Showing posts with label gay. Show all posts
Showing posts with label gay. Show all posts

Monday, February 22, 2016

The Gayest TV Program In The World


The most watched TV program in the world is also the most unintentionally gayest one too.  The annual Eurovision Song Contest is watched by over 195 million people ( to keep it in perspective this years Super Bowl managed a mere 114.5 million viewers). 

It's a real music anomaly.  For starters the countries that send a singer to represent them in what are considered the Pop Olympics do not even have to be European ...... e.g. Russia and Australia are amongst the 40 odd nations to participate. And you certainly do not have to possess a ounce of musical talent as in its 60 year history it has pumped out more really horrible pop songs than anyone else, and despite all the money and talent thrown out it, Eurovision persists in keeping alive all these dire dated styles of music that never deserved to be born in the first place.  And the show goes on for ours and hours : o call it 'camp' would be a major understatement.  

What you need is chutzpah, be totally outrageous, grin from ear to ear, wear a silly outfit and sing really loud (and not necessarily in tune).  The trouble is it that it kind of casts a spell over the performers and even ex-participants seemed trapped into a lifetime of singing pure eurotrash. Like 40 year old Páll Óskar who once represented Iceland and now just cannot stop himself from singing a la Eurovision : just check out his latest video



P.S. Sometimes against all odds all the countries manage to vote a really talented act that has some how slipped in,  Like in 2014 when bearded chanteuse Austrian Conchita Wurst stunned the crowds with her big campy ballad 'Rise Like A Phoenix' and her very glamorous sparkly sheaf dress making that year the gayest show ever.


Eurovison 2016 runs May 10, 2016 – May 14, 2016

Monday, February 8, 2016

(Gay) Men on Football



It's a myth that gay men simply DO NOT like football.  Well sometimes! Check out this totally hilarious (and extremely political in-correct) video from 1992 by Damon Wayans & David Alan Grier 'In Living Color' : it is queerquru to a T.

Sunday, January 17, 2016

From South Of The Border to the Emerald Isle



The LGBT community goes globe trotting more than ever these days with often some very surprising results.  Last week 27 year old Emmie Reek a Brazilian drag performer caused quite a sensation when she performed her version of Adele's One and Only on RTE's The Voice of Ireland TV Show in Dublin earlier this week. Emmie (aka student Emery Modesta) should have been preparing to go back home to marry his Polish fiance but when he got the call from the Producers he delayed the wedding in the hope of becoming Ireland’s next singing sensation.   We think he has a good chance of making it judging by this performance.


Recently two Irish filmmakers made a movie set in Havana, Cuba about a young gay man who really only discovered his purpose in life when he donned a dress to become a rather sensational drag performer.  This rather exhilarating movie called "Viva" was filmed completely in Spanish even though director Paddy Breathnach barely spoke a word of it, and was chosen as Ireland's Official Submission for Best Foreign Film Oscar. Viva  is due to be released in the US in April 2016.




Thursday, January 14, 2016

Tony Award winner Brian Bedford dies



The great British classical stage Tony Award winning actor  Brian Bedford who was a star on and off-Broadway for years, has died at the age of 80. He was a protégé of John Gielgud and a theater-school classmate of Alan Bates, Albert Finney and Peter O’Toole, but because he performed only occasionally in movies and on television he never shared their celebrity.

A regular fixture on the NY stage since the 1960's after making the US his home, he specialized in playing princes, kings, fops and faded aristocrats of Shakespeare, Molière and Chekhov. However even with this fine body of work, he will probably most fondly remembered for his last performance on Broadway in 2011 in which he played  Lady Bracknell in drag in Oscar Wilde’s “The Importance of Being Earnest.” (which he also directed) and which won him his 7th Tony Best Actor Nomination.  Watch this clip of him superbly filling the shoes of the late Dame Edith Evans as Lady B.


Brian Bedford is survived by his partner of 30 years, the actor Tim MacDonald whom he married in 2013.

