Cult Art, Movie Style

It is always interesting to see great artists take works from one medium and reinterpret it in another. Nowhere is that more evident then at the recent cult film art show at Los Angeles' Gallery 1988.

For those of us who cannot make it to the show itself, MTV.com has an extensive gallery showcasing 40 pictures from the opening that drew the likes of Kevin Smith and other film directors. Smith's movies are amply represented, as are such other recent inductees into the cult movie canon as Fight Club, Office Space and Shaun of the Dead.

On the other hand, it is nice to see such classic examples as Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, A Christmas Story and Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! get their fare share of wall space as well.

Owing to my own "group mentality affection", my favorite piece would be Jeff McMillan's "All Together Now", pictured above. It is so nice to see so many of her peers show up for Laura Palmer's funeral.

Links via MoviesBlog.MTV.com, MTV.com and MySpace.com.

Replicants and Reprobates

All the latest on notable films coming soon to DVD:

Blade Runner- I have never been a member of the "Church of Blade Runner". Sure, it's a great sci fi flick, but all those alternate versions (real or rumored) is too much to keep track of, and now the so-called definitive "final cut" is making its way to DVD in a myriad of editions. Now, can we put to rest all those "Is Deckard a replicant" debates?

Caligula- If all those Blade Runners make your head spin, then get ready for not one, not two, but three different versions of this notorious historical epic. The presence of Malcolm McDowell, Helen Mirren and Gore Vidal should make the bonus features interesting.

Mala Noche- Finally making its DVD debut is Gus Van Sant's first feature film, a tale of one man's obsessive lust for the unattainable object of his desire.

Surf's Up- I really have no desire to see more animated penguins, but this upcoming DVD may get a look-see if only for the return of the ChubbChubbs.
Nick Name and the Normals- An ex-Mormon-turned-gay-punk-rock-singer is the star of this documentary.

Twilight Zone: The Movie- "You wanna see something really scary?" How about the long-delayed DVD of this infamous film adaptation of the classic TV series? Another Spielberg-related film on the DVD horizon: a Poltergeist special edition.

Cruising- For all you ever wanted to know about Cruising (the movie, finally surfacing on DVD this fall) but were afraid to ask, head over to Nightcharm (warning: site contains pictures and content soooo NSFW).

Twin Peaks- Cult TV fans start saving for this 10-disc Definitive Gold Box Edition, which, unlike the first season set already available, will actually include the first episode.

Treasures III: Social Issues in American Film, 1900-1934- The National Film Preservation Foundation does it again with an upcoming four-DVD box set collecting rare and forgotten films from the dawn of cinema. The collection will include 48 films, all new to DVD, dealing with such hot topics as birth control, homelessness and immigration. Ah, the more things change, the more things stay the same ...

Planet Terrorand Death Proof- And finally: All you fans of Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino’s Grindhouse, prepare to be double-dipped. Not only are the two parts (Planet Terror, Death Proof) that made up the full Grindhouse film being released on DVD separately, but all the fake trailers that made the original theatrical version so much fun will be MIA. One need only to read between the lines to figure out that a complete "ultimate Grindhouse experience" set will be unleashed sometime down the line.

Click on the individual titles to pre-order the DVDs from Amazon.com.

Links via ObsesseedWithFilm.com, TheDigitalBits.com, MovieWeb.com, Criterion.com, AWN.com, HotInHollywood.tv, Nightcharm.com and FilmPreservation.org.

Grease: The One We Didn't Want?

All the latest on new and ongoing productions 'From Screen to Stage':

- The newest revival of Grease has begun previews on Broadway. This is the production that found its Danny and Sandy on a television reality show and, thanks to America, we now have a brunette Sandy (Laura Osnes) and a dorky Danny (Max Crumm). Thanks, America. For opening night pics of the duo, visit Broadway.com.

- Hoping for another Producers, Mel Brooks brings another of his comedy classics to the stage with Young Frankenstein. In addition to Roger Bart, Megan Mullally and Sutton Foster, the tuner stars Wicked's Christopher Fitzgerald as Igor and Tarzan's Shuler Hensley as the Monster. And yes, the new musical will include the classic "Uttin' ona 'Itz" number.

