News, Reviews & Commentary on Gay and Bisexual Men in Entertainment and the Media

Eastern Promises

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It's supposed to be the Super Bowl for gay men, but this year a lot of us are tuning out.

AfterElton Briefs: The Kite Runner's "gay subtext", Kathy Griffin's upskirt, and more!


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.

  • L.A. Times critic and "awards insider" Tom O'Neil made the bizarre suggestion that the film The Kite Runner should have been acknowledged by the GLAAD Media Awards nominating committee for featuring an adolescent male rape. (The character grows up to be a pedophile who molests both male and female children.) I saw the film and sorry - this "gay subtext" is neither gay nor subtext. Discuss.
  • Michelangelo Signorile will be hosting a live Gay Presidential Caucus on his Sirius OutQ radio show this week. While the promise of "representatives and supporters" of Clinton, Obama and Edwards leaves me wondering just what the quality of the participants will be (I mean, the guy who sells hotdogs outside of the Time Warner Center could qualify as a "supporter", right?), it should definitely be worth checking out.
  • Kathy Griffin (whom we just saw perform in New York, report forthcoming) did end up making the cover of The Advocate, despite telling Jimmy Kimmel that she wasn't sure she'd rate.


  • Above: Out producer/director Paris Barclay (pictured with Steven Soderberg) was among the guests at the SAG Awards last night.
  • Alright, this Zabruder-type deconstruction of a moment from last night's SAG Awards where John Travolta may or may not have checked out Viggo Mortensen is totally unfair. It's also going to quickly become the most popular animated avatar at Daddies4Travolta.com.
  • Towleroad has a look at a rather haunting portrait of Heath Ledger that the late star had commissioned shortly before his death.

Just announced! The 2008 Golden Globe nominations

 

Today the Hollywood Foreign Press Association announced the nominations for the 65th annual Golden Globe Awards. While there were very few legitimately gay films to choose from in the first place, some films with gay pedigrees (Hairspray, Sweeney Todd) racked up the nods.

Here's a rundown of the gay-related noms. They're trickling out gradually (and there are a lot to get through, between movies and television), so I'm updating as they hit the wire. Refresh for updates!

Best Picture (Drama)

Best Picture (Musical or Comedy)

  • Hairspray
  • Sweeney Todd 

Best Actress (Drama)

  • Jodie Foster, The Brave One

Best Actress (Musical or Comedy)

  • Nikki Blonsky, Hairspray
  • Helena Bonham Carter, Sweeney Todd

Best Actor (Musical or Comedy)

  •  Johnny Depp, Sweeney Todd

Best Animated Film

  •  The Simpsons Movie

Best Actress, Television (Musical or Comedy)

  •  America Ferrera, Ugly Betty

Best Supporting Actress, Television

  • Katherine Heigl, Grey's Anatomy
  • Rachel Griffiths, Brothers & Sisters

Best Television Miniseries or Movie

  •  The State Within

The Globes will be presented live on NBC on Sunday, January 13th. The full list of nominees (courtesy of Variety) is after the jump!

 

 

To Make a Long Story Short ... Viggo's big scene, Jordin's big single, and more

  • Harry Potter star and noted horse aficionado Daniel Radcliffe says he has no qualms about playing gay someday. Heck, he's been wearing a dress for most of his on-screen career already.
  • For those of you who read my review of Eastern Promises but only registered the words "Viggo Mortensen full-frontal nude Russian bath knife fight," it's your lucky day. (Note: Very NSFW and likely won't be around for long.)
  • Dan Savage (pictured above) appears in Slate's sex issue talking about ... um ... sex?
  • For you American Idol fans, here's a preview of Jordin Sparks' first single.


Preview MP3 of Jordin Sparks new single, "Tattoo":

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The gayest "Emmys" ever, Survivor is back, Neil talks, and more!
This film deserves a closer look for its treatment of a conflicted gay character.

... And who had the gay psycho killer with the vodka chaser?


Hot on the spurred heels of 3:10 to Yuma's gay-seeming brute, rumors are circulating that Eastern Promises, David Cronenberg's new thriller, also features a gay psycho killer. It's not quite clear which character in this violent London-set tale of Russian mob intrigue is the gay one, but from this review, it sounds like it might be Kirill (Vincent Cassel), the hyper-violent enforcer brother of Nikolai (Viggo Mortensen).

Gay psycho killers are of course nothing new, but it's a bit of a letdown to see this old chestnut pop back up after years of progress toward gay leads and heroic gay characters. Still, I have always found Cronenberg's work to be far more gay-inclusive than most (Crash had its lead explore bisexuality, while A History of Violence had a heroic teen character who was clearly intended to be gay, to name a few), so I'm willing to give the benefit of the doubt in this case that the character's sexuality will be a fully-integrated part of his character (however deplorable that character may be).


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