Retro Review - "Hercules"

"Joey, do you like movies about gladiators?" ~ Captain Oveur (Peter Graves) in Airplane!

I really have to hand it to Dwayne Johnson. The Samoan superstar who started out as a professional "wrestler" has become a household name (though I promise more people refer to him as "The Rock" than Dwayne) through a very successful and eclectic film career. He has done well in both action and family films and has a stellar reputation as a genuinely nice person and a very professional performer. And while he may be very unlikely to win an Oscar, genre awards are certainly within his reach. Last summer, Johnson hit theatres in terrible action director Brett Ratmner's Hercules (the second of 2 Hercules movies last year; the other starred the Aryanesque Kellen Lutz and was directed by rival terrible action director Renny Harlin). Based on a graphic novel by Steve Moore, this version is a rationalist's delight with a dash of 'magic' which results in a very mixed bag of a movie and happily surprising, not at all what J and I were expecting when we sat down to watch it Friday night.

Johnson's Hercules is a the leader of a band of mercenaries, all devoted to him and to promoting the legend of his own creation. When hired by the beautiful Ergenia (Rebecca Ferghuson), daughter of Lord Cotys (John Hurt) to unite Thrace and free the land from a monstrous army of 'demons' and 'centaurs' led by the vicious Rhesus (Tobias Santelmann), the group sets out for a promised payout of twice Hercules' weight in gold, enough for all of them to retire and live out their lives in peace. Among team Herc are mystic warrior Amphiaraus (Ian McShane); Autolycus, King of Thieves (Rufus Sewell); Amazon warrior Atalanta (Ingrid Bolso Berdal); nephew and story-teller/barker Iolaus (cutie-pie Reece Ritchie) and silent berserker Tydeus (Aksel Hennie). Also on hand is Joseph Fienes in the small but pivotal role of King Eurystheus, for whom Hercules slew the 'Hydra.'  

Almost everything (except McShane's drug-induced predictions) is refreshingly given a very rational and sensible explanation (I'm not sure if I liked the 'Hydra,' the 'demons' or the 'centaurs' more). The fairly good CGI is equally used to create gigantic sets and armies as well as a few hallucinogenic creatures. There are several violent and bloody battles which (I reluctantly must admit) Ratner's team actually handles quite well, with none of the blurring and confusion generated  in so many similar battle/fight sequences. The massive Johnson* (who looks about as Greek as I do) holds his own in uncomplicated role, while McShane and Sewell are more than up to the task of pulling off some of the sillier bits. Unfortunately not even Fiennes' appearance (last seen in "American Horror Story: Asylum") can make up for some of truly ridiculous things in that keep this movie from being worthy of a higher rating. For example...

J and I continue to grow closer and literally had the following same comments/complaints at the same time:

"If this is Ancient Greece, why does everybody except Hercules have a British accent?" (somewhat excusable, I suppose, given the mostly British cast)**

"How does everyone know who he is without every having seen him before?"**

"She (Ingrid) needs to play Nicole Kidman's younger sister."**

"A training montage in 2014?"**

"Saw THAT coming fifteen minutes into the movie."**

Action/Fantasy fans should have a good time with their brains in 'park.' There are all sorts of different eye-candies to go around for everyone but if you're expecting the kind of cheesy beefcake provided by Steve Reeves in the 50's and 60's, this isn't what you're looking for.  Let me put it this way:  Looking for a new take on classical story that provides loads of action liberally peppered with humor and rationalism? Enjoy. Looking for the classical Greek myth? Don't watch this or Sam Raimi's 90's TV show of the same name. **1/2 (Two and a Half Stars). Hercules is rated PG-13 in the U.S. for "epic battle sequences, violence, suggestive comments, brief strong language and partial nudity." It is available on Showtime OnDemand.

*He-he! I said "massive Johnson!" 

** Paraphrased/consolidated from similar comments/thoughts J and I shared about the movie.

More, anon.
Prospero 

 

"Penny Dreadful" is NOT a Drag Queen

Photo via EW.com

I guess I lied. Or rather, changed my mind. I'll talk about upcoming Sci-Fi movies soon, though. I promise.

And I while know I have talked a little bit about "Penny Dreadful," a new trailer has recently been released, distracting me once again with it's style and tone and very interesting (if not exactly original) concept, as well as a rather fascinating cast.

A little background...

In 1999, graphic novelist Alan Moore ("Watchmen") created "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen," in which several Victorian-era literary characters (Mina Harker, Captain Nemo, Alan Quatermain and others) work together for British Intelligence to 'Protect the Empire.' The series was turned into an infamously terrible movie with Sean Connery, Stuart Townsend and Shane West.

Building on that concept, while adding a decidedly dark supernatural element, Showtime's up-coming series "Penny Dreadful" takes that central premise and goes "American Horror Story" on it. Josh Hartnett (wasn't he supposed to be a 'Next Big Thing' once upon a time?); former James Bond Timothy Dalton; Eva Green and Broadway's Spider-Man, Reeve Carney head up the cast of this creepy, spooky, sexy series created by John Logan (screenwriter of Skyfall; Hugo and Gladiator).

