In a continued effort to bring you all that is important in the world of gay entertainment and ensure that you are being spoon-fed images of gorgeous, commoditized manflesh, we present the newly-minted AfterElton Briefs. Following the usual assortment of carefully-selected news items, interested readers can find a refreshing pic of a hot man in underwear after the jump. Yes, we're serious.

• Insert "Gay Par-ee" joke HERE: Above, T.R. Knight and Katie Heigl take their BFF-ness international. What's French for "cute enough to spread on a croissant?"

• Another day, another headline-grabbing comment from always outspoken actor Rupert Everett, who discusses the "mindless drug addicts" and "party-grazing cows" that have dragged down Gay Pride.

• I complained about the ACTUAL gay content of this season's American Idol earlier today, and for those of you who disagreed, I happily present to you Defamer's celebration of the show's creeping gay-seeming apocalypse. You kids and your optimism!

• Check out eHarmony's list of 20 Movies that Make Men Cry, which - despite featuring a surprise Philadelphia - does not include Brokeback Mountain. I would suggest that they specify "Movies that Make STRAIGHT Men Cry", but it's a pointless distinction given how eHarmony doesn't think gay men exist. (t/y to Popcandy for finding!)

• There Wilby Birthday: He may be straight, but James Wilby stole many a gay heart when he starred as Maurice back in 1987. The actor turns 50 today.

• Finally, someone has created a Torchwood parody performed by falsetto-speaking Scottish sock-puppets. I know I'll sleep more easily knowing that's been taken care of.

And today's Briefs are brought to you by...

This past weekend, a new Rambo movie hit theatres, the first in 20 years. Recently, we've also seen a new Rocky film arrive 16 years after the previous one, a Die Hard sequel that took 12 years to reach theatres and a fourth Indiana Jones film - 19 years after Indiana Jones and the Lost Crusade - is expected to draw huge audiences in May.

Seeing so many characters return after a long absence got me thinking about the various gay characters who'd I'd like to see again and gay films that deserve a sequel more than Rambo does:

Parting Glances

The complicated relationship of Parting Glances is one that really leaves me wondering what happens next with Robert (John Bolger) running away to Africa to avoid the grief his partner, Michael (Robert Ganoung) will experience when Michael's ex-boyfriend Nick (Steve Buscemi) succumbs to his battle with HIV. Would Robert and Michael's relationship be able to survive Nick's death -- especially when Michael's lingering feelings for Nick was straining the relationship when he was still alive?

The Lost Language of Cranes

In The Lost Language of Cranes, Philip Benjamin (Angus McFayden) came out to his parents, only to eventually learn that his father, Owen (the unbiqutous Brian Cox), was hiding in the closet, as well. At the film's end, Owen had finally come out to his wife and son, moving out of the apartment he shared with his wife for many years. Even though the David Leavitt book that inspired the movie ended there, I've always wondered where Owen and Philip's journey went next -- how a man who comes out late in life like Owen adjust to such a change? How does a young gay man handle being more mature than his father when it comes to love and relationships?

Maurice

Much like, The Lost Language of Cranes, Maurice ends just as the main character has begun to accept himself as a gay man. That's the end of one journey, but the beginning of another. How did Maurice (James Wilby) navigate the homophobic atmosphere of early 20th century England?

Trick

The thing I loved about Trick when it came out was that this was a romantic comedy more about the differences between its two leading men than about being gay. They spent the movie realzing that they had more in common than they expected and whenever I see Trick I find myself imagining the challenges Gabriel (Christian Campbell) and Mark (JP Pitoc) would face while dating... Gabriel was surprised to learn that Mark found Gabriel interesting as a person, but would Gabriel see more in Mark beyond a hottie who found noticed him? How would the two navigate their very different circles, would Mark pull away from his friends, finding Gabriel's circle more interesting?

The Sum of Us

The Sum of Us seemed to end at a point when Jeff (Russel Crowe) was looking at a very different life, now having to take care of his father (Jack Thompson) after a stroke. It looked like he was about to start a serious relationship with Greg (John Polson) -- a man's first serious relationship while dealing with the stress of caring for a disabled father, that's enough of a story to fill another movie.

Of course, that's just a start... which gay movies have you wondering what happens next?

A couple of weeks ago I blogged about the second episode of British Film Forever, a seven-part retrospective of British cinema that has been running on BBC2 in the UK.

The fourth episode of this series was shown on Saturday night, and once again gay-themed films were included as a prominent and integrated part of the program (although, disappointingly, lesbian themes were once again completely ignored). Subtitled ‘Corsets, Cleavage and Country Houses’, this episode took a look at British costume dramas and the various ways in which they have reflected the past.

Ismail Merchant and James Ivory’s lavish adaptations of the novels of gay author E. M. Forster, such as A Room With A View and Howards End, have proved to be some of the most popular British costume dramas. But when the Merchant-Ivory team adapted Forster’s one gay-themed novel, Maurice, for the big screen in 1987, the results weren’t quite so financially successful.

Check out a trailer for the film here: