Out (and sunburned?) director Adam Shankman (Hairspray) at the MTV Movie Awards (Photo: Getty)

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.

• Sour Milk: The LA Times charts the development of Gus Van Sant's project, which left a 16-year-gestating rival endeavor dead in the water.

• Margaret Cho has joined the cast of Shifting the Canvas (aka The Gayest Little Movie that Ever Was, Is, or Ever Will Be, As Soon as It's Actually Filmed) playing "Marianne". She joins Alan Cumming, Matthew Montgomery, Cheyenne Jackson, Gedde Watanabe, Scott Thompson, Will Wikle, and the earthbound ghost of Paul Lynde.

• An article in the recent New York Times Magazine discussed what straight people can do for gay marriage. Easy answer: Buy us cutlery!

Ross "The Intern" Mathews at the MTV Movie Awards

• Fashion legend Yves Saint Laurent died over the weekend in Paris, at age 71, of a brain tumor.

• Ugly Betty's Alec Mapa talks about his upcoming NYC Pride show, among other things, in this revealing interview.

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

Straight-but-not-narrow actor Damian T. Raven, star of the just-renewed DL Chronicles

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.

• T.R. Knight has pooch in his trunk! Or bark in his boot! Something!

• The here! series The DL Chronicles, which tells the stories of "downlow" men, will return for a second season. The series was recently nominated for a GLAAD media award and is one of the few projects out there actively discussing gay men of color.

• How appropriate that today's Nuke kiss on As the World Turns (the first in what, seven months?) came on the five-year anniversary of the first same-sex kiss in daytime history, between two women on All My Children. Kismet?

• Director Stephen Daldry and gay pop legend Elton John held a press conference in NY to announce the cast of their new Billy Elliot Broadway musical, based on Daldry's film.

• Madonnarama! John and Colin from NewNowNext posted a special vlog with their take on Madonna's upcoming Hard Candy album and some cute behind-the-scenes outtakes with Madge and boytoy Justin Timberlake.

• James Franco discusses his role as Sean Penn's lover in Milk, and has some very nice things to say about Penn (the best on-screen lover he's ever had), director Gus Van Sant ("soft-spoken"), and the project overall ("comfortable and easy").

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

Sean Penn reportedly took matters into his own hands (and lips) when shooting a disco birthday party scene for Gus van Sant's Harvey Milk biopic.

Performer Mark Martinez (aka Flava), who plays disco legend Sylvester in the scene, spoke to E! about his time on the shoot, including an impromptu kiss between him and the star:

“All of a sudden, Sean’s pointing at me, and he’s talking to the assistant director,” Martinez says. “The AD comes up to me and says, ‘Just to let you know, you are now going to break up Sean and [costar] James Franco’s conversation. You’re going to grab Sean, and Sean’s going to be really excited, and he’s going to kiss you.’”

And that he did. “I’m performing, and he comes onto the dance floor,” Martinez explains. “He grabs me, and he just slaps the biggest kiss on me...It felt like the kiss was forever. I’m like, Is he going to stop? I had to close my eyes. I couldn’t believe it.”

Martinez added that he tried to convince an obviously amused van Sant to do another take, but the director said that they got the shot.

Now our real question is, will Penn be kissing his co-star in the film? Like a real couple? 

Happy Birthday, John Barrowman!

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.

• Gus van Sant's Sean-Penn-starring Milk wrapped shooting in San Francisco this past weekend, and all I got was this lousy t-shirt a few different handfuls of snaps. Anyone else think it looks like Cruising without the Crisco?

• Exactly how many times did Neil Patrick Harris say "vagina" during the Q&A for Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay at SXSW? And while we're on the subject, the pic got a near rave from Variety, who called it "one of the ballsiest comedies to come out of Hollywood in a long time."

• J.K. Rowling again expressed her shock that anyone would be bothered by Hogwarts headmaster Albus Dumbledore's being gay, adding, "I think homophobia is a fear of people loving, more than it is of the sexual act."

• Stephen Colbert spun comedy gold out of the Governor Eliot Spitzer scandal (notice how no one is calling it a "Straight Sex Scandal!"), including noting that his "whoredar" failed him and that he is the prostitute who engaged Spitzer, but that most of his $4300 hourly fee went to his pimp, Jon Stewart.

• Twittering from SXSW, Whitney from Popcandy had this to say about the new comedy Forgetting Sarah Marshall (which stars Veronica Mars' Kristin Bell and How I Met Your Mother's Jason Segel): "It was funny throughout with repeated full-frontal male nudity and awesome puppet vampires!" Finally, someone has made a film out of my ongoing inner monologue.

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

Today two movies hit screens that come from very different gay directors. Though Gus van Sant and Roland Emmerich could not be more different when it comes to the types of movies they make, both have achieved phenomenal success in the film industry as out gay filmmakers.

Paranoid Park
Gus van Sant's latest film is a meditation on guilt centering a teenaged boy who accidentally kills a security guard at a trainyard and opts not to tell anyone about it. Newcomer (and Myspace-cast non-actor) Gabe Nevins stars as Alex and is in nearly every scene of the movie, and van Sant is fortunate that the kid is incredibly watchable in the role.