My current favorite cable drama, "Shameless," is also on Showtime and will end it's (exceptionally gut-wrenching and hilarious) season soon. I can only imagine how much I'm going to love their steroid-infused version of TLEG via AHS.




I'm very pleased to see genre TV having such a renaissance. 

More, anon.
Prospero

A Pre-Apocalyptic Bicentennial

As of this writing, Australia and New Zealand are still standing well into 12/21/12 (and as I am updating this post it is actually 12:23 AM on 12/21/12 Eastern Time). But I started this post on 12/20 (confused yet?) just in time to celebrate the 200th Anniversary of the publication of the first edition of "Grimm's Fairy Tales" in 1812. 

The Brothers Grimm were folklorists and were the first to publish the tales they collected over the years. Without them, Uncle P's sister would not be the Disney Dork she is today. Indeed, Disney might be a completely different evil corporation based only on Hans Christian Andersen; Jules Verne; Helen Mayer; P.L. Travers; Sir Richard Burton; Carlo Collodi; Felix Salton and de Villeneuve. No Snow White or Sleeping Beauty; no Cinderella or Rapunzel. Or any of the recent spate of Fairy Tale movies, including the upcoming Jack the Giant Slayer and Hansel and Gretel Witch Hunters. 

And two of television's most popular television shows (ABC's ridiculous "Once Upon a Time" and NBC's equally ridiculous but far superior, "Grimm") wouldn't be enthralling the masses. And while it wasn't exactly a blockbuster, we shouldn't forget innovative experimental director Terry Gilliam's 2005 film The Brothers Grimm, an underrated and under-appreciated fantasy about how the authors might have gained their inspiration. Never mind the perfect casting of Matt Damon; Heath Ledger; Jonathan Pryce; Peter Stormare; Lena Headey and Monica Bellucci -- the connecting of several real Grimm plots may have proven too much for audiences who just didn't get some of the more subtle jokes and obscure references.

Even worse, audiences who only know the Disney versions of the stories and have no idea of the horrific elements in the original stories. Eyes plucked out by birds; heels and toes cut off to fit glass slippers; decapitated horse heads giving advice to a deposed princess; children hacking their families to death in a cannibalistic rampage... The stories may well have been written by Eli Roth or Stephen King. 

So here's too 200 years or terrifying fantasies that didn't always have happily-ever-after endings and the movies they've inspired:

And of course, what kind of gay musical theatre icon would I be, if I didn't include at least one number from Into the Woods:



Happily ever after, my butt!

More, anon.
Prospero

The Geekiest Gay Love You'll See This Week (Possibly NSFW Edition)

XXX-Men

Really? Another blog post from a movie geek about gay comics? Please... But let this play out. You know I have my own take on things. And this post is actually more for myself a few other fanboy friends. You all know who you are, Stephen; Aaron; Tom; Murph; Chino, Bill M. If you don't get it or can't identify, don't feel bad. I still love that you check in every now and then. So let's talk about comics, shall we?

The comics I read as a kid were Creepy, Eerie and Vampirella from Warren Publications. I know you are hardly surprised by this. The great thing about Warren was, they got around the infamous Comics Code by calling their comics "magazines" and publishing them in an 8"x11" format. The children of the original Tales from the Crypt, the Warren horror comics were dark and weird and silly and often had gorgeous covers from artists like Frank Frazetta. My friends and I would by them from Bob's Bookstore at 5 Points. Bob sold new and used books and comics. He also sold illegal half-cover comics, 10 for $1.00. My personal love of superheroes comes more from TV and movies than from the comics. I didn't discover most of their comic-book personae until I'd seen some other medium's version. And while their is plenty to love about the Marvel Universe, I will always prefer DC Characters. I may have mentioned a few times how many times I was Batman for Halloween (not to mention just playing in the yard with a big bath sheet tied around my neck). And don't even talk to me about tearing up at certain points during the good Superman movies. Yes, I really loved just about every Marvel movie in the past few years (Thor being the exception), but the DC characters are more... pained, I guess. Yes, even Superman - Kal-El is an alien, after all. The LGBT community as a whole may identify more with Marvel's X-Men (and I certainly do, to some extent), but DC's tortured souls speak to me differently. Anyway...

Bill M. is also a DC guy. Bill's love of Superman is equal to mine of Batman. Bill and I met this past spring and quickly found out we love many of the same things and have been posting all kinds of Superhero nonsense on each other's Facebook timelines. Many of our friends have caught on and also post similar things to both of us. Today, sweet Stephen in Portland posted a picture of some hand-painted Christmas ornaments with the logos of several superheroes. Well and good, until my friend Aaron asked "What is Cap(tain America) doing with all those DC characters?" I looked at thepicture again. Yup. Batman; Superman; Flash, Green Lantern (all DC) and Captain America (Marvel). "I didn't make them," I replied, "but the thought of Cap and Bats is pretty hot."

