Daddy Hunt : The Serial

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Indiana Queen's new raunchy video

The indie country music band Indiana Queen from Nashville fronted by queer singer Kevin Thornton have released new video for their song 'I Don't know What To Do' which is suprisingly romantic and very raunchy.  It features two bearded man who kiss and then make out in a scene set against a backdrop of the American prairie.

Thornton told 'The Huffington Post" "My initial inspiration for the video was film noir cowboy and horse fantasy. When I asked my friends Phillipe and Nick a real life couple to be in the video, they brought so much chemistry it morphed into something else, but I really love the end result."

The song will be on the band’s upcoming album "I Built A Fire," which is set to be released February 16.

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

10 of The Best Coming Out Movies

To celebrate National Coming Out Day queerguru picks 

10 of The Best Coming Out Movies 

1) The Way He Looks : An award winning Brazilian film written and directed by Daniel Ribeiro about a blind schoolboy and his virginal innocent friend who are slow to realize their feelings for each other.  Tender, with some neat touches of humor, none more so than when Gabriel insists that Leo learns how to dance. What does make it all so compelling is the captivating performances of the young lead actors, particularly Ghilherme Lobo who was so pitch perfect as Leo.

2) Out In The Dark : From LA-based Israeli newbie director/writer Michael Mayer, a heart-string- tugging story of forbidden love between an Israeli and a Palestinian in Tel Aviv where the later risks his life if he comes out to his Arab family back home. It’s all the more remarkable that after all the horrors the pair go through, that the overwhelming feeling that one comes away with from this compelling and enchanting film, is of hope.

3) In The Name Of :  Polish LGBT movies are a great rarity and this one from writer/director Malgoska Szumowska is a remarkable and unpredictable drama that deals with a repressed Catholic Priest’s personal struggle with his homosexuality. Brave, controversial and extremely moving: like (No. I in our list) it won a prestigious Teddy Award for best LGBT film at Berlin Film Festival.

4) Free Fall : This rather compelling debut feature from writer/director Stephan Lacant about forbidden love in a very rampant homophobic community is a  hot and steamy German tale where one straight trainee Policeman discovers that probably he shouldn’t be getting married to his pregnant girlfriend after all when he has a very physical relationship with one of his colleagues. Very well written, and beautifully acted.

5) Beautiful Thing : From 1996 this wonderful British film version of Jonathan Harvey’s hit stage play about two gay teenagers finding themselves and each other in a Council Estate in London. Young Jamie is escaping sport hours, to avoid being the victim of his comrades and  Ste, his neighbor, is beaten by his father, and comes to sleep overnight. They discover new feelings, sleeping in the same bed.

6) Circumstance : This coming-of-age story from first time director Maryam Keshavarztells is of two teenage girls, who are best friends, dealing with all the restrictions of growing up in Iran today.  The girls are exploring their emerging sexuality as they become part of Tehran’s underground party scene. Superb, if not scary, look at some of the conflicts and struggles in contemporary Iran.

7) Beginners : Christopher Plummer’s Oscar winning turn as newly widowed 75 year old Hal who declares to Oliver his son that he is now gay and is determined to make the most of the time he has left.  Written and directed by Mike Mills and evidently based on his own father's life. Sweet and very funny.

8) Edge of Seventeen : Directed by David Moreton, this sentimental story set in small town America in 1984 teaches High School student Eric that love and sex are not the same thing and he almost goes back into the closet. Great period piece, well acted and a neat happy ending.

9) Mixed Kebab : Bram a good looking Belgian/Turkish 20 year old gets thrown out of his family home in Antwerp when he comes out although his father is happy to house his other sons who are crooks which is far better than being gay. An intelligent drama from writer/director Guy Lee Thys that becomes an entertaining romance.

10) White Frog : Nick, the youngest son of a wealthy Chinese/American family tries to put the pieces together of his older brother’s life after he was tragically killed in a car crash and discovers that he had wanted to ‘come out’ to him before he had died. Very endearing.

Sappy Saturday

Gay or Straight (or wherever you are on the sexual lexicon these days) we defy you not to get misty eyed watching our sappy Saturday video of the day, courtesy of Extra Gum.

