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News Round-Up: June 7, 2021

(image via Twitter/SFGiants)

Some news items you might have missed:

• Mr. Man: The powers that be at MrMan have assembled the 100 most iconic gay kisses in the history of cinema in a rapid-fire 10 minute video. Definitely worth the click.

• LGBTQNation: The San Francisco Giants became the first team in Major League Baseball to wear Pride colors onto the field on June 5 for their Pride Day game against the Chicago Cubs. The Giants updated their logo’s colors to incorporate Pride into their uniforms and caps.

• Instinct Magazine: When a 15 year-old male student was kicked out of school for wearing a skirt, male teachers began teaching their classes while wearing skirts in solidarity.

• MetroSource: The creative team behind the Red Hot calendars (which feature ginger hotties) is taking applications for the 2022 edition.

• MetroWeekly: The Pentagon will keep a Trump-era ban on Pride flags being flown at military bases, despite President Joe Biden pledging to reverse it.

• Queerty: Actor Wil Wheaton, known for his longtime role as kid genius Wesley Crusher on Star Trek: The Next Generation, welcomed pride month this weekend by giving a special shout-out to his queer fans. Wheaton, 48, publicly acknowledged the number of Star Trek fans that had a crush on the actor–or his character–during the show’s run.

Then, Wheaton’s wife, Anne Wheaton chimed in. And that was followed by Wheaton’s TV mom, Gates McFadden, voicing her support. #VeryCute

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Witness Billy Porter’s ‘Tragic’ Moment In New Trailer For Comedy ‘Like A Boss’

Billy Porter in ‘Like A Boss’ (screen capture)

Check out the trailer for the upcoming Like A Boss starring Salma Hayek, Rose Byrne, and Tiffany Haddish.

Here’s the official description:

Best friends Mia and Mel (Tiffany Haddish and Rose Byrne) are living their best lives running their own cosmetics company they’ve built from the ground up. Unfortunately, they’re in over their heads financially, and the prospect of a big buyout offer from a notorious titan of the cosmetics industry Claire Luna (Salma Hayek) proves too tempting to pass up, putting Mel and Mia’s lifelong friendship in jeopardy. The beauty business is about to get ugly.

Emmy Award winner Billy Porter plays a cosmetics chemist who apparently gets fired when Hayek says he’s got to go. Porter’s character seems about as shy as Porter himself in real life.

The Pose star shared his excitement about the film in a recent interview for Palm Springs Life Magazine saying, “Praise the Lord, I got a really good part.”

The film also stars Jennifer Coolidge (who I love), Ari Graynor, Natasha Rothwell, Jessica St. Clair, and Karan Soni.

Like A Boss lands in theaters January 10.

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‘Frozen 2’ Breaks Box Office Records Worldwide

Wow. Disney’s Frozen 2, like the original, broke all kinds of records at the box office during its first week in release including biggest worldwide opening for an animated film (37 markets), the top international opening of all time for an animated film ($350 million), and biggest domestic November opening for an animated film ($130 million).

From Yahoo News:

The long-awaited Frozen 2 has landed in cinemas, a full six years after the first movie became the biggest animated film of all time. And thanks to a sterling turnout worldwide over the weekend, Frozen 2 has already nabbed some records of its own.

Making just over $350 million worldwide overall, it makes it the biggest ever global opening for an animated movie, though its domestic US figure fell just behind that of Incredibles 2.

This means that it’s putting Disney on track for six billion dollar movies this year, alongside Aladdin, Avengers: Endgame, Captain Marvel, Toy Story 4 and The Lion King. It’s the first studio to ever reach such a box office landmark.

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Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper Make Beautiful Music In ‘A Star Is Born’ Remake

Lady Gaga makes her feature film debut in the new film, aptly titled A Star Is Born, and critics are loving it.

 Lady Gaga makes her feature film debut in the new film, aptly titled A Star Is Born, and critics are loving it.

In this 4th iteration of the now-famous story (previous versions in 1937 with Janet Gaynor, 1954 with Judy Garland, and 1976 with Streisand) of a fading star falling in love with an unknown on a meteoric rise, Gaga is making her film debut as “Ally,” an unknown singer/songwriter who is discovered by Bradley Cooper’s hard-drinking country rocker, “Jackson Maine,” performing in a drag bar.

Sparks become chemistry becomes love, and off we go with Cooper and Gaga as he introduces her to the world and she tries to save him from his own self-destruction.

The movie, also Cooper’s directorial debut, recently premiered at the Venice Film Festival to spectacular results.

Critics raved:


Entertainment Weekly says Gaga “deserves praise for her restrained, human-scale performance as a singer whose real-girl vulnerability lands miles away from the glittery meat-dress delirium of her own stage persona.”

“There’s a lot to love in Bradley Cooper’s entertaining remake of A Star is Born,” writes The Hollywood Reporter, adding Gaga is “captivating.”

The Guardian gushes about the film using terms as glowing as “outrageously watchable.” “colossally enjoyable” and “supercharged.”

Variety can’t seem to find enough superlatives: “Rapturous and swooning, but also delicate and intimate and luminous.”

And TIME gives much credit to Cooper’s directorial instincts that know the proper moments to step out of the spotlight: “Cooper fades into the corner at just the right moments, allowing Gaga to shine.”

A Star Is Born currently rates a 95% on Rotten Tomatoes.

The film is set for wide release October 5.

