Get ready for Oscar season’s black gay coming-of-age film, Moonlight

Quick, name more than one queer-themed movie with a black cast that made any noise outside of the LGBT film festival circuit in all the years since Paris is Burning. If you said Pariah and then got kind of stuck, well, that’s not your fault. That’s all about to change a little more for the better with the black, gay, coming-of-age drama Moonlight. Based on Tarell Alvin McCraney’s play, In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue, the film version (from writer-director Barry Jenkins and producer Brad Pitt) stars up-and-comer Trevante Rhodes as a young black man in 1980s Miami struggling with queer identity and the rigid codes of traditional masculinity. Early buzz is very positive, the trailer looks lovely, and the reviews will be in soon enough when it premieres at the Toronto International Film Festival. Theatrical release happens Oct. 21, just in time for awards season.

Sarah Paulson looks for love in Blue Jay

Don’t get too excited. It’s not a woman she’s necessarily looking for. But extremely cool lesbian actress Sarah Paulson will still flirt with love in this fall’s indie drama Blue Jay. Written by, and co-starring, Mark Duplass, and directed by first-time filmmaker Alex Lehmann (who also worked on Duplass’ sitcom, The League), Blue Jay is the story of two middle-aged people returning to their tiny California hometown. They were high-school sweethearts, now grown apart, and their meeting provides an opportunity to look at the past and come to some decisions about their mutually unhappy present. And we’re just going to assume that it’s all set in the very small community of Blue Jay, California, population approximately 2000. If it’s not, then we will have been wrong for the very first time. The film premieres at the Toronto International Film Festival and opens theatrically in October.

A gay Ray for the CW

The CW’s digital platform, CW Seed, is introducing a gay superhero into the network’s successful DC Universe. The animated series Freedom Fighters: The Ray, from producer Greg Berlanti (The Broken Hearts Club) will premiere sometime in 2017 and will mark the first time a queer superhero has headlined a series. The character, Raymond Terrell, is a reporter who uncovers a secret project meant to turn light into a weapon of mass destruction. Exposed to the active element in the project, Ray develops light-based powers he uses to battle evil and injustice. The voice actor cast as the animated version of Ray will also appear in live action form in the CW’s Flash-Arrow universe It’s all about interconnection these days, y’all, and it’s about time we had a gay superhero to join at least one of the ever-expanding power teams. Next move: let’s get Michelle Rodriguez a girlfriend in Fast/Furious 9. Or a boyfriend for The Rock. OK, OK, we’ll settle for a powerful queer villain.

Laverne Cox, Abigail Breslin join Freak Show

Freak Show, the YA novel by former club kid James St. James – whose book, Disco Bloodbath, was turned into the film Party Monster – is, as you might know, on its way to the big screen. It’s the story of a boldly gender-nonconforming teenager who decides to run for Prom Queen of his conservative Florida high school. Early casting included Bette Midler and AnnaSophia Robb, and now British actor Alex Lawther – who played young Alan Turing in The Imitation Game – will step into the main role of Billy Bloom. Additionally, the cast now includes Abigail Breslin and Laverne Cox. That’s good news in a very real way; when you’ve got trans actors and/or other creatives on a project like this, there’s less opportunity to get it wrong. We’re looking forward to this one getting it right.

Romeo San Vicente keeps it as wrong as possible all day every day.

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Latifah is taking a Girls Trip

If we have one complaint about Queen Latifah’s career, it’s that everything she does isn’t Set It Off. Not only is it our favorite film featuring her, it’s our favorite her: a butch, badass, bank-robbing lesbian. It was a cinematic middle finger to the media construction of ’90s “lesbian chic,” and if she had chosen never to act again after that movie, we’d revere her swagger for all of film history. And for the Queen’s upcoming comedy, Girls Trip, director Malcolm D. Lee (Barbershop: The Next Cut, and cousin to Spike) will reunite her with Set It Off co-star Jada Pinkett Smith, as well as the hilarious Regina Hall (Think Like a Man Too). The plot is a big secret at the moment, and it’s not due to hit theaters until summer of 2017, but we’re ready for this team-up right now. Note to filmmakers: If the ladies rob a bank or two along the way, we will not complain one bit.

Rebel in The Rye catches Salinger’s life

Actor Danny Strong might not be a person you know by name unless you’re an obsessive Gilmore Girls or Buffy The Vampire Slayer fan (and come on, aren’t you?). In any case, you might know his name from his other career as a successful screenwriter (The Butler) and for having co-created Empire with Lee Daniels. And he has a new project in the works: Rebel in The Ry,e a biopic about the life of reclusive author of Catcher in The Rye, J.D. Salinger.  Strong will direct from his own adaptation of the book,  J.D. Salinger: A Life, by Kenneth Slawenski. The period film will focus on Salinger’s rise to fame and subsequent withdrawal from public life, and will star Nicholas Hoult as the author. Supporting cast includes out actors Sarah Paulson and Victor Garber, alongside Kevin Spacey, Zoey Deutch and Hope Davis, and it’s all due to hit movie theaters sometime in 2017. If we had to guess we’d say the autumn, which is sweater weather, and therefore the most appropriately preppy time of year to see a film about Salinger.