- Mel's won't be the only stage adaptation of the legendary Mary Shelley story to hit New York in the near future: a "more serious" musical retelling of Frankenstein will be available Off-Broadway.

- Record companies are lining up to record the Xanadu cast album. One hitch: they want Cheyenne.

- And if you thought that Xanadu was the only 1980 movie musical bomb to creep its way onto the stage, think again: Can’t Stop the Music: The Musical?

- Want some camp with your cannabis? Then Reefer Madness: The Musical is just for you.

- For more squeaky-clean teen musical fare, you can't get more clean (or squeaky) then Disney's High School Musical, now on the national tour that almost wasn't.

- As if Ashlee Simpson as Roxie Hart wasn't bad enough: In more Chicago stunt casting gone amuck, 22-year-old Kelly Osbourne is the new Matron Mama Morton in the London production. I guess they are just going to ignore the "matron" and "mama" parts.

- More movie-to-musicals madness in the works: Honeymoon in Vegas, Pride & Prejudice, Of Mice and Men and Knute Rockne, All American.
- The long-rumored Broadway revival of West Side Story has jump-kicked its way closer to reality with the announcement that the show's legendary librettist Arthur Laurents is now onboard to helm it.

- Echo Magazine's Neil Cohen has a chat with former Trading Spaces star and current Sweet Charity tour headliner Paige Davis, who spills all the dirt on Doug and Hildy. (The article can be found under "Just a Stage" in the "Previews & Reviews" section.)

- If you're in Atlanta, you can see the newest production of The Wizard of Oz, directed by The Boy from Oz's Philip William McKinley.

- Although we haven't heard much lately about the upcoming movie version, Naked Boys Singing did recently start their ninth year Off-Broadway. (Be sure to check out that last link so that you can check out current star Timothy John Mandala).

- Jeff Goldblum recently starred in The Music Man in his home town of Pittsburgh and made a documentary all about it.

- Original Rent boys Adam Pascal and Anthony Rapp (who also starred in the movie version) are now back in the Broadway production, while the West End prepares for the first restaging of the show.

- The first American tour of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Jim Steinman's Whistle Down the Wind (based on the Hayley Mills movie) is in the works.

- And finally: Who doesn't want to see classic Disney princess songs sung by a bearded adult gay man? Bill McKinley brings his Don’t Tell Walt: An Animated Evening of Adult Music to NYC's Metropolitan Room for two more nights next week. For more information, visit Bill's home page.

Links via Playbill.com, Broadway.com, BroadwayWorld.com, SFBayTimes.com, ChicagoTribune.com, EchoMag.com, NYBlade.com and BillMcKinley.com.

Poster Post: Animal Magnetism

On the heels of the news of a gay Muppet show (no, not Avenue Q), here is the startling Polish poster art for the 1979 family favorite, The Muppet Movie.

As you can see, this is an awesome example of how American movie titles are translated in foreign countries: Muppety Jada Do Hollywood. Yeah, what he said.

Click here to buy The Muppet Movieon DVD from Amazon.com. Click here to buy Muppet Movieposters from Amazon.com.
Links via AdvocateInsider.com and Playbill.com.

The Advocate Goes to the Movies

In conjunction with their 40th anniversary poll to find the top 40 "Gay Heroes", The Advocate is also giving readers a chance to name their ten favorite queer movies from the last 40 years.

Of the 40 films nominated, such usual suspects as Brokeback Mountain, Boys Don't Cry and Personal Best are present. Sprinkled in among the foreign fare (Before Night Falls, Law of Desire) and indie faves (Go Fish, Poison) are such Hollywood pap as In & Out, The Birdcage and Philadelphia, not to mention the just plain awful Mulholland Drive. Missing in action? Latter Days, Edge of Seventeen, Victor/Victoria, Trick, Cabaret ...

