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Taking a look at the world of film through gay eyes - news, reviews, trailers, gay film, queer cinema and more

Taking a look at the world of film through gay eyes - news, reviews, trailers, gay film, queer cinema & more

NEWS

All the news from film and the world of the gays

Xena Co-Creator Reveals Why The Warrior Princess & Gabrielle Never Became A Couple

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xena-gabrielleEver since it started on TV, Xena: Warrior Princess has been an LGBT favourite, with many feeling that the relationship between Xena and Gabrielle was a lesbian one, although the show never actually came out and explicitly said that. However, it was definitely there, with the show increasingly adding hints, jokes and innuendo, even including a ‘kiss’ between the characters towards the end, which saved Gabrielle’s life.

But why didn’t they ever actually become a couple on-screen (although by the end even the two actresses involved thought the two were almost definitely intimate)? Co-creator Robert Tapert has been talking about that, although his reasoning seems a little bit like an excuse. He told EW, “The name Xena means ‘stranger’. She felt she was irredeemable. That friendship between Xena and Gabrielle transmitted some message of self-worth, deservedness, and honor to people who felt very marginalized, so it had a lot of resonance in the gay community… We didn’t really ever want to get them 100 percent together for a very strange reason. There was Ares [Kevin Smith], God of War, who we loved. We did not want to give up the hold that character had over Xena and the enjoyment we had with telling stories of Xena and Ares. So as much as we liked that Xena and Gabrielle were two people who were the best of friends, and perhaps intimate friends, we never wanted to give up Ares.”

The real reason however is more likely the TV landscape in the 1990s, when LGBT characters were rarer and almost never the main characters. Tapert admits that, “Before we started shooting Xena, we shot the material that we were going to use to create the opening title sequences with. The studio was so concerned that it would be perceived as a lesbian show that they would not allow us to have Xena and Gabrielle in the same frame of the opening titles.”

Xena actress Lucy Lawless also thinks things may have been different if the show was made today, saying, “For the LGBT community to see themselves on TV was certainly new in the ’90s. My goodness, how things have changed from Xena subtext to I Am Cait. That’s an incredible evolution in 20 years, and I think it’s a really healthy one.”

There is currently a reboot of Xena in development at NBC, with suggestions already that it’s likely to include openly LGBT characters. However, whether that includes Xena herself remains to be seen.

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Sarah Paulson Reveals She Had Career Nerves After Kissing Her Girlfriend At The Tonys

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sarah-paulsonWe may have come a long way in terms of LGBT acceptance in the West, but there’s no doubt there are still major issues, not least of which are sometimes legitimate fears over whether being open about your sexuality will affect your career. And when you’re an actor just starting to find media success, it’s not too surprising you’d worry whether it would make a difference.

American Horror Story’s Sarah Paulson has admitted she was a little nervous after kissing her then girlfriend, Cherry Jones, at the 2005 Tony Awards, after Jones won the Best Actress in a Play award for playing Sister Aloysius in Doubt. At the time, Paulson had just booked her first high profile TV role, in Studio 60 On Sunset Strip, and wondered whether the spontaneous smooch would have repercussions for that.

She tells NOTOFU (via GSN), “I was just doing what one would do when a person they love has just won a big award. What am I gonna do, pat her on the back and say, ‘Good job, dude?’ It didn’t occur to me to do anything but what I did.”

However, she says it did give her concerns, which weren’t allayed until she got to the Studio 60 sets and the show’s creator, Aaron Sorking, assured her that she would, ‘never have anything to worry about.’

Paulson says, “It was the biggest exhale of my life. I didn’t realize how anxious about it I had been until he said that.”

She’s also keen to say people shouldn’t have to feel the way she did, adding, “I believe that everyone should be allowed to speak their truth and just say what they want to say and show the world who they are. You should be able to love whomever you fucking well please.

Bisexual Paulson, split with Jones not too long after the Tonys and is currently a relationship with Emmy Award-winning actress Holland Taylor (Two and a Half Men). While Studio 60 flopped (despite being a great show), Paulson has since found great success in American Horror Story and film roles in the likes of 12 Years A Slave and Carol. She recently earned rave reviews as Marcia Clarke in The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story.

