It's a movie spoof! It's Japanese! It's Gay! What more could a boy ask for on a Friday afternoon? We thought we'd give you a little something to laugh at while you're killing time until the boss says you can leave early for the holiday weekend. (Like you're actually working)

I've never been a big fan of James Cameron's schmaltz-fest Titanic, but it's impossible to deny that Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet's scene at the front of the ship has become as iconic as Meg Ryan's deli scene in When Harry Met Sally or that scene in Maurice when James Wilby and Rupert Graves are finally reunited in the pillow-laden boathouse and they kiss and then...or maybe that's just me.

It's so refreshing that The Star channel (a Japanese cable channel, or so I surmised as their entire website is in Japanese and I can only assume so much due to context) didn't go the whole Snicker's route with a gay-panic ending, or even the accidental embarrassing positions route. Instead the two men fully assume the roles from the movie, displaying affection and pleasure in the moment. Japanese society is so fundamentally different than America's in so many ways; it would be interesting to see how this ad was perceived by its intended audience.

Fur loincloths and pageboy haircuts may be back in fashion sometime soon (and not a minute too soon, in my honest opinion). Variety reports that Warner Bros. and Joel Silver have announced plans for a new live-action version of He-Man and The Masters of The Universe to be penned by Justin Marks, pending approval of the story by Mattel, the original manufacturers of the He-Man toys.

Though it lacked the obvious homosexual undertone of Race Bannon’s and Dr. Quest’s relationship on Jonny Quest, or the camp affectations of Snagglepuss, He-Man has been a gay fave since it premiered in the 80s. Not surprising considering that Prince Adam went from wearing a white muscle tee to a loincloth, leather boots and a metal harness as He-Man whenever he chose to use his “special powers”. Personally, I was a bigger fan of She-Ra, He-Man’s fabulous sister, but then I spent more than a few hours spinning in the backyard trying to transform into Wonder Woman.

One little point of worry is that the studio seems to be set on emulating the recent massacre-fest 300, at least in terms of style. Hopefully that doesn’t include the homophobic posturing, though the film's massive success doesn’t exactly discourage it.

No word yet on casting, but since the heydays of Stallone/Lundgren/Schwarzenegger-like musclemen are long gone, there doesn’t seem to be any obvious choice. Perhaps an unknown bodybuilder will come to the fore, or maybe He-Man will be slimmed down for the new century. Any suggestions on who you would cast?

On a lighter note, the following He-Man smash-ups give us a little insight into Castle Grayskull’s circuit scene.

A new biopic on Australia’s Foxtel TV1 is causing quite a stir in the Land Down Under. The King is the story of Australia’s beloved King of Television, Graham Kennedy, best known for hosting In Melbourne Tonight (a variety show heavily based upon America’s The Tonight Show in format, except without the celebrity interviews). An easy comparison would be that Kennedy was the Aussie Johnny Carson, however it seems he was more a combination Carson/Richard Dawson/Allan Funt, with a decades-long career that spanned variety shows, game shows, movie roles, newscasts and even a Funniest Home Videos show.

The only difference is that Kennedy was gay. Though it was considered an open secret within the Australian television community, the subject was not discussed openly until after his death two years ago, and many in his circle of friends are not happy that The King focuses in part on Kennedy’s sexuality. Tony Sattler, a comedy writer, (who with his wife, Noeline Brown, were Kennedy’s closest and oldest friends) recently commented in a Herald Sun article that “the film was obsessed with his homosexuality. I don't think people cared about that.” He goes on to opine that “If people had said, ‘I’m not going to watch a poof on TV’, then he'd never have rated.” Last October, Rob Astbury, a former top Australian Sportscaster, published King and I: My Life with Graham Kennedy, recounting his 20 year relationship with Kennedy. His book was met with much of the same criticism the movie is now receiving.

I have been living under a rock! Yesterday’s Boston Globe has an interview with Extreme Makeover: Home Edition’s hunky landscaper/designer Eduardo Xol (pronounced “soul”), which mentions, among many things, his status as one of Mexico’s first openly gay pop stars back in the 90’s.

I didn’t even know he was Mexican, let alone a pop star, not to mention gay. However, a quick look-up on the internet reveals that I’m the only who didn’t get the memo. Oh what I’ve been missing.

The main focus of the interview is Xol’s recently published book Home Sense: Simple Solutions to Enhance Where and How You Live, in which he advises the reader on how to decorate their environment in way that stimulates all the senses.

It also covers his circuitous route to becoming a designer. After working as an actor and model in Mexico, the Los Angeles born Xol went on to become a successful Latin Pop Star, and an openly gay one at that. In fact, he was often referred to as the “gay Ricky Martin.” (Okay, you can stop snickering now.) After burning out on the music scene he discovered his love of landscape design, which eventually lead to a successful landscaping business and then to Extreme Makeover.

Those of you with clue (unlike me) may have caught him at this year’s GLAAD Media Awards in L.A., where he and Wilson Cruz presented an award to Los Angeles based La Opinion for Outstanding Spanish Language Newspaper Coverage. During their segment Xol planted a kiss on the clearly enamored Cruz after he commented that Xol was “so big!” (He was talking about his height…seriously, genug with the snickering already. I have a picture to prove it).

I’ve also thrown in the cover of one his more successful albums looking appropriately pop star-ish (and disturbingly similar to David "Bud Bundy" Faustino). Enjoy!

So far, this year has seemed pretty bleak in terms of gay and lesbian content in the movies. There is, however, going to be at least one movie with a lead gay character gracing national screens. THINKFilm has just acquired the North American distribution rights to Paul Schrader’s The Walker starring Woody Harrelson, Kristen Scott Thomas and (the lesbilicous) Lily Tomlin, which premiered at this year’s Berlin Film Festival.

Harrelson plays gay as Carter Page, the “Walker” of the title (walkers are gay male escorts who accompany socialites to all those parties their absentee powerful husbands can’t be bothered to attend). In his role of gay boyfriend to the Ladies of Washington D.C., Page finds himself immersed in scandal involving his best friend, Lynn Lockner (Scott Thomas), which careens horribly out of control.

Given Schrader’s past films Raging Bull and Taxi Driver (for which he wrote the screenplays), and American Gigolo and Cat People (which he directed), it’s probably safe to assume that isn’t the point at which “hilarity ensues”. A few of Schrader's other pictures, like Auto Focus and The Comfort of Strangers have contained some homoerotic (or at least suggestive) content, but usually as one of the many dark desires knocking around in the straight man's depraved libido. It will be interesting to see if Schrader's portrayal will be an honest depiction of a gay in crisis, or will he use Page's homosexuality as yet another dark color to paint his cast of disaffected characters.

Of course, it won’t be bad to see Harrelson in some natty tuxedos (every man looks great in a tux). Unfortunately it doesn’t seem that there is any chance of a Brokeback-style love scene, but a boy can daydream. I’ve attached below a clip of Harrelson during his stint on Will & Grace (though he didn’t play gay that time, he was around other gay men, so it kinda counts. Besides, Debra Messing’s red pleather suit is gay enough for both of them).

Expect to see The Walker in theaters late in the 2007 to position it for consideration for the Academy Awards. Let’s hope it’s worth the wait.