Best. Gay. Week. Ever. (August 1, 2008)

FOR YOUR VIEWING PLEASURE!
What's this? An actual movie with a gay character that is opening on more than three screens? Pardon me while I swoon! And swooning is the appropriate word as the movie in question is British and we all know how much the Brits like to swoon.

Of course, I'm speaking of Brideshead Revisited based on the novel by Evelyn Waugh which Brian reviewed here. On the plus side, the gay character has been made more overtly gay. However, as you can tell from the picture below of Sebastian Flyte (Ben Whishaw), we're not talking anything groundbreaking. In fact, Sebastian is your typical fey-19th-Century-self-loathing-queer-crushing-on-a-straight-guy-while-drinking-himself-to-death homosexual. At least he's not out killing women so he can put his lover's head on their decapitated bodies. That's a plus.

Ben Whishaw, Brendan Fraser, Nathan Lane

Last week Brent mentioned he suspected Brendan Fraser had been taking cute pills of late. You can check that our for yourself as Brendan's new flick The Mummy VII: How Long Can this Franchise Save My Career? opens everywhere. And fans of Nathan Lane can check him out in Kevin Costner's election comedy Swing Vote also starring Costner who clearly has not been taking cute pills.

Also opening is The Midnight Meat Train based on a short story by out writer Clive Barker who is also a producer on the movie. There are so many punchlines begging to be written about that title and Barker's involvement. However, this is a work-friendly site so I shall resist.

I'll also resist actually seeing this even though it stars Bradley Cooper who is not only taking cute pills, but high-dose injections of cuteness. I don't like horror movies, you see, and I've little doubt Barker's flick has all kinds of horrible moments in store for Cooper. On the other hand, perhaps Barker will make some of those moments homoerotic. Hmm...

Bradley Cooper, Clive Barker

DVD serves up a variety of choices including the British comedy Oh, Happy Day which I found to be an earnest attempt at gay rom/com, but one where both the comedy and the romance was too forced and clunky. Also out is the documentary Camp Out about gay Christian kids who get to go to a camp for gay Christian kids. I can only imagine what might have happened in this one if Barker had gotten his hands on it!

Out of the South has actually been out for quite some time, however I only recently had the chance to see it. In it, a group of men from — where else? — the South, recount their experiences of growing up gay below the Mason-Dixon line, what they hated about it, and what they loved. Most no longer live there, but despite some of their negative experiences, most of them speak of it with great affection and even talk about moving back some day. For those of us Northerners who think we know all we need to about being gay in the South, this documentary provides a little perspective.

On television, Friday night brings us the final episode in the three-part Doctor Who finale which last week saw Captain Jack (John Barrowman) back along with Ianto (Gareth David-Lloyd). Even better, both are slated to show in the last episode.

So what did everyone think of that surprise development with Salvatore (Bryan Batt) on the season premiere of Mad Men last Sunday? Pretty believable given the 1960's setting, but don't go looking for much in the way of developments in that storyline for a number of episodes. Which doesn't mean you mean shouldn't watch and help keep Bryan's show on the air.

Sunday night also has new episodes of Shameless (which I still haven't had time to get into), Brooke Knows Best on VH1 (which I won't be making time to get into) and the season finale of HGTV"s Design Star which will see if the out Matt Locke follows in the shoes of Season One winner David Bromstad. Don't forget David Hyde Pierce on PBS tonight.

I'm very curious to see where things go on Monday night's episode of Weeds. Will we see more of Detective Till's relationship with Detective Schlatter? Of course, we've already seen more of their relationship than we do with most other gay couples on television. Cough Desperate Housewives Cough.

Detective Schlatter and Detective Till

Just how edgy does Showtime get? Before the two detectives start kissing, Till removes a bottle of lubricant from his nightstand. We won't be seeing that on As the World Turns. Or Brothers & Sisters. Or anywhere else on broadcast television.

Also on Monday night is the premiere of VH1's I Want to Work for Diddy featuring out contestant Rob Smith who will be chronicling his time on the show exclusively over on our blog. Check out his first installment here.

Can Tuesday TV get any more gay?