Kirk Douglas, was once Liberace’s neighbor in Palm Springs. “I remember meeting him just in passing, in his convertible with the top down — his hair not moving,” says the actor, who also got advice from one of Liberace’s close friends, Debbie Reynolds, who plays his mother in the film. “She just told me, ‘[Your voice] can never be too nasal.’”
The movie is also Douglas’ first role since his cancer diagnosis in 2010, and the actor tells EW that beating the disease and returning to acting has been therapeutic for him. “It was great to get back,” he says. “It gave me a new appreciation for what I do, taking advantage of it.”