Friday, May 27, 2005

TV ROUNDUP
This week, Michael started a custody war, Brian bought Babylon, and Justin returned from Hollywood on the season premiere of the final season of Queer as Folk, while NBC officially confirmed that next season will be the last for Will and Grace.

NEWFEST
NewFest 2005, New York's largest gay and lesbian film festival, begins next week. This year's lineup includes some promising films with gay men, like the Indian romantic comedy Chicken Tikka Masala, the Taiwanese romantic comedy Formula 17, the slapstick comedy Adam and Steve, and the legal thriller Strange Fruit, about a gay African American New York lawyer who goes back home to Louisiana to investigate the lynching of his friend.

ALEXANDER'S GAY SUBPLOT STONED
On August 2nd, Oliver Stone is releasing both the original theatrical version and an even more de-gayed version of Alexander, the critically maligned epic starring Colin Farrell as the bisexual Greek warrior-king. Stone, who has publicly attributed the movie's poor showing at the box office to the gay subplot, has cut eight minutes from the Special Edition Director's Cut, including most of the scenes dealing with the relationship between Alexander (Farrell) and Hephaistion (Jared Leto).

Unfortunately, he has reportedly left Angelina Jolie's really bad foreign accent intact.

REMAINS OF HOMOPHOBIA
Noticeably missing in most of the obituaries written this week about the death of 68-year-old gay filmmaker Ismail Merchant--one half of the acclaimed film company Merchant-Ivory Productions, which produced classics like A Room With a View, Howard's End, and Remains of the Day)--is any mention of Merchant's 44-year romantic relationship with James Ivory. Only the L.A. Times mentioned the two were more than business partners, as the Washington Blade points out.

SAY A LITTLE PRAYER
Rupert Everett has found a publisher for his memoirs: Time Warner paid $1.8 million for the right to publish his tell-all book, according to the London Daily Mail. The actor's tome will reportedly include stories about his experiences working Hollywood, and as a male prostitute. But I repeat myself.

That's it for this week! Check back next Friday for a new installment of Best. Gay. Week. Ever.