Aaron then linked to the cover for a DC/Marvel crossover with Batman and Captain America joining forces. "No Rule 34" he said. So of course, Uncle P, being the dirty old bear that I am, went looking for Rule 34. And man, is there lots of it!

I'm not sure if that's Brandon or Tom (maybe Tom's head on Brandon's body?) in that composite on the left but it's definitely the work of a gay geek with some mad Photoshop skills and a dirty mind. I personally don't see this particular pairing as very probably in a gay cross-over story. Most of the fan-made gay superhero stuff online is in the form of paintings and drawings (and plenty of 'shopping), usually deliberately done in the style of an established comics artist. Here are a few I found:

Why Does Superman Look So Surprised?

Gay Emo Superboy

Who the Hell Are These Guys?

Of course this fascination with turning established characters gay is hardly new:

Highly Illogical

Oh, Mr. Frodo!

Malfoy Has a Magic Wand

Still a Better Love Story Than Twilight 

It's obvious that the fans want what the fans want. Give us some more hot gay boys, Hollywood! We've grown up since Brokeback Mountain. Of course it could all explode in our faces. Fan fiction also gave us "Fifty Shades of Gray" {violent shudder of revulsion}. I have lots more to say about this subject, but that's for another post.

I will say that 20 years ago, I wouldn't have written a piece like this (indeed, many of the pieces I've written). LGBT acceptance has grown beyond what I ever thought I'd see in my lifetime, and the comics were at the forefront of inclusion, long before many people even noticed. Both Marvel and DC have LGBT characters driving major story lines. Even the wholesome Archie Comics introduced Kevin Keller, an out and proud Military Officer, who married his African American partner Clay Walker this past January. Progress is slow, until it happens all at once. We're getting there.

Of course, there's nothing wrong in finding the humor in all it:

More, anon.
Prospero

Ranking Spielberg

Jurassic Park

Since Lincoln is opening this weekend (against Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part 2 - good luck with that, prestige picture), Vulture's Will Leicht and Tim Grierson took it upon themselves to rank all 28 of Steven Spielberg's previous films. I mostly agree with their lower rankings (Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull comes in dead last and deservedly so), though I had a few quibbles with their Top 10, so I decided to create my own list of the Top Ten Spielberg Films of All Time. And here it it is:

10. War of the Worlds - 2005 (Vulture's #6): As much as this movie has against it (Tom Cruise simply cannot play the 'Everyman' and Dakota Fanning spends far too much time screaming), it has an awful lot going for it. Josh Friedman and David Keopp's adaptation of H.G. Welles' classic is perfectly modernized for a Post-9/11 America and the effects are quite stunning. The only thing that keeps it from being higher on my list is the treacly, feel-good ending which ranks among the director's sappiest of sappy happy endings.

9. Jurassic Park - 1993 (Vulture's #12): David Keopp's adaptation of Micheal Crichton's mostly preposterous novel is spot on, as is just about every performance from its remarkable cast. A roller-coaster thrill-ride movie of the highest caliber, Jurassic Park holds up much better than many of Spielberg's other Sci-Fi Adventures nearly 20 years after it was made. And it is totally worth the price of admission just to hear Jeff Goldblum say "Think they'll have that on the tour?"

8. Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom - 1984 (Vulture's #11): This prequel (along with Joe Dante's Gremlins) inspired the mostly useless MPAA to create the PG13 Rating. Kate Capshaw may not be Karen Allen and Jonathan Ke Quan's borderline racist Short Round may be annoying, but Harrison Ford is at the peak of his hotness; the chamber full of insects is exceptionally creepy; Amrish Puri's Mola Ram is particularly villainous and that coal car chase sequence is nothing short of pure adrenaline.

7. The Color Purple - 1985 (Vulture's #20): Spielberg's adaptation of Alice Walker's novel had skeptics wagging their tongues. What did a White Jewish man know about the Black experience in the South of the 1920's and 30's? Assembling a top-notch cast which included Whoopi Goldberg (in a performance that should have won her an Oscar); Oprah Winfrey (what I just said about Whoopi); Danny Glover and the always amazing Dana Ivey, Spielberg's film is emotionally manipulative and probably 15 minutes too long, but it never fails to set me sobbing like the sentimental old fool I am. 

6. Saving Private Ryan - 1998 (Vulture's #5): I hate war films. I hated this movie. But I hated it because it brought home the horrors of WWII unlike any film had before. Grim and harsh with a rather amazing performance from Tom Hanks, Saving Private Ryan also suffers from a treacly Spielbergian ending, but it runs the audience through the wringer before it gets there.

5. Jaws - 1975 (Vulture's #4): Making lemonade from lemons turned Spielberg's first major motion picture into the first "Summer Blockbuster." If 'Bruce' the Shark had worked the way it was intended, Jaws would have been a very different movie and people might not have spent the latter half of the 1970's afraid to swim in the ocean. Terrific performances from Roy Schieder, Richard Dreyfus and Robert Shaw didn't hurt, and John Williams' score only added to the tension. A decidedly 'happy accident' movie, Jaws still can still inspire fear, nearly 40 years after it was first released. 