Southwest of Salem will make you really angry

You’ve probably heard of the West Memphis Three, the young men convicted of murdering children in Arkansas in the mid ’90s. Their agonizing tale of injustice, one that included bizarre accusations of devil worship, was the subject of more than one documentary film and, ultimately, it brought them the exoneration they sought for so long. Well, now meet the San Antonio Four, four lesbians of color accused of raping two young girls, the case against them based on unreliable testimony, elements of hetero male revenge, racism, “Satanic panic,” and the usual homophobia and misogyny. Filmmaker Deborah S. Esquenazi has been following the story and produced the documentary Southwest of Salem: The Story of The San Antonio Four, and it’s been on the film festival circuit for a while, with a theatrical release due in New York and Los Angeles in September. With enough exposure, it could turn into the next Making a Murderer, and possibly result in the justice they’ve been denied.

You’re already invited to The Office Christmas Party

Dear Christmas Movie Season,

We know you’re on the way, even sooner than we think. The year is already more than half over, after all. But we’ve already decided which holiday-themed film we plan to see when the November onslaught hits: The Office Christmas Party. It’s not because of the premise, which involves a big office party to woo a big client, a client that will save the company from ruin. And it’s not because of the filmmakers, Josh Gordon and Will Speck, who were responsible for the very funny Blades of Glory, but also the not quite funny The Switch.

We are there, we are so there, because of Kate McKinnon. She’s been our favorite funny person for a while now, thanks to SNL, but now the moviegoing population knows that, as the MVP of Ghostbusters, she can work wonders on the big screen. There are other people in Office Christmas Party, of course: Jennifer Aniston, Olivia Munn, Jason Bateman, T.J. Miller, Jamie Chung, Randall Park and Rob Corddry, and we like them, too. But all we want for Christmas is Kate, so thank you in advance for this answered wish list item.

Sincerely,

Romeo San Vicente, who is not a lesbian but is giving it some thought.

Photo deadline.com

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Steve Buscemi will Lean On Pete

Never forget, please, that back in the 1980s when non-gay actors were usually too afraid to play gay characters, Steve Buscemi launched his film career with a classic piece of Queer Cinema, Parting Glances. So it feels right and fitting that after a critically lauded stretch of acting work these past three decades, he’ll be joining forces with acclaimed gay filmmaker Andrew Haigh (Weekend, 45 Years). The film is titled Lean On Pete, and instead of a boy and his dog tale, this one’s about a boy and his horse. Well, maybe not his horse, exactly. A personal project for Haigh, he’ll adapt Willy Vlautin’s novel about a 15-year-old boy looking for his long-lost aunt, his only companion a stolen racehorse named Lean On Pete. One of Buscemi’s former Boardwalk Empire co-stars, Charlie Plummer (Granite Flats), will play the boy, with Buscemi playing a character named “Del.” More casting news to follow, no doubt, but look for this one sometime in 2017.

HBO checks The Trans List

Timothy Greenfield-Sanders, the director of The Out List and The Black List, has returned with his latest interview-based documentary, The Trans List, which focuses on the lives and stories of transgender people, some famous, some not. Produced for HBO (which will air it later this year), the film is currently making festival rounds, and returns to the format of the filmmaker’s earlier work: subjects looking directly into the lens and telling their stories without any intrusion from off-camera. It’s a simple, elegant way of making interviews happen, and one that the filmmaker has perfected over time. The community’s most well-known faces will make appearances – people like Laverne Cox, Janet Mock, Caitlyn Jenner and Buck Angel – but the film will also focus on everyday trans Iraq War veterans, surviving Stonewall participants, community activists, and people like Amos Mac, publisher of Original Plumbing magazine. Fingers crossed that by the time it airs Ms. Jenner will be over her very public fixation on a certain reality show host-turned-Presidential candidate. And if not, well, we’re watching it anyway.

Vita & Virginia unites lovers Sackville-West & Woolf

One of the 20th century’s most talked about literary love affairs was the one between Virginia Woolf and Vita Sackville-West. Often ignored by scholars, who tended to focus their attention on the two writers’ heterosexual relationships, their story has been told a few times now in various media, reclaiming a vital piece of queer cultural history. A play by Dame Eileen Atkins is the basis for this new project, Vita & Virginia, which will be produced in England and directed by Chanya Button (Burn Burn Burn). More news to come on this one, obviously, since the leads have yet to be cast. But this is just the kind of British period drama we live for now that Downton Abbey is no more, and we were always not-so-secretly hoping for a couple of well-spoken aristocratic women on that program to conduct a clandestine affair. We’ll finally get our wish with this one.

