Visionary gay designer Alexander McQueen and Miss Jackson at the opening of his new L.A. store

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.

• Gossip Girl's Chace Crawford is cool with the gay rumors, saying that it means he's "made it" in Hollywood. (Yes, but made it with whom?) In related news, congrats! We've all made it in Hollywood!

• Here's the strangest press release for a faux memoir of a self-obsessed gay hitman who tangles with art thieves, alien invasions and "would-be vampires" that I've seen all week. (the novel is called Renaissance Killer)

• Hey, As the World Turns fans: Luke actually popped up out of the blue in one scene at the end of today's episode to tell Holden what happened between him and Noah on Monday. What, Holden doesn't have TiVo? Sheesh...

• The in-production prison romance I Love You Phillip Morris is getting some serious promotion already at the in-progress Cannes Film Festival. (Cinematical via Towleroad)

• A recent advertising study focusing on brand loyalty of gay consumers tells us what we already know: we prefer companies that don't ignore us or treat us like dirt. A spokesman for the firm that conducted the study noted that "gays and lesbians are fiercely loyal customers to brands they perceive as reaching out to them". Well, at least he said "fierce".

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

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.

• In case you were wondering, Neil Patrick Harris is, on a scale of "awesome to awesome" ... "awesometeen". And great news: Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog is in the can!

• The Sunday Times film section bemoans the death of masculinity in American films, citing the Judd Apatow Schlub Factory as responsible for burying the macho idols of the past. Uh, sorry ... Katherine Hepburn could have taken Cary Grant in a fistfight any day of the week.

• If you'd like to help counteract the AFA's campaign against Luke and Noah, it's best to send emails and letters directly to Procter & Gamble, and not using the AFA's comment generator, as the recipients may not have the bandwidth to read the actual emails and may simply record the AFA-generated emails as a strike against our fellas.

• Happy birthday to short-lived Project Runway designer turned dashing television corpse ... Jack Mackenroth!

• Looks like Rodrigo Santoro's role in the upcoming Jim Carrey gay prison romance comedy I Love You Phillip Morris is just about as flamboyant as his role in 300.

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

According to today's Variety Ewan McGregor has signed on to play opposite Jim Carrey in the gay prison romance, I Love You Phillip Morris.

Carrey was attached to the project earlier this year. He will play Steven Russell, a married con man who gets sentenced to 3 years in the Texas prison system and falls in love with his cellmate, the titular "Phillip Morris." McGregor will play Morris.

When Morris is eventually released from jail, Russell escapes no less than three times in order to be with him.

The script is based on a book by Houston Chronicle crime reporter Steve McVicker, and the project begins filming this spring after Carrey finishes up work on a Robert Zemeckis motion-capture project (a la Polar Express & Beowulf). This will push the release date for I Love You Phillip Morris to early 2009.

Me, I can't wait for this film and couldn't be happier with the casting. Jim Carrey won me over a few years ago with Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, and I've been a big fan of McGregor's since Trainspotting. And not simply because he's the film industry's go-to guy for full frontal nudity. (The man has flashed his giblets in too many films to mention.)

Oh all right, after the break I'll mention. And I'll throw in some hot pics of the Scottish actor looking saucy in a kilt to boot!

Via Towleroad.com comes news that Jim Carrey is soon to play gay in I Love You Philip Morris. The flick tells the story of one Steven Russell, a married Texas inmate who fell in love with his cell-mate while incarcerated. When his cell-mate was released from prison, Russell escaped four times in order to reunite with his jailhouse love. I haven't read the book so I can't say whether or not Russell's feelings are reciprocated or not.

The Variety article leaves out a few interesting details including the fact that Russell was apparently a genius who just couldn't keep out of jail. His first jailbreak was achieved simply by grabbing a walkie-talkie and walking out the door. (That seems to have less to do with his genius than the guard's stupidity.) His last escape was done by faking his death as an AIDS patient along with his own death certificate. Twice he left prison and landed six figure jobs for corporations. (Hmm, someone wasn't doing their background checks.)

I can't say I'm wild about Carrey's being cast in the part, but to be fair, his signing on for the role is probably the reason the movie is getting made. And I'm glad it was pitched as Brokeback Mountain meets Catch Me if You Can as that indicates they don't intend to whitewash the romantic aspects--hopefully. And being pitched as half Brokeback also indicates that maybe there are finally some signs of life in the gay genre after all.

I think this is Carrey's first time in a gay role, but not his first in a movie with gay interest. That would be 1992's Doing Time on Maple Drive where Carrey played Tim Carter, the alcoholic brother of Matt Carter (William McNamara) a young gay man who comes out shortly before his marriage. It was actually not a half bad television flick and showed Carrey had some acting chops that he has used occasionally since then. Even though the movie is being touted as a little bit of Bad Santa, hopefully Carrey can keep the overacting to a minimum and make this one work.