4. Close Encounters of the Third Kind - 1977 (Vulture's #8): Mysterious, exciting, fanciful and often beautiful, Close Encounters is a movie about wonder, awe and obesession. Richard Dreyfus gives one of his best performances as Roy Neary, an 'everyman' invited by extraterrestrial beings to join them on a trip to who knows where. After I saw this movie, I spent several weeks looking up at the night skies.

3. E.T. The Extraterrestrial - 1982 (Vulures's #2): Not the first or last time Spielberg would explore the themes of parental abandonment; peer exclusion; childhood wonder and distrust of authority, E.T. is still effective today in part because there has been no sequel to sully the experience of seeing for the first (or 20th) time, but also because it taps into so many universal childhood experiences. Christian allegories aside, E.T. manages to inspire hope that children know what's best for both humans and non-humans alike. It's also the prime example of the director's signature camera angles and close-ups.

2. Raiders of the Lost Ark - 1981 (Vulture's #1): Inspired by the serials of Spielberg and George Lucas' youth, Raiders is a nearly perfect adventure movie. Harrison Ford's Indiana Jones is a practically archetypical hero, brave; handsome; cocky (but not too cocky); sexy; resourceful and intrepid, Jones is the man every woman wants and every man wants to be. He fights Nazis; he travels the world; he finds exotic treasures... who wouldn't want to be Indy? Add a spunky heroine (was there ever an actress more perfectly cast as Marion Ravenwood than Karen Allen?), another exciting John Williams score, snakes, the Hand of God and officious government officials and you have one hell of a movie. I saw this movie with my sister on opening day and while we had no idea what we were about to see, we knew it was going to be special. And we were so very right.

1. A.I. Artificial Intelligence - 2001 (Vulture's #13): Stanley Kubrick intended to make this film, based on a short story by Brian Aldiss, but passed it on to Spielberg. Released two years after Kubrick's death, A.I. remains the director's most hotly contested film. With remarkable performances from Haley Joel Osment as David; Jude Law as Gigolo Joe; Frances O'Connor; William Hurt; Clark Gregg; Enrico Colantonio; Robin Williams; Ken Leung; Ben Kingsley; Meryl Streep and Chris Rock (among others), A.I. is most certainly Spielberg's masterpiece. Love it or hate it, A.I. is a heavy meditation on life; parental love; existentialism; reality; time and any other number of other subjects. It was my personal choice for Best Film of 2001; my choice for the Best Spielberg Film and my Number 2 choice for Best Science Fiction Film of All Time. Misunderstood by many when it was first released, A.I. continues to gain the support of film critics and cinephiles as time goes by.

What are your favorite Spielberg films?

More, anon.
Prospero

We're Not in Omaha Anymore, James

A few months ago, Disney released a rather impressive trailer for director Sam Raimi's Oz: The Great and Powerful, a prequel to the most beloved fantasy film of all time, The Wizard of Oz. Unlike Gregory Maguire's political satire Wicked, which explores the relationship between the the witches of Oz before the arrival of Dorothy, Raimi's film delves into the arrival of the Wizard into the land of Oz. 

The sexually ambiguous James Franco is Kansas magician Oscar Diggs who finds himself transported to Oz where he meets  the witches Theodora (Mila Kunis); Evanora (Rachel Weisz) and Glinda (Michelle Williams) who draw him into a power play for control of Oz. Today, Disney released the full trailer, and it looks nothing less than magnificent.

Raimi (despite Spider-Man 3) remains one of my all-time favorite modern directors. He has a very distinctive visual style and a rather twisted sense of humor (which is quite apparent in his brilliant horror movies Evil Dead II and  Drag Me to Hell). Personally, I can't wait for his take on L. Frank Baum's iconic characters. 

Of course, I'm one of the few people who loved Disney's 1985 film Return to Oz, a rather dark sequel to the original, which stuck much closer to Baum's novels than the 1939 classic and introduced audiences to a young Fairuza Balk, who would later go on to become a Goth film icon.

Disney is banking on Raimi to create an Oz franchise with this new film, though I'm guessing that the film version of the Steampunk-inspired musical based on Maguire's novel will be the movie to move the story forward given Maguire's two sequels to his original novel.

More, anon.
Prospero

Retro Review: "Snow White and the Huntsman"

While I missed it when it was released to theaters in May, I very much wanted to see Snow White and the Huntsman and while in Miami, I got the chance to rent it as an in-room movie Saturday night. 

I really loved almost everything about this movie, especially its dark and violent tone. And while many find the 1937 Disney classic to be rather dark, Snow White and the Huntsman is no Disney fantasy. 