Kristen Stewart is all about a female James Bond

It’s funny how ideas take hold on the internet. Case in point: a female James Bond. Nobody from the world of James Bond-based decision-making is really talking about this. But Gillian Anderson did. So did Game of Thrones’ Emilia Clarke. So did Bollywood star Priyanka Chopra. They’d all like their shot at playing Bond, and who can blame them? And now it’s a thing. So when the subject came up at a recent press junket with Kristen Stewart, she didn’t exactly throw her hat in the ring of speculative consideration, but she did express enthusiasm for the subject, which is kind of the same thing. Calling the middle-aged while male version of bond “stale” (and she’s right), she laid out her idea for how the next Bond film might introduce the change: a Bond Girl becomes a Bond girlfriend becomes Bond herself. It’s sort of perfect, really, and why didn’t we think of that? Now, Bond People, if Idris Elba is off the list (and we have no idea if he is or he isn’t, but let’s all pause for a moment to shed a couple of tears), then why not give one of these women the chance to prove her 007 chops? It’s certainly time.

Romeo San Vicente just wants James Bond’s gadget-filled car.

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Laura Linney and Armistead Maupin pitching brand new Tales of The City

Laura Linney is committed to playing Mary Ann Singleton. When other ongoing film/TV series might recast due to scheduling troubles or a host of other reasons, writer Armistead Maupin’s main character for his novel Tales of The City has become a shared creation between author and actor. Proof: the two have been pitching an updated miniseries to studios, which, come on, had to be the charming highlight of any of those executives’ days. The series, as it’s currently described by Maupin himself, will be set in modern-day San Francisco, with Mary Ann and best friend Michael Tolliver in Baby Boomer late-middle age. What they’ll be up to is a mystery, but it hardly matters (honestly, it could well be an actual mystery, since they’ve become embroiled in those before); we just want to watch these lovable characters grow as old as possible. Olympia Dukakis is already attached to the project, too, so now all that has to happen is for that elusive “go” light to turn green.

LOS ANGELES – JUN 16: Laura Linney at the Women In Film 2015 Crystal + Lucy Awards at the Century Plaza Hotel on June 16, 2015 in Century City, CA

Wanda Sykes’ Dream Team

Wanda Sykes’ recurring role on Black-ish has us wanting more. It’s been too long since she was a regular on a hit series, and frankly we need her. That’s why it’s good news to hear she’s working on a pilot for My Name is Earl producer Marc Buckland that could land her back on weekly TV. The title – for now, anyway – is Dream Team. It’s about a soccer coach who’s gotten a little rusty and who then has to shepherd a group of 8-year-olds as they learn the sport. Justin Long stars as the coach, alongside Betty Gilpin (Nurse Jackie) and gay comic actor Parvesh Cheena (Outsourced). As with all pilots, this may be the first and last you ever hear about it, but you never know. In the meantime, Sykes is also shooting an untitled action comedy with Goldie Hawn and Amy Schumer. Look, anything but another Ice Age movie.

Jim Parsons joins the cast of Hidden Figures

The forthcoming nonfiction book Hidden Figures is that rare property so movie-ready that even before its publication date (Sept. 6), a film version is already in production. Concerning the little-known history of the African-American women mathematicians who provided NASA with the data necessary to dominate the Space Race and give the US an edge in that arena of the Cold War, the book by Margot Lee Shetterly should go a few steps toward dismantling the historical face of science as white and male. And the movie, already scheduled for release in early 2017 – no doubt to coincide with Black History Month – and directed by Theodore Melfi (St. Vincent) will star Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer, Kirsten Dunst, Kevin Costner and Jim Parsons. We’re ready to see this one right now, just as long as it doesn’t prioritize its helpful white characters and turn into The Help Helps In Space.

Broadway: The Next Generation has a cast of thousands

Well, OK, not thousands. But a lot of people. And this forthcoming documentary is from Rick McKay, whose career is very sincerely focused on documenting the Broadway stage. He already made Broadway: The Golden Age, Elaine Stritch at Liberty and this year’s Broadway: Beyond The Golden Age, so he’s pretty much your guy for this sort of thing. As you might guess from its title, it’s set to showcase the people taking musical theater into the next few decades. People like Lin-Manuel Miranda, Jonathan Groff, Anika Noni Rose, Billy Porter and Megan Hilty. Not that the old guard isn’t represented. They speak, too. And by “they,” we mean Barbara Cook, Lillias White, Betty Buckley, Michael Crawford, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Lea Salonga, Joanna Gleason, Rosemary Harris, Kelly Bishop, Debbie Allen, Cherry Jones, Nathan Lane, Richard Thomas, Loretta Devine, Donna Murphy, Bebe Neuwirth, John Lithgow, Frank Langella, and about seven dozen other names you know. The bad news? It’s not due until 2018, which is probably still sooner than you’ll get a ticket to Hamilton.