                                                                                                   Brian Bedford & Tim MacDonald

Brian Bedford (16 February 1935 – 13 January 2016)

Saturday, January 2, 2016

Find Your Inner Drag Self



Could 2016 be the year that you finally let your inner Drag persona finally come out? Need that extra push ...... and some very good tips on how to enchant more than just the mirror in your bedroom behind closed doors with your unbridled talent? Then if you live in the UK, you are very lucky as help is at hand.  Those nice people at Finger in the Pie Theatre Group are running The Art of Drag Course for 10 weeks starting January 18th.

It's run by experienced cabaret performer Michael Twaits and the Course is designed for people who already have a background in performance and who want to create a unique drag character and routine. It includes master classes on singing, alt performance, lip-sync and comedy – before going on to teach you about the business of cabaret – including how to market yourself, sell your act and get booked by promoters. At the end of the course you will have the opportunity to launch your professional career as a drag performer with a showcase at Finger in the Pie Cabaret at the world famous Royal Vauxhall Tavern.


If you've been telling your friends for years that you could/should have been been treading the boards at The Vauxhall or even still, have been chosen by Ru Paul to be on Drag Race, then here's your chance.  AND if you book by January 5th, you'll get the Early Bird special price for the course.




Monday, December 28, 2015

The great American artist Elsworth Kelly dies



Elsworth Kelly one of the greatest American Artists of the 20th Century has just died at aged 92. He is survived by his husband of some 28 years the photographer Jack Shear.   Kelly's simplistic and highly colorful work made his work so highly accessible and here are just a few of our many favorite Kelly paintings.









Ellsworth Kelly (May 31, 1923 – December 27, 2015)

Friday, December 4, 2015

Santa Skivvies Run




If you still believe in Santa Claus (and why wouldnt you) then what you are about to read maybe shocking news to you. In San Francisco not only is there more than one Santa BUT also he's not an old man with a long white beard in full red drag surrounded by a load of elves.  Actually he, or more rightly they, dress in just their smallest red skivvies, run through the Castro spreading good cheer in the best festive spirit.  The only thing slightly traditional about this group of ......how we shall we put it ....not unattractive men (!) ... is they still don Santa's little red hat.


The Santa Skivvies Run is a festive romp that has been an annual for the past five years, run in conjunction with the Lookout, benefitting San Francisco AIDS Foundation.  Everyone is welcome to participate: naughty or nice, young or old, fresh-faced newbie or long-time Skivvies veteran. Don your gay apparel, or a favorite festive costume, or strip down to your undies to raise awareness and fight HIV/AIDS in our community.



Santa Skivvies Run is on 13th December 2015 and if that is too short notice for you to hop on a plane and participate, then you can still click on the link below and donate to this wonderful cause. After all Santa always knows who has been a good boy, and they are the ones who get to sit on his lap!


                                                 all photos courtesy of San Francisco AIDS Foundation

Friday, November 27, 2015

Top Ten Campest Christmas Movies EVER

Christmas is the campest of all the holidays we celebrate : it is all shopping, tinsel and sparkly baubles and the season of both joy and sheer excess, and should always be a total blast. To help you plan to have a gay old time this December 25th, we have trailed our extensive queerguru Movie Library to give you our pick of the Top Ten Campest Christmas Movies Ever.


À l'intérieur (Inside) If you are big fan of horror flicks, then this is a real sick Christmas one for you. If this not a genre you like then STOP READING NOW. This exceedingly nasty French movie made in 2009 starts with a baby dying in utero in a car crash on Christmas Eve. This becomes one total bloody fest as one very pregnant woman attempts to stop a stranger in her manger from cutting her unborn baby out of her tummy before it’s fully cooked. It’s on this list as it is as camp as hell. Literally. Click Here to Buy.


A Merry Frigging Christmas:  This is one of the last movies that the late great Robin Williams made, and although is is not one of his finest performance, the film’s mix of elements of “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation” and “Bad Santa” is very amusing This mad-cap comedy also stars Candace Bergen, Oliver Platt, Lauren Graham, and Jeffrey TamborClick Here to Buy.