Top Ten Israeli Gay Movies

Over recent years Israel has become a great source for LGBT movies that have found an eager worldwide audience.  Probably the most successful and prolific filmmaker who has emerged from there is Eyton Fox who along with his writing/producing/life partner Gal Uchovsky could fill half of the slots on this list alone. However we have trawled our library at queerguru and looked at as many Israeli movies as we could find : both big hits and small hits to give you our very comprehensive choice of our Top Ten Israeli Gay Movies and here they are in alphabetical order (they even include some which don’t end in tragedy for a change!)

Antartica : Two days before his 30th birthday Omer has still not ‘found himself’ let alone a boyfriend too.  However as he hides away in the library where he works he only sees books on life and not the real thing.  Plus his cute 20-year blind-date dancer is sadly not it either, and then just when he is about to give up he meets Ronan.  Turns out he was looking for love in all the wrong places. Sound familiar?  It's a rather wonderful touching romantic comedy from writer/director Yair Hochner.

City Of Borders:  This excellent documentary follows the lives of five different and totally diverse gay men and women in Israel who’s common link is the fact that they all hang out in Shushan, Jerusalem’s only gay bar.  This is the one place where gays and lesbians of all nationalities, religions and social backgrounds can forget their differences for a few brief hours and hopefully have some fun. The Bar has since closed, but the memories remain.

Eyes Wide Open: A handsome stranger turns the life of a Hassidic family butcher upside down when they act on their mutual attraction. This beautiful story of how conflicted a modern ultra-orthodox life can be, tells its story quietly and responsibly without sensationalizing this sensitive issue at all, making it even more powerful and moving. An impressive directing debut from Haim Takabkamn, it gives the best insight into gay Orthodox Jews outside of a documentary that I have ever seen, and is heart wrenchingly wonderful too.

Family Time : Israeli filmmaker Nitzan Gilady crammed his parents and two grown up brothers and one sister in law into an R.V. to travel thousands of miles across the USA for a week to go visit the Grand Canyon. Anybody who has had to deal with raw emotional exchanges with their own family (isn't that all of us?) will really relate to this wonderful wee documentary, although in our own case, it has put us off RVs for life!

Out In The Dark : This heart string tugging movie of forbidden love from LA based Israeli newbie director/writer Michael Mayer is the story of how being gay just adds yet one more obstacle to living in this troubled region. The convincingly very real love story between an Israeli Jew and a Palestinian Arab who have to make some very tough choices just survive, is totally unmissable.

The Bubble: If we had been forced to pick an absolute favorite of all-Israeli gay movies, it would probably be this one.  In this remarkable and moving take on 'Romeo & Juliet' director Eyton Fox’s story of a Middle-Eastern tragic romance that crosses the racial divide, will not leave a dry eye in the house.  Completely wonderful.

The Invisible Men: The only way that handsome young Louie can be openly gay is to leave his home in Ramallah and sneak across the border to Tel Aviv.  The trouble is as he is Palestinian he is illegal and so is constantly hunted down by the Israeli authorities who then drop him back home where he could be killed because of his sexuality. This remarkable new award-winning documentary from Israeli filmmaker Yariv Mozer tracks Louie as he goes about his harrowing daily life, which does (thank God) have somewhat of a happy ending.

Snails In The Rain: A rather intriguing drama about repressed homosexual feelings and desire set in 1989 acutely brings back an era when lust was often hidden and unrequited. The movie, based on a short story by Yossi Avni Levy who is (most intriguingly) currently the Israeli Ambassador in Serbia, was directed and written by Yariv Moser and starred talented newbie actor Yoav Reuveni (who’s an ex underwear model).

Walk on Water.  A homophobic Mossed Agent is assigned to befriend a young gay German to try and establish if his late Grandfather was a notorious Nazi. This tense and compelling thriller, which was Eytan Fox’s sophomore film, went on to becoming the 2nd highest grossing Israeli film in their domestic market

Yossi & Jaegar:  Eytan Fox’s multi-award winning drama about a initially hesitant romance that slowly blooms into an old-fashioned style love affair between two soldiers stationed in an Israeli outpost on the Lebanese border. A heartbreaking tearjerker of the finest sort.  P.S.  Fox’s later sequel ‘Yossi’ which it’s surprisingly upbeat ending should also be on this list, but I wanted to give other filmmakers a chance too.

And highly commended comes ......

A Matter Of Size: A group of delightful obese Israelis abandoned their unhappy (and unsuccessful) Diet Club to take up Sumo wrestling which they have the perfect shape.  This odd collection of engaging men includes a closeted gay who is so happy to ‘come out’ when he stumbles on gay bear culture.  A joyous wee gem of a comedy.