Romeo San Vicente came crawling back to Broadway.

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Anika Noni Rose presents Shirley Chisholm

The odds were always stacked against Shirley Chisholm. She was a woman and she was black, which means that the corridors of political power were not built or maintained for her. But in 1968, she became the first black, female member of Congress, representing New York’s 12th Congressional District from 1969 to 1983. In 1972, she was the first major-party black candidate for President, though she did not receive her party’s nomination. She was, in short, a political hero who broke down doors and championed LGBT rights well before it was considered politically prudent to do so. And now, Tony Award-winning actress Anika Noni Rose (The Princess and The Frog, Dreamgirls) will produce and star in a film about Chisholm’s life, appropriately titled Chisholm. The production team is in place, but that’s all we know about casting right now, and no word on when we’ll all get to lay eyes on it. In the meantime, you can do your homework with director Shola Lynch’s 2004 documentary, Chisholm ’72: Unbought & Unbossed, and catch up on the facts of this remarkable woman’s life and career. Chisholm died in Ormond Beach, Florida at the age of 80 in 2004.

Howard’s End, The Extended Remix

The only thing better than a period film about British aristocrats and their existential troubles is a period miniseries about the same thing. Here’s why: it is much, much longer. That means more costumes, more sumptuous locations, more sly sabotage from servants, and – most importantly – more sighs, stares and muted longing. The grand papa (say it like pa-PAH, please) of this genre may be Brideshead Revisited, but for our money Howard’s End is the most satisfying. Complex, satisfying and tragic, the 1992 film adaptation is one to revisit whenever one has time in between the pressing tasks of the ruling class. So it is a great pleasure to learn that E.M. Forster’s story of three families – two of means, one not – will become a new BBC miniseries directed by Hettie Macdonald (Beautiful Thing, Fortitude). Kenneth Lonergan (You Can Count On Me) is handling screenwriting duties, and production begins this summer. Do be attentive to its air date, which will probably take place in 2017.

Chaz Bono gets Dirty

Truth be told, we missed Chaz Bono’s two-episode arc on The Bold and The Beautiful, but we’re glad he did it. We were, frankly, unaware of his sporadic visits to the world of acting. But if the upcoming July 12th release of the film Dirty is any indication of his intentions, we’ll start paying more attention. The gritty crime thriller is from first-time director Daniel Ringey, and concerns a couple of “dirty” cops who lose their stolen stash of drugs and money to some even more unsavory crime-people. Roger Guenveur Smith (Chi-Raq, the upcoming The Birth of A Nation) and Paul Elia (Lady Dynamite) play the cops in question, and Bono stars as someone known as “Jerry the Hoarder,” which sounds delightfully seedy. The film is being delivered directly to streaming services (a smart weapon of choice for indie film these days) and on its release day, the cast will be live-Tweeting a Q&A at 7 pm ET, using the hashtag #dirtythemovie. And listen, gay dudes, keep the questions about Mom to a minimum.

Jewel’s Catch One kept the beat alive

If you’ve never been dancing in Los Angeles, and more to the point, if you are not a queer person of color, then there is little reason for you to know much about The Catch One. You may have heard that it was Madonna’s visits there in the 1980s that allegedly introduced her to voguing, but otherwise, the Los Angeles nightlife institution that hosted celebrities like Sandra Bernhard, Bonnie Pointer, Sharon Stone and Jenifer Lewis is probably not on your radar. This will change when you watch the utterly vital documentary, Jewel’s Catch One, from filmmaker C. Fitz. Full of interviews and archival material, the film digs deep into the life of the club, and of its owner Jewel Thais-Williams, the black lesbian who started it in 1973, as a spot to dance in for people who’d been denied entrance to the whiter, straighter locations in her city. And though the club closed in 2015, Thais-Williams’ local legacy is still alive, and her influence is strongly felt: she started The Minority AIDS Project in the ’80s, took care of Los Angeles’ black gay community, created a non-profit health clinic, and, as the film shows, she’s not done yet. When your area LGBT film festival screens it, show up and get familiar with this vibrant queer figure.

Photo Credit: tmz.com

Romeo San Vicente has style, grace, and gives good face.