Ernest Saves Christmas. Santa travels to Orlando to pick his successor before his magic runs out. When he arrives, he just happens to meet Ernest, a bumbling taxi driver who is filled with holiday joy. Ernest drops Santa off so he can meet with the next Santa, Joe Carruthers but forgets Santa’s magic bag in the trunk. This very silly comedy is a great way to just laugh that excessive Christmas Day dinner off.   Click Here to Buy.


Go. This is a wonderfully funny action flick that follows several separate storylines on one very strange Christmas in Los Angeles and Vegas. For purposes here it’s worth noting that the most Christmassy of the storylines involves insanely hot Timothy Olyphant as a drug dealer in nothing but sweatpants and a Santa hat who holds Katie Holmes hostage.   Click Here to Buy.



Gremlins. The star of this movie is the mogwai who is a small, furry, fictitious creature that looks something like a cuddly teddy bear with the ears of a rabbit, a Bambi-like nose, eyes as round and deep and dark as glass buttons, a sweet disposition and a physical nature more unstable than hydrogen gas. When Rand gives one to his son Billy (who fervently does not believe in Santa) as Christmas gift, all hell lets loose in their small town.  Silly fun. Click Here to Buy


Meet Me In St Louis. Christmas without Judy Garland would be unthinkable and the best one of her movies we think you should watch over the holiday is this classic film, which is one of her very best. After all. MGM promoted this as ‘Technicolor Romance of Gaiety and Song’. Exactly!    Click Here to Buy.


Miracle On 34th Street. The original version made in 1947 (and the ONLY one worth watching) earned this Santa Claus played by Brit Actor Edmund Gwenn, a Best Supporting Actor Oscar (one of 5 Academy Awards the movie picked up)  and it still never ever leaves a dry eye in the house.   Click Here to Buy


The Nightmare Before Christmas. In Tim Burton’s delightful animated movie Jack Skellington, king of Halloweentown, discovers Christmas Town, but doesn't quite understand the concept. A wee gem of a film.  Click Here to Buy  



The Silent Partner. This camp almost forgotten Canadian gem from 1978 stars Christopher Plummer as a very hammy psychopath Santa Claus whose attempt to rob a Bank is foiled when the timid Teller (a very young Elliot Gould) beats him too it. Also stars an almost unrecognizable John Candy and Suzannah York. Click Here to Buy. 


White Christmas. This list would not be complete with one of the all-time camp Christmas movies that in 1954 Paramount claimed was ‘the most fabulous music and mirth show in motion picture history’. Starring Bing Crosby & Danny Kaye but our favorite track is Rosemary Clooney and Vera-Ellen singing the original version of "Sisters".    Click Here to Buy.

Saturday, November 7, 2015

Karl Lagerfeld : A Visual Journey


Love him or hate him (!) there is no way to escape the ubiquitous presence of  Karl Lagerfeld. The 82 year old German fashion legend, based in Paris, is the head designer and creative director of the fashion house Chanel as well as the Italian house Fendi and his own fashion label. Over the decades, he has collaborated on a variety of fashion and art-related projects, and in the past few years has been establishing something of a reputation as a photographer who is not shy about doing self portraits.



Despite Lagerfeld's impressive productivity as a photographer, he only took his first professional photos in 1987, then ironically more out of necessity than choice. "I would never have thought of making photos myself, if my friend, Eric Pfrunder, Director of Image at Chanel Fashion, had not one day pressed me to do so when he urgently needed photos for a press kit. Today photography is part of my life. It completes the circle between my artistic and professional restlessness."