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Dave Franco’s Frat Brother Character Comes Out As Gay In Bad Neighbours 2

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bad-neighbours-dave-francoIn Bad Neighbours (known simply as Neighbors in the US), there were jokes that suggested Dave Franco’s character, Pete, was gay but pretending he wasn’t, as well as playing up the homerotic undertones between him and Zac Efron’s character. Well, with the sequel, they’ve decided to stop being coy about it, as Pete is coming out.

Director Nicholas Stoller talked to Yahoo! about why they decided to be more open about it, which apparently happened after a journalist asked him why he’d never included a gay character in any of his films (such as Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Get Him to the Greek, and The Five-Year Engagement). It set Stoller thinking, “I was like, ‘I don’t know why. I literally don’t know. I have no good answer for that.’ So this seemed like an organic way to have that happen.”

With the relationship between Pete and Efron’s fellow frat brother, Teddy, he says, “Clearly, we’re playing with the homoerotic tension there, and I was like, ‘He should just be gay.’ Then in this one, it came up again. [Co-writer] Evan Goldberg brought it up, and he said, ‘I think he should be gay, and part of [his arc] should be the proposal.’ It was kind of all of us coming to the same conclusion.”

However, Teddy won’t be following Pete down the lavender path despite the level of their bromance, with Stoller adding, “A lot of Zac’s motivations in the first movie, especially with his girlfriend and stuff, seemed pretty straight. It felt like it might seem like a stunt if we made him gay. But it seemed to just work with Dave.”

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Michael Shannon Up For Guillermo del Toro’s Supernatural Cold War Romance

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michael-shannonA few weeks ago it was revealed that Guillermo Del Toro was working on a supernatural romance set during the Cold War, with Sally Hawkins, Richard Jenkins, Octavia Spencer and Michael Stuhlbarg set to star. Now another actor is joining the throng, with Variety reporting the Michael Shannon is in talks for the film.

There aren’t many story details, but it’s reported that it’s set in 1963 and is about, ‘A mute laboratory worker, to be played by Sally Hawkins, falls in love with an amphibious man who’s being held captive’. Shannon will be the villain of the story.

The movie is set to shoot later this year for a 2017 release. No official title has been revealed, but it may end up being called The Shape of Water.

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Alden Ehrenreich Will Be The New, Young Han Solo

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alden-ehrenreich26-year-old Alden Ehrenreich has been the ‘next big thing’ for a while (in fact ever since he was discovered by Steven Spielberg entertaining at a bar mitzvah). However, the likes of Beautiful Creatures failed to really break him out, and while he’s gotten very close to numerous other major tentpole roles, they’ve ended up going to someone else.

Now though, he’s landed a massive one, as it’s been revealed that he wiill play the young Han Solo in a planned standalone movie about the space jockey, set before the events of A New Hope. While the film isn’t expected to shoot until next year, it’s believed Lucasfilm wanted to cast him early, so they could include a cameo from him in this December’s Rogue One.

Lawrence Kasdan and Jon Kasdan are writing the script for the Han Solo movie, with Phil Lord and Chris Miller set to direct.

Ehrenreich has just come off an incredibly well received turn in the Coens’ Hail, Caesar!, which many commented would make a lot of people in Hollywood pay more attention to him. It certainly seems to have done that, although the young actor will also be aware that he’s got some very big boots to fill, taking over from Harrison Ford.

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Arrow’s Colton Haynes Confirms That Yes, He Is Indeed Gay

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colton-haynes-arrowBack in January the internet was abuzz with news that Arrow and Teen Wolf star Colton Haynes had come out as gay – except that he hadn’t, he’d just made a very strong hint. He’d replied to a Tumblr post from someone who’d said, ‘When I found out Colton Haynes had a secret gay past, I got so excited even though i know it makes absolutely no difference in my life,’ by saying, ‘Was it a secret? Let’s all just enjoy life & have no regrets :)’

While it was taken as him saying he was gay, it wasn’t really, especially as it’s well known he took part in at least one racy gay photoshoot when he was younger (with the pics popping up online every so often). It also seems Colton himself didn’t think he was making a big coming out statement.