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Kristian Nairn, Game of Thrones’ Hodor, lives on in new fantasy worlds

Hodor is dead. We know, you’re still upset. So are we. But Kristian Nairn, the large, lovable, gay actor/DJ who played that Game of Thrones character, is very much alive, and currently in the process of moving on. Not that he’s shifting gears or anything. The film business is nothing if not consistent in its reductive demand that you stay in your lane – because once you star on a sitcom about a nun that can fly (Google it, and worship the resilience of Sally Field) they think you are a nun that flies until you prove otherwise. And that is why you will soon witness Mr. Nairn in not one, but two, fantasy-themed projects. He’s taken a role in Mythica: The Godslayer, the latest installment in the ongoing Mythica series where, you guessed it, there are warriors and dragons. He’ll also star in Victrix, the supernatural fantasy co-starring Rutger Hauer and the legendary Max von Sydow. We’re not angry about this. We’re happy the man is working and we’ll be seeing these films. It’s just typical of timid producers and short-sighted casting people that this man isn’t also booked to star in a romantic comedy as the bisexual love interest of comedian Brian Posehn and also Ghostbusters’ Leslie Jones. It would be about very tall people falling in love. There you go, Hollywood, a free idea. You’re welcome.

Amandla Stenberg in talks for Where Hands Touch

Did you see Belle? You really should have. From British director Amma Asante, it was the story of a biracial woman (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) raised in England’s aristocracy and her role in helping to dismantle that country’s involvement in the slave trade. Now Asante is working on a new film, Where Hands Touch, a romantic drama about a biracial woman and her relationship with an SS officer in Nazi Germany.  Rising star Amandla Stenberg, who played Rue in The Hunger Games_and also appeared in Beyonce’s Lemonade, is currently in talks for the lead, and we couldn’t be happier about this possibility. The outspoken and bisexual star, who’s been acting and modeling for years now, embodies the best of young Millenial boundary crossing, and this could be the breakout adult role she needs. More talks, please.

Tom Ford’s Nocturnal Animals takes November

Tom Ford’s A Single Man, the mournful yet stylish period drama starring Colin Firth, was a hit with audiences, critics and Academy Award voters (Firth received a Best Actor nomination). And based on that charmed first time at bat, the fashion designer-turned-filmmaker’s latest, Nocturnal Animals, has already secured a November release date. In case you weren’t aware, that’s when award season films typically begin aggressively stalking their prey. Animals, based on the novel by Austin Wright, and starring the impressive line-up of Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Armie Hammer, Amy Adams, Jake Gyllenhaal, Isla Fisher, Kim Basinger and Michael Shannon, concerns a woman drawn into a mysterious manuscript that changes the direction of her life. It promises to be an unusual sort of literary, psychological thriller, and thank goodness for that. Call award season tedious if you like; it still prioritizes serious films for grown-ups, the sort of movies that are in ever-dwindling supply. We’ll take it.

Azealia Banks trades Twitter for Coco

Queer, controversial, hip-hop/dance artist Azealia Banks isn’t in hiding. The “212” musician whose refusal to back down from (and also start) a fight led to her recent banishment from Twitter (but, please, Twitter, by all means, let hetero men keep making rape and death threats, that’s not a problem at all) is moving forward with a new project from director (and Wu-Tang Clan alumnus) RZA. The film is called Coco, and it’s set in the world of hip-hop and poetry slams. Banks stars as an aspiring rapper in New York who works her way through the slam poetry scene, looking for her break. And the rest of the cast is pretty impressive, too: Pitch Perfect’s Hana Mae Lee, Common, Lorraine Toussaint, Method Man, Jill Scott, Scream Queens star Lucien Laviscount and Ballers’ John David Washington. Not sure when this one will be finished and ready to see, but consider us pre-sold.

Photo Credit: cinemablend.com

Romeo San Vicente supports all Wu-Tang Clan-adjacent media projects, especially Method and Red’s comedy classic How High.

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From Zero to I Love You reunites Noah’s Arc cast

Do you miss Noah’s Arc? You probably do. Because, frankly, it’s not like anyone in the world of basic cable was lining up to make television programs about the lives of gay black men before it arrived. And furthermore, how many have there been since? Exactly.

So when former Arc-er Doug Spearman directed his first feature, the LGBT film festival favorite Hot Guys with Guns, it gave us hope for more to come. Well, now something new is coming. Spearman’s latest directorial effort, From Zero to I Love You, will tell the story of a gay man (played by Noah’s Arc alum Darryl Stephens) who rejects his friends’ and family’s effort to set him up with Mr. Right, all because he can’t resist the thrill of chasing heterosexual men – the kind with wives. Yes, yes, yes, the gay shame of it all, but still a fascinating idea for a story in a world where gay culture is beating the drum for everybody settling down and getting adorably married. Why not a romance about wanting, and possibly getting, the one you can’t have? More on this one as it slowly winds its way to release.

How many Billie Jean King movies, again?