The movie opens with the deaths of both Snow White's mother (from an unspecified illness) and the murder of her father (hottie Noah Huntley of 28 Days Later and Your Highness) at the hands of his beautiful but ice cold new wife, Ravenna (the stunning beauty Charlize Theron). Snow White is hurried off to a tower cell where she grows up to be Kristen Stewart (Twilight). When the seemingly ageless Ravenna learns that she can attain immortality from her magic mirror (voiced by Christopher Obi of "Doctor Who" and Burke and Hare) if she can possess the beating heart of Snow White, Ravenna orders her creepy brother Finn (The Hurt Locker's Sam Spruell) to fetch her from the tower. Aided by a bird she'd rescued as a child, Snow escapes and makes her way to the Dark Forest, where Ravenna's horses cannot enter thanks to a convenient swamp. Ravenna then enlists Chris "Thor" Hemsworth's drunken Huntsman to retrieve her with the promise of resurrecting his dead wife. 

There are four reasons to see the movie: Theron, Hemsworth, the special effects and the eight amazing actors who portray the CGI enhanced dwarfs. Ian McShane; Bob Hoskins; Ray Winstone; Nick Frost; Eddie Marsan; Toby Jones; Johhny Harris and Brian Gleeson make up the rattiest, dirtiest and most delightful band of gold-hearted miscreants in recent memory, even if it is a bit disconcerting to see them shrunken down to a third of their actual sizes. Theron is nothing less than mesmerizing as Ravenna and her beauty shines through even when made up as an old crone. No one plays a beautiful, evil bitch like she can. Hemsworth is fine, though his affected Australian/Irish accent is occasionally weird to the ear and as in The Cabin in the Woods, he doesn't spend nearly enough time unclothed for my taste. Spruell is also fine, his creepiness aided by his pale makeup and a choppy, bad Page Boy haircut. 

Sadly, the dour-faced Stewart is hardly believable as someone who is supposed to be more beautiful than Theron (a task few young actresses would be able to fulfill), though it is the purity of her heart that makes Snow White the "fairer" of the two. Pretty Sam Claflin (recently cast as Finnick in The Hunger Games: Catching Fire) is the adult version of Snow White's childhood friend, William and he does his best with a role that could have been left out without affecting the movie in any way. 

The fantasy elements, which include a giant troll; some very weird fairies; mushrooms with eyes and a rather magnificent version of the fabled White Stag, are often breathtaking and add just enough whimsy to keep the movie from being relentlessly grim. First time director Rupert Sanders (who was instrumental in the break-up of Stewart and her Twilight co-star Robert Pattinson - he of the creepy, pasty flat face) does a fine job balancing the more realistic elements of the film with the fantastical, though the movie does get bogged down a bit in the middle, though the infamous Poison Apple scene is handled quite cleverly. Fans of the original Brothers Grimm tale won't be disappointed by the dark tone and general dirtiness of the movie (almost everyone is covered in grime, mud and soot), though I wouldn't recommend it for children who know and love the Disney version or for adults who prefer "pretty" fairy tales with easily achieved happy endings. I didn't (and have no desire to) see Tarsem Singh's comedic Mirror, Mirror but I imagine it can't begin to compare to this movie.

*** (Three Out of Four Stars). Snow White and the Huntsman is rated PG-13 for "intense sequences of violence and action, and brief sensuality."



More, anon.
Prospero

Trailerpalooza

Summer 2012 is far from over and while there are still several Summer movies I'm really looking forward to seeing (Total Recall; The Odd Life of Timothy Green; The Tall Man; ParaNorman and The Expendables 2 - Okay - D made me promise to see that one with him, and even though it co-stars my obsession, it's not exactly at the top of my list), there are loads of movies coming up this fall I also want to see, many of which have recently had trailers released online. So let's take a look at some of the movies I'm looking forward to seeing in the second half of the year, shall we? 

TOTAL RECALL:

I loved the Colin Farrell remake of Fright Night, and I think Farrell (as do many others) is hot! This version looks to be closer to the Phillip K. Dick story "We Can Remember It for You Wholesale" than the Arnold Schwarzenegger version.

THE ODD LIFE OF TIMOTHY GREEN:

This strange and sweet Disney fantasy may just be the palette-cleanser we all need after the rest of the summer's violent blockbusters.

PARANORMAN:
 Kodi Smit-McPhee (Let Me In) and the amazing Jodelle Ferland (Silent Hill) are among the voices in this animated fantasy about a boy who sees dead people.



DREDD:

Forget the ridiculous Stallone movie. Karl Urban (Star Trek) stars as Judge Dredd, the comic-book hero who never removes his helmet.

LOOPER:

Hot up and comer Joseph Gordon-Levitt (The Dark Knight Returns) and Bruce Willis star as a time-traveling assassin who is supposed to kill himself.

SINISTER:

Ethan Hawke is a true-crime writer who discovers a supernatural element to the story he's currently researching.