Now he’s been talking about is sexuality and health in unambiguous terms, telling EW that after the web decided he’d come out in January, “It was a complete shock. I wasn’t ready to be back in the headlines. I should have made a comment or a statement, but I just wasn’t ready. I didn’t feel like I owed anyone anything. I think in due time, everyone has to make those decisions when they’re ready, and I wasn’t yet. But I felt like I was letting people down by not coming forward with the rest of what I should have said.”

At the time he had only recently revealed the major issues he’s had with anxiety, and he has has sought treatment for issues related to that over the past few months, so it’s little surprise that he didn’t want to deal with a big coming out statement.

Haynes adds that, “People want you to be that GQ image that you put out, but people don’t realize what it’s like to act 24 hours a day. I’d go home and I was still acting… People who are so judgmental about those who are gay or different don’t realize that acting 24 hours a day is the most exhausting thing in the world.”

There has been speculation about Haynes’ sexuality for a long time, partly due to the aforementioned gay mag photoshoot, and partly as he has been out in his private life since High School and so there were plenty of people who knew.  However, it’s suggested that with Hollywood telling young actors they must hide their sexuality if they want to find mainstream success (indeed, in the past Colton’s representatives have tried to have the gay mag photos removed from websites that have published them), he decided to separate his public and private faces. Coupled with his anxiety issues, it’s made it a more difficult journey to being fully open about his sexuality than he may have liked.

Thankfully though he adds, “It took me so long to get to this point, but I’m doing so good. I’m happier than I’ve ever been, and healthier than I’ve ever been, and that’s what I care about.”

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Channing Tatum Announces That Magic Mike Live Is Coming To Vegas

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channing-taum-magic-mike-liveIn a move that’s not too surprising (except in how long it’s taken), Channing Tatum has revealed that Magic Mike is going live with an all male revue that will be hitting Las Vegas next year. It’s surprising it hasn’t happened before because it seems like such as obvious extension, but they may have held off creating a Magic Mike strip show/club, due to the fact Tatum and co. have been working on a musical stage version of the movie. However, little has been heard about that recently, so they may have decided a revue was the next sensible step instead.

Tatum will direct the show, titled Magic Mike Live, which will recreate the film’s ‘Club Domina’ with three bars, an interactive stage and seating for 450 guests. It’ll open at the Hard Rock Cafe in Vegas next March.

In the video below, Tatum talks about his plans, while surrounded by hot shirtless guys doing household chores – and with some puppies thrown in too. While the video talks about this being a club for ladies, you have to hope that gay guys will be allowed in too, especially as the gay contingent certainly helped make the movie a success! Channing’s house in the vid certainly looks like a gay man’s wet dream, if nothing else!

As Channing says, “What if women were given the option that men have had for centuries?. “That’s when my brain morphed into Kevin Costner from Field of Dreams and said, ’If you build it, they will come, spelled c-u-m.’” Take a look at the video below. [Read more…]

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Seth Rogen Talks About His ‘Bordering Blatantly Homophobic’ Early Movies

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zac-efron-seth-rogen-neighbors-2-slideThere have plenty of people who’ve noted that while Seth Rogen’s movies have been popular, a lot of them are also filled with jokes where gay people are the butt of the humour. The actor and his colleagues have sometimes tried to defend it, saying the real joke is against the type of person who talks like that. However, now he’s admitted that some of the humour in his earlier movies probably was homophobic.

Talking to The Guardian, Rogen and his Bad Neighbours 2 co-star Chloë Grace Moretz were asked to re-evaluating previous films through a feminist lens. It appears Rogen has already had a rethink about some of what he’s done in the past, saying “It’s funny looking at some movies we’ve made in the last 10 years under the lens of new eras and new social consciousnesses… There’s for sure some stuff in our earlier movies and even in our more recent movies where even like a year later you’re like, ‘Eh, maybe that wasn’t the greatest idea or some jokes just don’t age as well as others.’”

“There are probably some jokes in Superbad that are bordering blatantly homophobic at times. I mean, they’re all in the voice of high school kids who do speak like that, but I think we’d also be silly not to acknowledge that we were also, to some degree, glamorizing that type of language in a lot of ways.”