This is how it goes in Hollywood: a good idea spawns copycat ideas. Sometimes, these good ideas become competing projects rushing to beat each other into theaters or on to television. It’s why there were two Truman Capote movies, why another Jungle Book movie is coming soon, and why there are (or were, depending on how much you trust the expression “in development”) three movies about the legendary 1973 tennis match between Bobby Riggs and Billie Jean King. We’ll skip the two that may or may not be actually happening now – that would be the one with Will Ferrell attached as Riggs, and the one with Paul Giamatti and Elizabeth Banks, neither of which have been making much noise of late – and focus on the one that’s actually shooting. That would be Battle of the Sexes, which stars Emma Stone as King, Steve Carell as Riggs, and comes from the creative team of screenwriter Simon Beaufoy (Slumdog Millionaire), and co-directors Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris (Little Miss Sunshine). The period comedy has a newsworthy supporting cast, too, with Elisabeth Shue, Alan Cumming and Sarah Silverman rounding out the ’70s vibe. May it remind everyone who watches it how truly resistant American culture was to the mainstreaming of feminism, and how much more work there is to be done.

Jurassic World sequel gets J.A. Bayona

The Jurassic Park franchise, resurrected in form and money-minting function last summer, has its next director, and his name is J.A. Bayona. No worries if you’ve never heard of him. He’s the gay, Spanish filmmaker responsible for the tsunami drama The Impossible and the thriller The Orphanage. Assuming that the disaster-effects-heavy Impossible was sufficient-enough calling card to take on the disaster-effects-heavy world of carnivorous dinosaurs, he’ll be stepping in for the departing Colin Trevorrow. Why, you may ask, is former indie director Trevorrow not returning to the money-minting franchise? Well, he’s going to be busy with a new Star Wars installment, that’s why. Cast members Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard are scheduled to return – with salary hikes, it’s assumed, considering the first one pulled in $1.7 billion worldwide – and the film’s tentative release date is 2018. So, for those of you keeping score, the new paradigm is that you can be gay and get hired to direct a chapter in a blockbuster franchise. Now let’s see how long it takes for someone to hire a woman to make one.

Elle Fanning and Jena Malone do the love scene thing in Neon Demon

Elle Fanning is an adult now. And the first thing young actors usually do when they turn 18 is run directly to those grown-up roles. Ms. Fanning also happens to be well-regarded in her chosen profession, so it’s no surprise that for one of her first post-childhood projects, she landed herself in the latest movie from acclaimed Danish director Nicholas Winding Refn (Drive). It’s called The Neon Demon, and it’s soon to premiere at the Cannes Film Festival. It co-stars Christina Hendricks, Keanu Reeves and Jena Malone (with whom Fanning has a lesbian love scene). A stylized horror film of sorts, the plot seems to involve a young woman with aspirations to becoming a model, only to find herself surrounded by people who want to devour her youth and beauty like a pack of vampires. In other words, it’s a story about the day-in-day-out world of the entertainment industry.  The art-minded thriller opens in general release in June, just in time for its star to consider living arrangements for her first semester in college. Suggestion, speaking of horror: not the dorms.

Romeo San Vicente almost always gets the one he’s been told he can’t have. So there. He can be reached care of this publication or at DeepInsideHollywood@qsyndicate.com.

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Steven, take a bow

In news marked “It Was Only a Matter of Time,” get ready for Steven, the biopic about England’s most quotable rock star, Morrissey. Did that time come too soon, do you think? Is he not yet old enough or legendary enough for his own biopic? Well, that’s where you’d be wrong; the man’s 30-plus-year career began with his leading of the UK’s most influential ’80s band, The Smiths (probably even more popular today than in 1985) and has thrived over time with a refusal to retreat from the solo limelight ever since. Furthermore, his mark on queer culture is probably more indelible than even his openly gay musical peers (Morrissey has never fully sexually identified himself, because he’s Morrissey). Shooting now, the film is being directed by Mark Gill, a relative newcomer riding a wave of success after his short film Oscar and BAFTA nominations. British TV fixture Jodie Comer co-stars, as does Downton Abbey’s Jessica Brown Findlay, and in the title role, Scottish up-and-comer Jack Lowden (War & Peace) will play the man who sang “Meat is Murder.” It looks to be a 2017 release, so stretch out and wait.

Another Hit for Ryan Murphy and Gwyneth Paltrow

All this silly animosity for Gwyneth Paltrow–you’d think she was running for President on a platform of racism and ignorance. But no, that’s some guy people seem to love. Paltrow’s crimes are, apparently, worse: expensive smoothies and spa treatments, publishing cool cookbooks, and being an Academy Award-winning actor. So we would like to invite all of you to get over yourselves for long enough to remember her hilarious turn as the kooky substitute teacher on Ryan Murphy’s Glee. And now that you’ve done that, enjoy this news: she’s re-teaming with Murphy for another music-centric TV project, One Hit Wonders. Still in the early stages, Paltrow will get to twirl on her haters as a washed-up, forgotten, ’90s singer who had a single popular song. Broke and aimless, she finds herself re-teamed with other ’90s has-beens to form a supergroup. Call it The Comeback with pop songs and an actress who can actually sing and pull it off. And honestly, the entire scenario sounds like a really good idea. Somebody call JJ Fad and make something happen.