SILENT HILL REVELATION 3D:

I actually enjoyed the bizarre original adaptation of the creepy video game, thanks in part to terrific performances from Radha Mitchell, Jodelle Ferland and Sean Bean. The sequel looks equally bizarre and interesting.

CLOUD ATLAS:

Tom Hanks; Halle Berry; Jim Broadbent; Hugo Weaving; Susan Sarandon and James D'Arcy are among the many stars in the Wachowsky's adaptation of David Mitchell's complex novel about time, love, birth, death, and everything in between. I've watched this trailer several times, and it never fails to get me excited to see the movie. Watch this one in Full Screen.

SKYFALL:

Daniel Craig returns in his third outing as James Bond in director Sam Mendes' (American Beauty) take on the character and the genre. As long as Craig shows off that magnificent body, I'll be happy. though as a Bond fan since the Sean Connery days, I can't wait to see what Mendes has in store for us.

LIFE OF PI:

Director Ang Lee (Brokeback Mountain) adaptation of Yann Martell's novel about an Indian zookeeper's son who is shipwrecked with a variety of animals in the Pacific. Another trailer you should watch in Full Screen:

CIRQUE DU SOLEIL: WORLDS AWAY:

The first Cirque film, Journey of Man literally brought tears to my (and my companions') eyes with it's beauty. Their follow-up, Allegria, was a little too bizarre for most folks. The latest from my other obsession looks nothing less than amazing. Watch this one in Full Screen, as well.

While I probably won't get to see all of these films in a cinema (though I will make sure to see at least three or four of them on the big screen), I am excitedly anticipating seeing all of them in one format or another. What movies are you looking forward to see in the next few months? 

More, anon.
Prospero

The Gayest Things You'll See This Week

James Franco in Oz: The Great and Powerful

USA Network, these days known mostly for its original comedic procedurals like "Monk;" "Psych" and their latest, "Common Law" is breaking new ground this summer with "Political Animals," a 'limited series event' about a former First Lady and now Secretary of State (Sigourney Weaver) who makes a bid for the Presidency. Weaver is flanked by Carla Gugino as a print reporter shadowing her while trying to keep her job relevant and Chris MacNeil herself, Ellen Burstyn as Siggy's out-spoken, tart-tongued mother. Siggy and the POTUS emeritus (and soon-to-be ex-husband) have two sons, one of whom came out as teen while living in the White House. In the clip below (via), the son has apparently hired a rent boy, or as Chelsea Handler night say: "Oopsie!"

And then right after I watched that clip, I saw the jaw-dropping trailer for Sam Raimi's WOZ prequel, Oz: The Great and Powerful, starring James Franco; Mila Kunis; Rachel Wiesz; Michelle Williams and Zach Braff. Raimi's last film was the critically adored but audience ignored Drag Me to Hell, which I just out and out loved. This teaser trailer from Disney literally made my jaw drop. Watch this Shiz* in full screen and HD, if you can (also via):

I've watched it three times already and seen something new each time.Wow! Really can't wait for this one!

*Yes, that was both a Snoop Dog and Wicked reference, which JA over at MyNewPlaidPants says is now a go with Billy Elliot director Stephen Daldry at the helm. Anyone care to place bets on the casting of "Glee" diva Lea Michele as Elphaba? But who then as Glinda? Amanda Seyfried? Can she even sing? Who would you cast as Elphie and Glinda?

More, anon.
Prospero

Something Wicked This Way Passed

When Uncle P was in the 8th grade (When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth), I had an amazing and inspiring English teacher named Jack Fogarty, whom I have mentioned more than once here on Caliban's Revenge. Jack encouraged me to write and to act and to express myself and to be myself. He also taught me how to analyze a novel and the novel he used to do so was Ray Bradbury's dark fantasy "Something Wicked This Way Comes." A semi-autobiographical tale of an evil carnival populated by people who live off fear and steal souls. I was riveted and couldn't wait to see how it ended. And of course, I devoured everything I could find by Bradbury, afterwards. "The Martian Chronicle;" "The Illustrated Man;" "Dandelion Wine;" "Fahrenheit 451:" "The October Country;" "The Halloween Tree;" "I Sing the Body Electric;" the list goes on and on. Bradbury was a major influence on me and countless other writers. Even Steven Spielberg recently talked about how much Bradbury influenced his early films.

The prolific Mr. Bradbury wrote for TV and film and his works have been adapted into loads of movies and TV shows, including the Canadian anthology series "The Ray Bradbury Theater," which ran from 1985 to 1992 and was syndicated here in the U.S. He was good friends with movie effects pioneer Ray Harryhausen and presented Harryhausen with the Gordon E. Sawyer award at the 1992 Academy Awards. 

A life-long conservative, Bradbury was less than happy when documentarian Michael Moore named his 9/11 conspiracy film Fahrenheit 911, though he allowed the title to be used. When "Fahrenheit 451" was released as an eBook in 2011, Bradbury said  "We have too many cellphones. We've got too many internets. We have got to get rid of those machines. We have too many machines now." Interestingly, Bradbury also said "Fahrenheit..." was the only Science Fiction he ever wrote. He claimed the rest of works were fantasies, because they "...could never happen." 