Now his impressive body of work is about to be exhibited at La Pinacothèque de Paris in a show titled Karl Lagerfeld : A Visual Journey. The exhibition reveals Lagerfeld's many areas of 
interest including architecture, landscapes, Paris 
by night, portraits and self-portraits, fashion
 photography, and abstractions (an interest in the
 graphic characterizes many of his photos, regardless 
of their subject). Two grand photo installations -
 Daphnis and Chloe and Le Voyage d'Ulysse - complete this comprehensive display of Lagerfeld's photographic oeuvre.



Karl Lagerfeld : A Visual Journey. 
16th October 2015 - 20th March 2016.

Information and tickets from http://www.pinacotheque.com/

Wednesday, October 28, 2015

Ben Whishaw Falls In Love




The UK's BBC TV Channel have just announced that out gay actor Ben Whishaw is to star in a new spy/gay romance miniseries next month called 'London Spy'.  It is the story of a chance romance between two people from very different worlds, one from the headquarters of the Secret Intelligence Service, the other from a world of clubbing and youthful excess.  

Whishaw plays Danny – gregarious, hedonistic, romantic and adrift, who falls for the anti-social enigmatic and brilliant Alex (played by 'Wolf Hall's' Edward Holcroft). Just as the two of them realise that they're perfect for each other, Alex is found dead. Danny, utterly ill-equipped to take on the complex and codified world of British espionage, must decide whether he's prepared to fight for the truth.

Written by Tom Robb-Snith ('Child 44') the series also stars Oscar Winner Jim Broadbent and veteran actress Charlotte Rampling. 

Whishaw meanwhile can be seen on screens around the world next week when he reprises his role as 'Q' in 'Spectre' the latest James Bond thriller

Monday, October 26, 2015

Marie's Crisis : Show Tunes Heaven



When Show Tune Queens click their heels three times and pray for home we know that they don't mean Kansas with Toto, but the one place in the world which is the nearest they will ever get to heaven. It's called Marie's Crisis Cafe and for the past 40 years (and maybe more?) it's been New York's most treasured piano bar where local gay men and musical theater performers gather round the keys nightly and sing their hearts out to their favorite Broadway show tunes. What they lack in talent (!) is made up for in boundless energy and passion.  As the pianist says each night 'Welcome to Marie's Crisis, where showtunes come to die!'

It's a little like stepping back in time as you enter and walk downstairs as after all there has been a bar there in the West Village since the 1850's. Initially it was a prostitutes den, then became a boy bar in the 1890's and it lasted right through Prohibition.  It's curious name came from The Crisis Papers by Thomas Paine who died in the house, not it must be said from an overdose of sentimental renditions of numbers like 'You're The Top' or 'Climb Every Mountain'. 

Now the American Theater Wing has produced this rather wonderful tribute to one of New York's most venerated venues.  As bartender Doug Thompson (pictured above) aptly sums up “Marie’s is the island of misfit toys for people who love show tunes,”   And don't be confused by the fact there are women in the video, Marie's has always been a hetero friendly place too. 

Sunday, October 25, 2015

Bitch, I'm A Bottom



Andrew Christian underwear model Pablo Hernandez who is also not adverse to 'modeling' in just his birthday suit has done a rather wonderful parody music video of  Madonna's "Bitch I'm Madonna" featuring Nicki Minaj from Rebel Heart.  Evidently Pablo is singing his own version straight from the heart.  Who knew? 

Monday, October 5, 2015

Sam Smith soars for Spectre


Sam Smith really soars in this superb new video released today of 'Writing On The Wall' his theme song for 'Spectre' the new Bond movie, that he co-wrote with fellow Grammy Award Winner Jimmy Napes.  The video directed by long-term collaborator Luke Monaghan weaves in scenes from the eagerly awaited movie with Daniel Craig back again as 007 and this time he is making out with Lucia (played by Monica Bellucci), the beautiful and forbidden widow of an infamous criminal.

'Writing On The Wall' is the first James Bond theme song recorded by a British male solo artist since 1965, and the very first ever by an openly gay musician. After premiering on September 25 worldwide, it  rocketed to the top of the charts and made chart history by becoming the first Bond theme song ever to score a UK No. 1Even Dame Shirley Bassey never achieved that, but we know that she would be so proud of 'our Sam'





Tuesday, September 29, 2015

Gorgeous Ghraichy

                                                                                                 COURTESY OF KEITH SHERMAN & ASSOCIATES INC.

