Best. Gay. Week. Ever. (January 18, 2008)

UTAH GETS A LITTLE BIT GAYER. NOT THAT THAT'S SAYING MUCH
You might think the gayest thing about Utah these days is that it's the home of Survivor: China winner Todd Herzog. But for the next week at least, the state will be a little more gay-friendly thanks to the 2008 Sundance Film Festival. For the past couple of years, Sundance hasn't been quite as queer as years past, but this festival promises to be a little bit gayer thanks to the forty gay-related films set to show this year. (That tidbit comes courtesy of Queer Lounge, the Queer Film Networking group that debuted at Sundance back in 2004. Please note, all film stills courtesy of Queer Lounge.)

So what queer-themed films are hoping to use Sundance as a launching pad to Little Miss Sunshine-like box-office gold and awards glory? There are three flicks that seem like they have the star power and buzz to possibly go big places. The first is The Mysteries of Pittsburgh based on the beloved novel by Michael Chabon (pictured left).

Starring gay-fave Peter Saarsgard (Kinsey) as Cleveland Arning, MOP also features Sienna "I hate Pittsburgh" Miller as Jane Bellwether and Jon Foster as Art Bechstein. Aside from hating the name Phlox (Mena Suvari), I loved MOP as a book and have high hopes for the movie.

As is often the case when a book moves to big screen, the plot has been changed, in this case including the removal of the gay Arthur Lecomte. But a love triangle still forms the heart of the movie including a romance between Art and Cleveland.

I've seen a draft of the script and it does include a scene of Art and Cleveland having sex which should hopefully make it into the final cut (unless the folks over at As the World Turns get their hands on it. Bad, Michael, bad!)

Here are several pics from the film.

Peter Sarsgaard as Cleveland Arning

Sienna Miller as Jane Bellwether

Not everyone is down with the changes made from the book including this this group. AfterElton.com correspondent Lawrence Ferber is attending Sundance and will keep us posted about the film.