My personal top ten from this list is as follows (and illustrated above):

• The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert: Aussie drag beats American drag (The Birdcage) every time.
• Beautiful Thing: I like my young love to end happily (My Own Private Idaho, I'm talking to you).
• Bound: I admit, I need to see more lesbian movies, but this one made me want to be a lesbian.
• Brokeback Mountain: Goes without saying.
• The Crying Game: The second most well known gay movie for straight audiences, after Brokeback.
• Longtime Companion: Narrowly ahead of Parting Glances and miles ahead of Philadelphia.
• Making Love: The first Hollywood film to get it (mostly) right.
• Maurice: As British films go, more romantic then Sunday Bloody Sunday.
• My Beautiful Laundrette: See above, add Daniel Day Lewis and champagne.
• Transamerica: Regarding transsexual themes, this one was a close call with Hedwig and the Angry Inch.

Click here to vote for your own ten movies, plus your TV favorites and, for the guys, the hottest hunks of the past four decades. As for the ladies, there are no ladies to vote for (as of now). Note to Advocate editors: it is wise not to anger the lesbians.

Results will appear in The Advocate's 40th Anniversary issue and I will cover it here as well.

UPDATE: If anyone has the results of The Advocate's 40th Anniversary polls, please email them to me at my Hotmail address, located in the sidebar below my profile. It would be greatly appreciated!

Links via Advocate.com.

Out in Film: Ian McKellen

I am not aware of what exactly was going through the mind of Ian McKellen when he publicly came out in 1988, but I am fairly certain he did not think he would be as big a star as he is now, almost twenty-years later.

Following his acclaimed role as gay Frankenstein director James Whale in Gods and Monsters (landing him his first Oscar nomination, the first out gay actor nominated for playing a gay character), McKellen went on to star in two of the most successful trilogies in movie history, The Lord of the Rings and X-Men. In these two fantasy franchises, McKellen displayed his inarguable range, playing the noble, heroic wizard Gandalf (his second Oscar nomination) in the former, the cold-blooded, calculating evil mutant Magneto in the latter.

Prior to those heights, McKellen turned in compelling lead performances in Richard III and Apt Pupil, as well as memorable character parts in Six Degrees of Separation and Bent. With magic and mutants behind him now, he has recently appeared in The Da Vinci Code and won an Annie Award for his droll toad in the animated Flushed Away. He will next be 'heard' again as the narrator of Stardust and seen onstage as King Lear.

Knighted in 1990, Sir Ian McKellen is also very active in gay rights issues and continues to be an inspiration both on and off screen.

Link via Imdb.com.

Now Part of Your World

With Beauty and the Beast now behind them, Disney Theatricals turns it attentions to the next fairy tale to make the leap from screen to stage, The Little Mermaid. The tuner, based on the 1989 animated classic that revitalized an interest in the medium that continues to this day, recently opened in Denver in preparation for its November bow on Broadway.

With its Oscar-winning score and songs, music was very integral to the success of the movie. The show will include all seven of the original Howard Ashman and Alan Menken songs, with twelve new songs penned by Menken and his new lyricist Glenn Slater. Slater proved himself a perfect successor to the late great Ashman with his songs for the Disney toon Home on the Range. In addition to that movie, Slater also collaborated with Menken on the stage musical versions of two other movies, Sister Act and Leap of Faith. Needless to say, I am anxious to hear the new stuff to see how it sits with the originals, but with Menken onboard with Slater, I am extremely optimistic.

In addition to the new music, the whole look of the show has left many curious, particularly in regards to how the undersea sequences will be handled. Moreover, with the failure of Tarzan and the closing of Beast, all of Broadway is scrutinizing this, Disney's next move on the Great White Way.

However, if the positive reactions in Denver so far is any indication, it appears this Mermaid will indeed have legs when it opens in New York this Fall.

Click here to purchase The Little Mermaidon DVD from Amazon.com.
Links via Disney.go.com, Playbill.com, OrlandoSentinel.com, SisterActTheMusical.com, Broadway.com, Variety.com and DenverPost.com.