This very hot 29 year old Parisian who takes his music very seriously is about to achieve what he calls 'every boy's dream.' We're not sure if technically he is right, but we do know at the very least, that there are a lot of gays boys we know who would agree with him and would love to find themselves performing at Carnegie Hall.

Simon Ghraichy an award winning concert pianist is about to make his NY debut there on October 15th with a program entitled 'Liszt and the Americas'. Although a resident of Paris (he calls it the 'city of love') this openly gay young man is actually half Lebanese and half Mexican which not only accounts for his handsome looks, but it also influences his music too.  As well as playing the likes of Liszt and Schumann he loves to play work from little-known Latin American composers, which he will include in his Carnegie recital.

queerguru thinks we are going to hear a lot more from this young talented musician and Carnegie Hall is just the beginning because  Ghraichy will be back in New York next spring to play the Kennedy Center, and he’ll also tour through Mexico.






The Queen of Ireland is on her way



Like half the world we've been in love with Panti Bliss since we first watched THE speech about homophobia on Ist February 2014 in Dublin's Abbey Theater that blew our socks off and immediately went viral. When Stephen Fry later presented her with a People of The Year Award he succinctly said 'I thought it was one of the most moving and eloquent calls against oppression of any kind. It was like any great speech, it was suppressed rage but utterly controlled.'

Panti aka Rory O'Neill, is Ireland's most famous and fabulous Drag Queen and gay activist  and was at the forefront of the successful movement that legalised same-sex marriage in the country earlier this year. Amongst all her other activities she is also hosting the  World's First Ever LGBT Matchmaking and Music Festival in Lisdoonvarna later this month.  Now Irish filmmaker Conor Horgan has just finished his documentary on Panti with the apt title 'Queen of Ireland' which traces how a small gay boy from the tiny town of Ballinrobe in County Mayo became this strapping fearless man in a dress who so perfectly articulates what we as an LGBT community want to hear, and would try and say if we all possessed Panti's passion.  The movie gives us a glimpse too of the man behind the woman : 'When I breath life into Panti, she breaths more life into me.'

Universal Pictures have just released this trailer, and the movie will open in Irish cinemas on October 21st, although no date has been set for its international release.  Watch this space as we will so be tracking this one daily.


Top Ten German Gay Movies



Since it produced one of the world’s first ever explicitly gay films called ‘Different From The Others’ back in 1919, Germany has been at the forefront of making really good LGBT movies. They are usually very sensual with a penchant for really hot looking men but all with highly original and compelling plots like 'Free Fall' featured above.  (Incidentally, that one was so successful that Free Fall 2 is already in the works.  Here then is queerguru's pick for our Top Ten German Gay Movies.    



Monday, September 28, 2015

Gay Cult Classic BIG EDEN is re-released


When the movie Big Eden was released 15 years it instantly became a gay cult classic.  Thomas Bezucha's debut feature film is an decidedly heart-warming old fashioned romance and real feel-good crowd pleaser which picked up nine awards from leading Film Festivals around the country.   The San Francisco Chronicle explained its appeal so succinctly 'Seeing middle-aged, regular fellas get so worked up over each other is a treat'.

Bezuka's story is about Henry a highly successful artist in New York who suddenly has to up and return to his small hometown nestled in the mountains of Montana to look after his sick grandfather who had brought him up.  Back in his roots he starts to re-evaluate his life and although he still has issues with his sexuality (he has still yet to tell his Grandfather) the whole neighborhood have no hesitation in not only accepting him for who he is, but they go out of their way to encourage Henry's potential romance with the hunk native Indian who is silently wooing him.