Rogen also gives his thoughts on the Sororities and Fraternities that features in Bad Neighbours and its sequel, saying “I think the Greek system seems a little sexist,” Rogen said of the film’s main topic. “The sheer fact that the women and the men don’t have equal rights and opportunities, I think by definition makes it sexist, so that’s something we talked a lot about while we were making this movie.” [Read more…]

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First Look At The New Power Rangers Suits & The Shiny Spandex Is Gone

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power-rangers-suits-1st-lookA new Power Rangers movie has been shooting, which has a bigger budget than previous attempts to the franchise on the big screen, and will be bringing a more cinematic feel, rather than just being a TV spin-off. The movie won’t be in cinemas until next year, but the makers are keen to show us that this won’t be the slightly cheesy Rangers we know from television.

That includes giving the suits a complete makeover. Gone is the spandex-type material and in are superhero inspired robotic-looking suits. They look pretty cool, but it’s certainly noticeable that while the men appear to have lost their genitals, the women have been given ample boob room – but that’s Hollywood for you.

The new pic above comes shortly after we got out first look at Elizabeth Banks as the new Rita Repulsa, who again looked very different from how she looked in the original series.

Here’s the synopsis: ‘Saban’s Power Rangers follows five ordinary high school kids who must become something extraordinary when they learn that their small town of Angel Grove – and the world – is on the verge of being obliterated by an alien threat. Chosen by destiny, our heroes quickly discover that they are the only ones who can save the planet. But to do so they will have to overcome their real-life issues and band together as the Power Rangers before it is too late.’

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Captain America: Civil War Directors Think LGBT Heroes May Come To Marvel Movies

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anthony-and-joe-russoRecently there’s been a fair amount of talk about the lack of LGBT representation in big, tentpole, blockbuster movie. It was brought into stark relief a couple of days ago when GLAAD released its Studio Responsibility Index, which revealed that no movie released by Disney in 2015 featured an LGBT character. It highlighted how the likes of the Marvel universe is completely straight.

However, now the director’s of Captain America: Civil War, Joe and Anthony Russo, have suggested they think there’s room to change that. When asked by Collider whether they think LGBT heroes will be brought into the Marvel universe, they said, “I think the chances are strong. I mean, it’s incumbent upon us as storytellers who are making mass-appeal movies to make mass-appeal movies, and to diversify as much as possible. It’s sad in the way that Hollywood lags behind other industries so significantly, one because you think that it would be a progressive industry, and two it’s such a visible industry. So I think it’s important that on all fronts we keep pushing for diversification because then the storytelling becomes more interesting, more rich, and more truthful.”

Admittedly that’s far from saying it’s going to happen, and it’s one thing for directors to be interested in it, and another to get studio executives to invest tens or even hundreds of millions of dollars in a film featuring LGBT characters and heroes. However, with the Russo’s directing the two-part Avengers: Infinity War, they will hopefully have some sway to get things moving in the right direction.

Earlier this year, the makers and cast of Deadpool loudly proclaimed that, as in the comics, the screen version of the character is pansexual, and saying that certainly didn’t hurt it at the box office. However, other than a few jokey comments, that pansexuality wasn’t particularly visible on-screen.

The Russo’s believe though that the success of Marvel may mean it’ll become easier for the studio to take a ‘risk’ on an LGBT heroes. They added, “I think this is a philosophy of Marvel, in success it becomes easier to take risks. There’s a lot of unconventional ideas in Civil War in terms of what people’s expectations of a superhero movie are, but I think we were able to do that because Winter Soldier worked and Marvel’s been working in general, so there’s more of a boldness in terms of what you can try and where you can go. So I think that’s very hopeful for all of us moving forward that bolder and bolder choices can be made.”

It will still be an uphill struggle though, as there’s still a massive fear in Hollywood that an LGBT hero in a massive tentpole movie would be box office poison in less gay-friendly countries such as Russia and China, and may result in a right-wing backlash that could effect returns in the US and other countries. Whether that’s true or not can’t really be tested until a studio makes a major movie with an LGBT lead, but it’s going to be tough to convince them to do that.

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