Despite boasting gorgeous, haunting visuals and a complex, hypnotic soundtrack (blending music and ambient sound into a highly personalized soundscape that surrounds Alex like a cocoon), the film is oddly detached and difficult to invest in. Alex is really a good guy and he means well, and it's easy to feel for the kid and his situation. But because of the gauzy, experimental feel and the lack of plot, it's not the kind of film that sticks with you long after. If you're a fan of van Sant's work, like looking at skaters (a friend on mine calls van Sant's recent string of films beginning with Elephant "diet Larry Clark"), or enjoy moody films that push the narrative envelope, definitely check it out. If not, you might be best to wait to see what the director does with Milk.

Yesterday the news hit the Webs that Gus Van Sant, who pulled a magnificent leapfrog move over director Bryan Singer in getting his Harvey Milk biopic into production first, had extended an invite for the X-Men wonderkind to make a cameo appearance in his Sean-Penn-led film, Milk.

Van Sant made it clear that scheduling such things is tough but that Singer had indicated that he was interested. So this leaves us with a delicious and rare inverse Fantasy Casting situation: What would you like to see Bryan SInger play?

It might be interesting to see Singer play assassin Dan White's lawyer, Douglas Schmidt, in faux newsreel footage or the like over the end credits. Singer could also play a customer at Milk and partner Scott Smith's Castro camera shop. Or a pot legalization demonstrator, disco flag-dancer, blue-skinned mutant, or city councilman.

Or how about a Twinkie?

Any suggestions? 

In Memoriam: Suzanne Pleshette, 1937-2008

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.

• Cheyenne Jackson, Raul Esparza, Dennis O'Hare, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Mo Rocca and more will be among the sleep-deprived stars performing the 24-Hour Musicals tonight at Joe's Pub. For charity!

• You have to get up pretty early in the morning to beat the Maxim guys at recycling gay jokes from 2004 regarding the sexuality of celebs like Matthew Broderick, Oscar de la Hoya and Hugh Jackman. Damn they're good!

• Here's an interview with Gus van Sant in which he discusses his newest film, Paranoid Park (no mention of Milk, though).

• I Now Pronounce You Razzie-Worthy: Chuck, Larry and company earn Golden Raspberry noms (the low watermark of Hollywood badness) in all major categories except for Worst Actress ... because Kevin James doesn't count.

• Terrence McNally's Corpus Christi, which depicts Jesus as a gay man who gets "Biblical" with Judas and performs a gay marriage, is still causing controversy after nearly a decade (this time in Australia).

Last week we noted that the cast of Milk (which at that point included Sean Penn, Josh Brolin, James Franco, Emile Hirsch, Victor Garber, Stephen Spinella, and Denis O'Hare) couldn't get any better. Well, it's a new week! Focus Features has announced that Diego Luna (Y tu mama tambien, The Terminal) has joined the cast of Gus van Sant's Harvey Milk biopic, playing Jack Lira, a troubled young lover of Milk.

It's also being reported that Lucas Grabeel, best known from his work dancing alongside Zac Efron in High School Musical, has been cast as Danny Nicoletta, another of Milk's supporters who also worked in Milk's San Francisco camera shop. Meanwhile, Big Love's Douglas Smith has been cast as Milk supporter Paul Hogarth.

Denis O'Hare

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.

• When he's not busy crooning in front of digitally-altered backgrounds for Eli Stone, gay pop legend George Michael is busy selling his memoirs for an unprecedented sum. And they say potheads are lazy ... you go, George!

• Gus Van Sant's Milk biopic gets even gayer, with out Broadway powerhouses Denis O'Hare and Stephen Spinella joining the cast (Victor Garber has been cast as well). Now it's a bit of a shame that they couldn't have cast any gay actors as the actual gay couple central to the story, but let's not look a gift civil rights martyr biopic in the mouth. And really, with Sean Penn, Josh Brolin, Emile Hirsch, and James Franco already locked, is this not shaping up to be one of the strongest male casts ever?

• I strongly urge you to keep this clip of Brenda Vaccaro screaming in Supergirl open at all times and ready for quick-fire use when your boss asks you to do something.

• We just heard that the second season of Logo's Big Gay Sketch Show will feature cameos by Kate Clinton, Chastity Bono, Elaine Stritch, Christine Ebersole and that lady in the center of the above pic, Rosie something-or-other. Whatever, they had me at the cutie-patootie new cast member at the back left.

• "La Morte Boheme": Rent will be put to rest June 1, only about 5 years after the artsy downtown neighborhood from which it sprang was converted to a Starbucks.

Out actor B.D. Wong

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.

• The trailer for Gus van Sant's Paranoid Park is way better than I had expected. (My initial fears that he was wandering into Larry Clark territory were likely unfounded.)

• I'm fine with a Fight Club musical, as long as they keep the penguins.

• Out actor B.D. Wong is among the TV procedural vets that appear in this amusing strike video about a crime show that has an "impossibly hot" cast but no writers. Favorite line: "We're thinking that we had an episode like this once where her mom did it ... so maybe this also was her mom. It was a little similar to this."

Dirty Laundry cutie Rockmond Dunbar

• Gay indie film Dirty Laundry (which we reviewed over here) has been nominated for an NAACP Image Award. Clay Cane points out the progress this represents given the organization's conservative history, and also brings up some interesting points about Angelina Jolie's nomination for A Mighty Heart.

• And don't forget to come back at 10 PM EST to join in the fun on the liveblog of Make Me a Supermodel! Anyone have any ideas for a virtual drinking game? How about a shot every time we see Nikki Taylor's gums?