His short story "All Summer in a Day" is probably my favorite. It's about a group of schoolchildren living on Venus where it constantly rains and the sun is only visible for two hours every seven years. Margot, who once lived on Earth and remembers the sun, is locked in a closet by her cruel classmates, who don't believe her accounts of what the sun looks like. She misses the two hour event and her classmates later feel remorse for what they've done. It's everything I felt as a gay kid, without the remorseful classmates (though I doubt Bradbury intended any gay undertones when he wrote the story in 1954). "Something Wicked..." remains my favorite Bradbury novel and I revisit it often. As I've mentioned several times, the 1983 Disney film adaptation starring Jason Robards and Jonathan Pryce is less than satisfactory.

Other screen adaptations of his works include:

 Fahrenheit 451



It Came from Outer Space
 


The Illustrated Man



The Electric Grandmother



The Wonderful Ice Cream Suit



and the lamentable A Sound of Thunder

Bradbury passed away on Monday at the age of 91. Like many of his fans and admirerers, I am mourning the loss of one of our smartest and most prolific fantasy authors. The world is better for having had him in it, and a little worse for having lost him.

More, anon.
Prospero

The Gayest Things You'll See This Week ( Probably NSFW Version)

Where's Uncle P? (click on Tracy Turnblad's wig to embiggen)

So, the first four performances are just memories. We are off tonight and most of the week (we do have a brush-up scheduled) and and by not jamming my toes into those "Cruel Shoes," my feet like they've died  and gone to Foot Heaven.

This picture was taken during curtain call, though I'm not sure at which performance. Think of it as a teaser for next week. This rather terrific cast of very attractive young folks with loads of talent, working alongside a trio of what they must think of as "Golden Oldies" (who between us have more shows under our belts than the other 29 cast members combined) has managed to become a show-family, at last. I see a young version of myself in them and I feel compelled to tell them to get out before it's too late. But would they listen? No. When it works, it's better than any artificial high there is and I'm afraid it's even more addictive than crack. Every single one of them is hooked for life, now.

Anyway, I'm being lazy (because tonight I'm just plain tired) and writing about three very different, but very gay videos I found at one of my usual haunts and thought worthy of sharing with those of you who may not have seen them.

Is This What They Mean by 'Sexting'?

First up is Jonny 'The Gay Pimp' McGovern's latest music videos for the singles, "#TOTDF" and "Man Areas" (Totally NSFW) from his album The Gayest of All Time. I've posted videos from Jonny before, and you might know him as a member of the 3-season Logo show "The Big Gay Sketch Comedy Show."  Featuring outrageously hilarious lyrics, a usually good dance beat and lots of semi-clothed men in flagrant displays of PDAs, Jonny's videos are always fun and sexy (via):

Now that's pretty gay.  But the next one is even gayer and a little naughtier (via):

This next clip is from the HBO series "Game of Thrones," based on George R.R. Martin's novel. Last week, Michael Offutt offered up (I love unintentional alliteration) his thought's on Martin's gay characters Renly and Loras and today, Towleroad posted this almost-steamy clip. You might get away with watching this one at work by saying you're just catching up on the show, but I still can't recommend it for most workplaces.

As much as I'd love to see this show, I just can't see paying for a premium channel that only has one or two shows I'd want to see. Besides, I simply don't have the time to invest in another series. Hairspray hasn't closed and I'm already working on publicity for Jeffrey, the JTMF 10th Anniversary show. I'm so glad this is the day job's slow period.

More, anon.

Prospero

Guest Blogger Michael Offutt on "Gays in 'Game of Thrones' Season 2"

Gethin Anthony as Renly Baratheon

With the return of Season Two of George R.R. Martin’s HBO series, A Game of Thrones, I wanted to examine the gay connection.  The first three books in the series, A Game of Thrones, A Clash of Kings, and A Storm of Swords are masterpieces.  George writes them borrowing a page from Faulkner in much the way Absalom, Absalom! is written using its four narrators.  George starts with a point-of-view character and goes from narrator to narrator, chapter by chapter and unfolds an epic tale of deceit, magic, terror, and the rise and fall of kingdoms.

 

The first gay character we encounter is Renly Baratheon. He’s played by very handsome Gethin Anthony. His lover is Ser Loras Tyrell, also known as the knight of the flowers.  And yes, I think Ser Loras is absolutely beautiful. 

Gay tropes that George falls back on in the novelizations: 

1. Renly's personal host of men that surround him are known as 'The Rainbow Guard.' George knows full well that the rainbow is the symbol of gay culture. I feel that this is a nod toward gays and how they have been under-represented in mainstream fantasy.

2. Renly Baratheon takes a "beard." In other words, he is married to Ser Loras' sister (who is young and beautiful) but there is much talk that the marriage was not consummated. This use of a beard seems pretty standard in a culture (much like our own) that frowns on open outright homosexuality from men in the position of role model.

