Last week, I blogged about Taking Woodstock,the upcoming biopic of Elliot Tiber, the gay man who was instrumental in bringing the music festival to fruition. Well, it seems that Academy Award-winning Brokeback Mountain director Ang Lee has chosen a leading man, and in a surprising decision, it's stand up comedian (and Beatles-tressed) Demetri Martin. (Martin is currently in negotiations, so nothing's signed yet.)

Demetri is best known for his "Trendspotting" bits on The Daily Show, and I've had the hots for him I've been a fan of his deadpan style for a while. I'd be curious to learn what kind of casting process came up with his name, though. He certainly isn't the first one that springs to mind when you think of "gay hippie" ... although he certainly has the hair for it.

After the break, you can see one of my favorite Demetri bits, "Material Enhancers".

Ang Lee, the Academy Award-winning director of the landmark film Brokeback Mountain, is set to boost gay visibility yet again with the biopic Taking Woodstock. It's based on the memoir by Elliot Tiber, who was instrumental in bringing the famed music festival to a farm in upstate New York. From Tiber's website:

In the summer of 1969, Elliot Tiber's life changed in a way he never could have foreseen. Greenwich Village had become the mecca for gays in America. There, Elliot had socialized with the likes of Truman Capote, Tennessee Williams, Andy Warhol, and a talented young photographer named Robert Mapplethorpe, and yet had managed to keep his gay life a secret from his family. Then on Friday, June 27, Elliot walked into the Stonewall Inn and witnessed the riot that would galvanize the gay movement in the United States. And on July 17, when Elliot read that the Woodstock Concert promoters had lost their license to stage the show in Wallkill, he called to offer his help in finding a new venue. In the days that followed, Elliot found himself swept up in a vortex that would change his life forever.

Should be a fascinating movie, and with Ang at the helm, will definitely be visually splendid (this is, after all, the man who made Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon), and be gay positive (in addition to Brokeback, he also made the 1993 gay comedy The Wedding Banquet).

With this film, and the upcoming Milk , it's heartening to see great filmmakers looking into our past, and telling the truth about our history.

Riechen Lehmkuhl at the Queer Lounge 

After a mellow opening Thursday night at the Sundance Film Festival – with opening film In Bruges – and rowdy shindig at concurrent festival Slamdance, things have sparked to life here in Park City, Utah. Celebs are appearing, much to the delight of paparazzi stalking Main Street – I walked alongside Alan Rickman, who attracted a handful of shutterbugs. Allegedly, Ang Lee was spotted drinking a Gatorade in Albertsons' supermarket. Colin Farell is all over the place. And I ran into High School Musical 2 co-star Kaycee Stroh in the Reaction swag lounge admiring Unstoppable brand "F*ck You" hats. Not that she can wear them just yet. "When I'm no longer with Disney, totally!"

Ah, swag, another "S" word that entails part of the Sundance hubbub. Being that today wasn't a heavy movie day for me – the queer films start bowing on Saturday (including Amy Redford's The Guitar, Isaac Julien's Derek, and Bruce LaBruce's Otto, or Up With Dead People) – I spent time investigating the numerous Main Street swag enclaves.

At the Revaleskin Rejuvenation Lounge I was treated to an EarTherapy consultation, during which my ears were inspected and massaged; Her Native Roots survival kits; cool organic Eco Gear, and of course Revaleskin products, which utilize uber-antioxidant-loaded coffee bean berries. At The Reaction Hospitality Lounge & In Touch Café at STEREO had some primo stuff including Triple Five Soul jackets and new Kenneth Cole scents (sales of which benefit Hope USA and Habitat for Humanity).

Meanwhile, The Queer Lounge opened its doors. And the evening ended with the Outfest Filmmaker Party at the Heineken Lounge, where Eating Out producer Michael J. Shoel told me an Eating Out 3 is in the works, to be co-written by Q. Allan Brocka and EO2 director Philip Bartell … Yes, things have just started and it only gets gayer from here!

Saturday morning kicked off with the press and industry screening of Amy Redford’s The Guitar, in which out actress Saffron Burroughs portrays a milquetoast New Yorker who, after discovering she has terminal cancer, goes credit card happy and has hot lesbian (and bisexual three-way!) sex. I found it entertaining, which seems to be the minority opinion asofar. “I thought it was dishonest,” scoffed a colleague. Well, sure. It’s fiction.

And off to the Queer Lounge for the PlanetOut Short Film Awards shindig. In fact there was a lot of lounging going on over the weekend. The Donnas performed a juicy set on Saturday night as part of the party for Isaac Julien’s Derek, a fantastic documentary/retrospective of the late Derek Jarman’s queer landmark work.