Check out snaps from Gaga’s gorgeous arrival on the red carpet at the Venice Film Festival below.

A post shared by Lady Gaga (@ladygaga) on Sep 1, 2018 at 4:01am PDT
A post shared by Lady Gaga (@ladygaga) on Sep 1, 2018 at 4:05am PDT
A post shared by Lady Gaga (@ladygaga) on Sep 1, 2018 at 4:03am PDT

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“Star Wars: The Last Jedi” Tops Box Office For 2017

On the last day of 2017, Disney-Lucasfilm’s “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” crossed the $1 billion threshold in worldwide grosses becoming the best-selling movie of 2017.

The top five films in terms of U.S. box office gross for 2017:

1. “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” – $517.1 million

2. “Beauty and the Beast” – $504 million

3. “Wonder Woman” – $412.6 million

4. “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.2” – $389 million

5. “Spider-Man: Homecoming” – $334 million

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Hugh Jackman Gives Good Sound In Post-Production

Ah, the sexy magic of movie making.

Here’s an inside look at how seemingly simple scenes – super-heroic running through the forest – have to be pieced and parsed together. Sound sessions like this are a regular part of the process, especially in action films.

Along the way, we get to hear ever handsome Hugh Jackman, grunt, growl and snarl and howl as he drops in sound for the newly released “Wolverine” flick, Logan.

Now, with all that ferocity, imagine what he sounds like on a hot Saturday night 😉

(h/t Boy Culture)

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Trailer: New Live-Action “The Little Mermaid”

As the world readies itself for the premiere of the new live-action Beauty and the Beast from Disney this weekend, audiences get their first look at the upcoming The Little Mermaid.

But, this new take on the deep-sea story is way different tale than Disney’s animated version. This flick draws from Hans Christian Anderson’s original storyline.

So no cartoon “Flounder” in sight, but we do get hottie love interest William Moseley, who starred in “The Chronicles of Narnia” and is currently on E!’s “The Royals.”

In the film, a reporter (Moseley) and his sister (Loreto Peralta) journey to small town Mississippi where they find the long-rumored “Little Mermaid” (Poppy Dayton). From the encounter they learn the fairy tale of a girl born on land with the heart of a mermaid. Along the way, the brother and sister try to save the Mermaid from the owner of a carnival who seems to have a hold on the mermaid’s soul.

The cast also includes Academy Award-winner Shirley MacLaine, Gina Gershon, William Forsythe, and Diahann Carroll.

Watch the trailer below:

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A Glimpse Of The Future From 1957

I happened to scroll past this today on Facebook, and something made me stop and watch.

This is a mashup of scenes from the 1957 film, A Face In The Crowd.

Official synopsis: An Arkansas drifter becomes an overnight media sensation. As he becomes drunk with fame and power, will he ever be exposed as the fraud he has become?

Very powerful, and quite the prescient warning. Let me know if this reminds you of anyone.

Near the end, music theater fans may get a small kick out of the “You’re gonna love me” section.

Posted on Facebook:

I try to stay as far away from politics on Facebook as possible. That said, I just cut together a few of my favorite scenes from Elia Kazan’s 1957 classic A Face in the Crowd. The entire film should be required viewing for everyone during this election


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Trailer: “Beautiful Something”

Joseph Graham’s Beautiful Something will have a May 17th digital and cable release after an acclaimed year on the LGBT festival circuit and a theatrical run in New York and LA.

The film was a hit on the festival circuit were it was featured at prominent film festivals like Miami Gay & Lesbian Film Festival, San Diego LGBT Film Festival, Outfest, Reeling Chicago (Jury Award Best Actor, Ensemble Cast), Hong Kong Lesbian & Gay Film Festival, Tampa International Gay & Lesbian Film Festival, Sacramento International Gay & Lesbian Film Festival, Seattle Lesbian & Gay Film Festival, Southwest Gay & Lesbian Film Festival, Fort Lauderdale Gay & Lesbian Film Festival, Taiwan International Queer Film Festival, Out on Film Atlanta, Indianapolis LGBT Film Festival, Mardi Gras Film Festival Sydney, Melbourne Queer Film Festival and the Torino Gay & Lesbian Film Festival.

The critics were duly impressed:

• “an enthralling and audacious piece of film making” ”reckless and bold” – San Diego Gay and Lesbian News

• “rough, sharp and to the point” – Frontiers Media

• “well-sketched personas that spark off each-other brilliantly” – Gay Times

You can find the film on iTunes here.

Beautiful Something follows four men on their interlocking searches for sex, art, love, and identity within the City of Brotherly Love.

Synopsis:

In one desperate night, four disparate gay men cruise Philadelphia in pursuit of ever-elusive human connection.

Brian (Sheppard), a poet with an already-spent advance and a looming deadline, seeks distraction at dusk-whether that means a hook-up (or two) or confessing his love to his straight best friend.

Drew (Domingo), a renowned sculptor in love with his boyish muse, is eager to finish his latest creation. His model Jim (Ryan) is an unpredictable aspiring actor prone to dramatic outbursts. Simultaneously aroused and intimidated by Drew’s talent and devotion, Jim yearns for a modicum of freedom from the sculptor’s attentions.

Rounding out the quartet is Bob (Lescault), a wealthy, alcoholic talent agent, cruising the Philadelphia backstreets for a “beautiful something.” Despite his aimlessness, he usually finds his target.