3. Ser Loras is the Knight of Flowers. This in itself is a kind of stereotype, but whatever. I still like him.

Finn Jones as Loras Tyrell

Where George bursts through the boundaries and breaks stereotypes:

1. Renly is a king and a powerful one at that. He raises a huge army and people love him. They literally flock to his banner, making him a serious contender for the Iron Throne

2. Ser Loras is the bravest and teh best knight in the realm. No one can out-do him. It is questionable if Jaime Lannister can even best him in single combat. This is frickin' awesome.

3. We saw in Season 1 that Renly and Ser Loras fled as soon as King Robert died. That tells me that the gays are the smart ones. Poor Hand of the King, Ned Stark stayed and got his head chopped off. He should have listened to the gays.

Sean Bean as Ned Stark

Thanks for letting me guest post I hope all of you are watching "Game of Thrones" on HBO.

1)     Uncle P, here. I don't have HBO and have never seen "Game of Thrones," so I have no idea what the heck Micheal's talking about here, but I trust him. His first novel, Slipstream is now available at Amazon. I'll be reviewing it after Hairspray closes. You can read Micheal's blog here.                                                          

 

Movies I Can't Wait to See

Here we go... hopefully making up for last year's Summer of Suck, there are plenty of movies coming up that have me excited to visit my favorite multiplex.

Needless to say, this weekend sees the much-anticipated The Hunger Games, based on the first of three YA novels by Suzanne Collins about a dystopian North American society some 150 years in the future, in which 2 young people from 12 distinct districts must fight to the death in a wilderness arena. The battle is mandatory television viewing for all of Panem's citizens. The hype surrounding this film is unlike any I can remember and while I do wan to see it, my rehearsal schedule for Hairspray makes it unlikely I'll get to it for a while. I have not read the books, though I want to. My reading habits of late have been deplorable. I will, however, be reviewing a new novel by a regular reader and frequent commenter, soon.

But that's okay. I know I'll see it and read the books, eventually. Still, there are plenty of other films (both large and small) that have piqued my interest this coming season. 

Opening the same weekend as Hairspray (April 13th) is Joss Whedon's much-delayed and highly-anticipated horror movie The Cabin in the Woods, which got caught up in the MGM bankruptcy and is finally getting released by Lionsgate after more than two years. Folks are saying this film may well be a genre changer. I will definitely find time to see this one.

April 27th sees John Cusack as Edgar Allen Poe (Father of the Mystery genre) in the serial-killer thriller The Raven. A maniac is copying the murders in Poe's stories and challenges the author to stop him before he kills again.

May 4th brings us another Joss Whedon film: The Avengers, based on the Marvel Comics series and featuring characters previously established in the Marvel movies The Incredible Hulk; Iron Man; Thor and Captain America. While I loved both Iron Man movies and Captain America, I haven't seen Thor or The Incredible Hulk. But I honestly don't think I need to in order to enjoy this movie:

May also brings us Tim Burton's comedic take on Dark Shadows (ick); Peter Berg's board game-inspired Battleship (double ick) and two other films that I actually want to see. 

First is the British comedy Hysteria, about the invention of the vibrator:

And then there's Barry Sonnenfeld's Men in Black III, in which Will Smith's Agent J travels back in time to meet a younger version of Agent K (Tommy Lee Jones) played by a perfectly cast Josh Brolin, who does a spot-on Tommy Lee:

June has four films on my radar. The beautiful Charlize Theron as the Evil Queen and the beautiful Chris Hemsworth as the Huntsman have made Snow White and the Huntsman a 'Must See' for Uncle P:

Wow! Then there's Ridley Scott's "Not an Alien prequel" Prometheus (again starring Charlize Theron), which is totally an Alien prequel:

Next is Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter (based on a very clever novel I actually read on vacation in Florida last spring and highly enjoyed), which posits Lincoln's quest to banish slavery was based on his hatred of the vampires who feed on them:

The same weekend sees Pixar's Brave, a tale about a Scottish princess who defies tradition and sets out on her own adventure:

And the only movie I really care about in July is my semi-annual Birthday Gift from director Christopher Nolan, The Dark Knight Rises. The third and final film in Nolan's Batman trilogy, The Dark Knight Rises looks to be the darkest and grimmest of the three films. Co-starring Anne Hathaway as Selena Kyle/Catwoman and Tom Hardy as Bane, TDKR may well best The Dark Knight as the best superhero movie ever:

Finally, August features two for me and one for D. First up, Colin Farrell in the reboot of Philip K. Dick's Total Recall. Then there's the animated horror comedy ParaNorman:

And D has made me promise to see The Expendables 2 with him, even though I have yet to see the first one (I see a DVR night at D's in my near future):

There are plenty of other movies I'll probably want to see in the next four or five months, and if I get to see them you'll be sure to have my thoughts on them. 

What movies are you looking forward to seeing this spring and summer?

More, anon.

Prospero