With such a delightful script in his hand Bezucha managed to cast a bevy of really talented actors starting with Oscar Winner Louise Fletcher, Arye Gross (Adam Green in 'Ellen'), Eric Schweig ('The Last Of The Mohican'), Tim DeKay ('Party of Five'), George Coe ('Kramer vs Kramer') and Nan Martin (Mrs Louder in The Drew Carey Show) which was no mean achievement for a newbie director.  It paid off dividends and made it one of the most successful LGBT movies released that year.

It certainly is one that sits in everyone's memories so the people at Wolfe Video had this bright of bringing out a special 15th Anniversary Edition, complete with a lot of DVD extras.  It will be available October 15th, but meanwhile take a sneak preview of what got us all hot under the collar all those years ago.


We thought this re-release would be the perfect time to catch up and talk to Thomas Bezucha for Provincetown TV to ask him how he came to dream up this fairy tale, or see if in fact he had been Henry himself in real life.


Saturday, September 26, 2015

Alan Cumming : the new Queen of the Meat Market



Showtime TV have just taken over a passion project that out-gay Scottish/American actor Alan Cumming had been developing with director Rosemary Rodriquez ('The Good Wife') of a 30 minute dark comedy series based on the story of one of N.Y.'s most flamboyant restaurateurs Florent Morellet. 

Morellet opened the restaurant that bore his name in the early 1980's in the Meatpacking District when it was still a scary neighborhood populated by hookers and hustlers and before it was discovered by both the gay community and N.Y's fashion and art glitterati.  It was THE place to go and be seen and be part of the craziness that Morellet encouraged until he became a victim of the success that he was crucial part of that had turned the Meatpacking District into the most desirable, and over-hyped,  area of the city. When his landlord drastically increased the rent, Florent's doors were finally closed for good after his 23 year reign.  

As well as being an outrageous host Florent Morellet was also an ardent gay activist, particularly when it came to AIDS which earned him countless wards and honors, including being the Grand Marshall of NY's Gay Parade in 2006.   He seems like a role that the Cumming, a Tony Winner and an Emmy nominated actor, was born to play.


In 2011 filmmaker David Sigal captured both the heady and the last days of the restaurant in his captivating documentary Florent : Queen of the Meat Market which is now on DVD/VOD on several platforms.


Friday, September 25, 2015

Happy Birthday Pedro



Its the 66th Birthday of one of our very favorite gay filmmakers. From 'What Have I Done To Deserve this?' to 'Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown', 'Bad Education' and 'All About My Mother' etc. we have unreservedly loved ALL his movies.  Here's a clip of your last one that sums up how we feel about you and your work Pedro Almodovar.   Happy Birthday.


Wednesday, September 23, 2015

Stonewall : a queerguru pick



Out gay director Roland Emmerich was on the receiving end of some very nasty vitriolic abuse by people condemning his new movie outright purely on the first sight of a trailer.  A petition was even drawn up urging people to boycott the movie even though no-one had still actually seen it yet to judge it fairly.  The complaint levied against Emmerich was that he was attempting to re-write a crucial watershed in gay history when the birth of the gay liberation movement was really born.   The trouble with the argument is that actual detail of those nights 46 years ago when the Stonewall riots took place are very spotty to say the least  given that most of the participants were unknown, and a good number died in the ‘80s during the AIDS crisis, but still so many people are claiming that their take on events is the only correct one.  Yet for example, according to historian David Carter in his book 'Stonewall: The Riots That Sparked The Gay Revolution', Emmerich got the mix of the crowd spot on.

queerguru has seen the movie already and our sister site queertiques carries our full review.  We know that we are one of a handful of critics who actually liked the movie as although Emmerich's fictional narrative is by no means a documentary on the events leading up to that fateful night in 1969 it is a strongly political based drama that will resonate with younger audiences in particular as it gives a real sense of what went down and help paved the way towards social acceptance and equality.

Emmerich's movie is essentially a coming-out-story which many of us can so easily relate too, he just happened to use the Stonewall riots as the background, which is something we all need to be reminded about.