Bret Easton Ellis gets Deleted

Bret Easton Ellis (American Psycho) is an author, a screenwriter, a controversial Tweeter, a podcaster, and now, at long last, a director. He’s teaming up with Fullscreen, a successful streaming content producer, to launch the online series The Deleted. Based on an original screenplay–as opposed to other Ellis-based films that have been either based on his novels or were screenplays he wrote for other directors such as Paul Schrader (The Canyons)–The Deleted is a thriller concerning the disappearance of seemingly unrelated people in Los Angeles. These random “deletions” trigger a mysterious sort of group paranoia among a collection of twentysomething cult survivors. All of it feels very “Disappear Here,” which is a recurring line in Ellis’ debut novel, Less Than Zero, and from our perspective, that’s something to get excited about. Now, will Patrick Bateman be making a cameo, breezily passing through the background? Let’s hope.

Asian women in the spotlight: Quentin Lee’s The Unbidden

In a filmmaking universe that involves digital tech tests that would allow CGI employees to make Scarlett Johansson look vaguely Asian for Ghost in The Shell (yes, we’re still shaking our head over every bit of that, and will continue to do so, thanks), it’s nice to see a little good news come along. And that’s The Unbidden, directed by queer filmmaker Quentin Lee (White Frog, The People I’ve Slept With), which recently premiered at Los Angeles’ Asian Pacific Film Festival and has just been picked up for distribution by Viva Pictures. It’s being called the first all-female Asian American supernatural thriller, one that involves ghosts, demons, hauntings, and a dinner party, and it stars the following underrated character actresses: Tamlyn Tomita (The Joy Luck Club), Julia Nickson (Rambo), Amy Hill (Lilo & Stitch), Elizabeth Sung (The Joy Luck Club) and Michelle Krusiec (The Invitation). Set a Google alert or whatever it is you do to keep yourself reminded. When this sort of thing comes along, it deserves support. Otherwise, progress takes a back seat to complaints when it should be enjoying popcorn instead.

Romeo San Vicente is the Light that Never Goes Out. He can be reached in care of this publication.

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Bella Thorne’s all grown up and ready for Babysitter action

Modeling since the age of 6 weeks and acting since the age of 6 years, Bella Thorne was never going to let a Disney Channel sitcom define her. She was one of the stars of that network’s kid-friendly Shake It Up, but now she’s 18 and ready to take on adult roles. And if the actor’s own description of her upcoming thriller, The Babysitter, is any indication, her career is going to get very adult very fast. According to Thorne, she will be involved in a same-sex encounter in that film, a project she calls “controversial.” And when that’s wrapped up, she’s taking a role in the new movie from queer Canadian auteur Xavier Dolan. In The Death and Life of John F. Donovan, she’ll play Jessica Chastain’s sister and co-star alongside Kit Harington, Nicholas Hoult, Kathy Bates, Thandie Newton, and Natalie Portman. The story involves the dark side of fame, fandom and scandals that arise from both, a subject most actors know plenty about.

Viola Davis takes Custody to Tribeca

Writer-director James Lapine is a man with three Tony Awards, one of them for Best Book of a Musical for Into The Woods. But he hasn’t directed a theatrically released feature film since 1993’s Michael J. Fox vehicle, Life with Mikey. No matter, he stays busy, most recently as a co-director of the HBO documentary Six by Sondheim. And now his next film, Custody, will take a bow at the Tribeca Film Festival. Starring Viola Davis as a family court judge, the cast includes Hayden Panettiere, Ellen Burstyn, and Catalina Sandino Moreno as women whose lives intersect in the context of various custody battles. There are some men here, too, like Raul Esparza, Tony Shalhoub and Dan Fogler, as well as a bit of currently unspecified queer content, but you’ll have to watch the movie to learn about all that. It should open sometime later this year.

Coming soon: Check It, the LGBT gang documentary

The idea of “bashing back” is often more of a wish than a reality, especially when individual queer people find themselves outnumbered, experiencing violence at the hands of more than one non-LGBT abuser. But in Washington, D.C., a group of young friends between the ages of 14 and 22 decided that enough was enough. They formed Check It, which may be the first organized LGBT gang, a crew of young queer people of color who keep each other safe. They weren’t afraid of fighting back against their attackers with the same aggression they had been victims of themselves; nor are they afraid of the camera, cooperating with documentary filmmakers Dana Flor and Toby Oppenheimer (The Nine Lives of Marion Berry) for their project also known as Check It. The movie, which premieres soon at the Tribeca Film Festival, explores the family dynamic of the gang and follows them as they build their own fashion business in the hopes of moving up and out of poverty and violence. Watch out for this one; it’s sure to start a few heated debates.