File this one under very frustrating but interesting nonetheless. The Los Angeles Times' Tom O'Neil, who writes the entertainment blog The Envelope, recently sat down with Brokeback Mountain director Ang Lee. Amongst other things, the two men (in a recorded interview) chatted about Lee's new film Lust, Caution which was just deemed ineligible for the Oscars. But later the chat turned to Brokeback Mountain's Best Picture loss to Crash and here is the frustrating part -- the battery on the camera died and the cameraman didn't notice. Oy. (Hattip to AfterElton.com reader Wayman!)

O'Neil reports that at first Lee downplayed on homophobia on the Academy's part, but when pressed finally admitted it might have been a factor. O'Neill writes in The Envelope:

At first, he politely dismissed the idea, being gallantly deferential to the academy and respectful to "Crash." But then, as I pressed him harder, he slowly began to concede that homophobia possibly played some role. But how big? Dang! I wish I could remember the exact words Lee used! We lingered on the subject for a long time and had a fascinating chat, but I don't want to try and paraphrase him now and risk misquoting him. We'll just have to pick up the conversation at some future point when I run into Lee again.

Perhaps O'Neil could next chat with film critic Roger Ebert about it.

Interestingly enough, a short time after talking with Lee, O'Neill chatted with Heath Ledger and the subject again came up. If you're wondering how controversial the issue still is in certain circles, check out Ledger's reaction according to O'Neill:

Ledger's face went flush with terror.

"Don't make me answer that question!" he begged, waving his arms to make the question go away, then covering his head with his hands.

(Above: Moritz Bleibtreu and Woody Harrelson play lovers in The Walker)

The Toronto Film Festival has become one of the biggest and most significant in the world in terms of deals and distribution. The fest recently announced its lineup, and it features some gay-related and gay-interest films in the bunch.

A Jihad for Love, by Parvez Sharma, is the first feature-length examination of the lives of gay and lesbian Muslims, whose lifestyles conflict with strict Islamic teachings.

Angel, directed by acclaimed queer(ish) filmmaker François Ozon, takes place in England, 1905. Angel Deverell is a gifted young writer who dreams of success, fame and love. But what will happen if all her dreams come true? The film stars Romola Garai, Lucy Russel, Michael Fassbender, Sam Neill and frequent collaborator Charlotte Rampling.

Barcelona (A Map) comes from director Ventura Pons, and according to the festival notes, "Incest, homosexuality and adultery are intertwined in the lives of six characters who come together in an old apartment in the heart of Barcelona." Nice to see homosexuality mentioned in such good company as incest and adultery, isn't it?

Chacun Son Cinema (Various directors): The Toronto International Film Festival is honoured to be showing this Cannes Film Festival favourite. More than 30 of the most distinguished contemporary filmmakers – including Canadians David Cronenberg and Atom Egoyan as well as David Lynch, Hou Hsiao-hsien, Roman Polanski, Gus Van Sant, Lars von Trier, and Wong Kar Wai – celebrate the 60th anniversary of Cannes with short films inspired by the cinephile’s place of worship: the movie theatre.

Lust, Caution, while not gay, is the latest film from Ang Lee. Following his Academy Award™ win for Brokeback Mountain, Ang Lee returns with an erotic espionage thriller set in WWII-era Shanghai, in which a young woman (Tang Wei) gets swept up in a dangerous game of emotional intrigue with a powerful political figure (the dashing Tony Leung from Happy Together and In the Mood for Love). Also starring Chui Wai, Joan Chen and Wang Leehom.

The Past follows the twists and turns in the life of Rimini (Hot 100 vet Gael García Bernal). After his divorce, he survives a string of relationships, loses his livelihood as a translator, becomes entangled in a child custody battle, lands in jail and recovers his ability to fall in love.

Smiley Face is the latest comedy from gay director Gregg Araki. (And by all accounts it actually already opened here in the States earlier this year, which is odd.) Jane F (Anna Faris), unsuccessful slacker actress, is having a bad day. Her misadventures begin when she treats herself to a batch of cupcakes left unattended by her psycho roommate (Danny Masterson) that prove not as innocent as they appear. Soon she is trying to cross town so she can repay an unforgiving drug dealer (Adam Brody), attend an audition, and somehow replace the precious cupcakes.

The Walker is the American Gigolo follow-up from Paul Schrader, starring Woody Harrelson as the titular hustler, who is in this incarnation a high-end society escort in Washington, DC (and this time around, gay). Kristin Scott Thomas, Lauren Bacall, Lily Tomlin, Willem Defoe, Ned Beatty, Moritz Bleibtreu and Mary Beth Hurt also appear.