Russell Tovey makes The Pass

We assume the title of the new movie, The Pass, refers to several of that word’s definitions. In the British production, Looking star Russell Tovey plays a professional footballer (“soccer player” to you) struggling to come out of the closet and failing. So basically, he’s passing balls on the field, making passes at guys off the field and, since his character is afraid to deal with his own sexuality and would prefer not to be known as gay, he’s also passing for heterosexual. The debut feature from filmmaker Ben A. Williams–one that knows its target audience very well and does not neglect to put the actors in their underwear, so thanks–The Pass also stars EastEnders regular Arinze Kene. It’s already available to be seen across the Atlantic, which means we’ll get it over here, eventually.

Photo Credit: thewrap.com

Romeo San Vicente bends it like (Victoria) Beckham. He can be reached care of this publication or at DeepInsideHollywood@qsyndicate.com.

The post Bella Thorne, Viola Davis And Russell Tovey (Undressed) appeared first on Florida Agenda - LGBT News.

By Romeo San Vicente

Jussie Smollett Is Going to Outer Space

You see him being cute and musically talented on Empire every week, as he implores his homophobic father to love him, possibly to will him that vast record industry fortune. But the next time you see Jussie Smollett in a non-Cookie-Lyon-adjacent position, he will be tackling a bigger and badder nemesis, aka that alien from Alien, in the next installment of Ridley Scott’s ongoing space monster franchise. Alien: Covenant, in production now and fairly secretive about all other details, is due in 2017 and will co-star Smollett. The up-and-comer will join cast members Michael Fassbender, Katherine Waterston, Billy Crudup, Danny McBride, Demian Bichir and Carmen Ejogo as they deal with the development of the terror that will eventually become the world’s most gruesome headache for 1979’s Sigourney Weaver (we’re still in Prequel Land, in case you forgot). Spend the next year catching up on the others if you need to. Skip Prometheus if you want. Most people seem to think you should.

Alexander McQueen: The Movie

The short, shining career and tragic death of fashion designer Alexander McQueen, a sad story fueled by glamour, success, excess, drugs and suicide, seemed tailormade for the kind of cautionary biopic Hollywood loves to make. So now they’re making it, and acclaimed queer filmmaker Andrew Haigh (Weekend, 45 Years) will be the man behind the camera. A screenwriter is in place, as well: Chris Urch, the hot playwright whose career is on the rise these days thanks to great reviews for The Rolling Stone, will work on the script, and there are no shortage of dramatic details. McQueen, the son of a taxi driver, ascended to fashion royalty, designing for David Bowie and Prince Charles, launching his own line while privately dealing with depression and drug dependence. He committed suicide in 2010, shocking the fashion world. Fortunately, Urch and Haigh are the sort of creative team that will handle this sensitively, giving the late legend the tribute he most deserves. In pre-production now, cameras are slated to roll by year’s end.

Watch Out for Lena Waithe

You were probably unaware that Lena Waithe existed until you saw her on Aziz Ansari’s hilarious sitcom, Master of None, where she plays one of his friends, a character that may be funniest, coolest, baddest lesbian TV has ever delivered. In fact, you might remember her now but still not know her name. That should be changing fairly soon, because behind the scenes, Waithe has been quite busy. She was a writer for Bones and a producer on the gay-inclusive Dear White People.  And now she’s got her own pilot set up at Showtime, a coming-of-age drama about a young black man who must raise one of his children alone. Tequan Richmond (Everybody Hates Chris) will star alongside Aisha Hinds (Under the Dome), Alex Henderson (Empire) and Olivia Dawson (Empire). The series will be co-produced by Common, whose got brand name recognition, and because prestige product on cable television is one of the places where female creators of color get a better shot at success than the notoriously slow, white, and male world of mainstream Hollywood movie studios, there’s a better shot we’ll see the final result. Fingers crossed.

Vauxhall and Di

So there’s a story floating around, one that may or may not be fully true, and it involves Princess Diana sneaking out of Kensington Palace at night dressed as a man, accompanying her friend Freddie Mercury on a trip out to a gay bar, and getting away with it. And come on, you want that story to be real in such a major way that whether or not it actually happened is kind of irrelevant, right? Right. That’s why it’s been turned into a stage musical. The brand new baby production, known as _Royal Vauxhall_, from creator Desmond O’Connor, is still in the nightclub performance stage, but it’s already leaps ahead of the current jukebox musical trend, thanks to original songs and a scrappy sense of purpose, one where obscure but relevant gay cultural history is brought to light (or perhaps invented wholesale). Nobody knows where this is going, but it all feels very Hedwig-esque, possibly moving on to a huge, appreciative audience when a visionary investor comes aboard. Like they always say, “print the legend,” it’s just more fun.

Romeo San Vicente lives his own legendary status every day.

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