NEWS

All the news from film and the world of the gays

The Peruvian Bear Goes Sightseeing In New Pics From Paddington

June 10, 2014 By Tim Isaac Leave a Comment

A live action Paddington Bear movie has always seemed like a risky proposition, and even after March’s Teaser Trailer the jury has been out over whether the live-action and CGI mix would work. Now a couple of new pics have arrived, which so look quite fun.

Here’s the synopsis: ‘From the producer of Harry Potter and Gravity, Paddington comes to the big screen for the first time in an epic new adventure.

‘Adapted from Michael Bond’s beloved books, Paddington follows the comic misadventures of a polite young bear with an endearing talent for comic chaos.

‘Paddington has grown up deep in the Peruvian jungle with his Aunt Lucy who, inspired by a chance encounter with an English explorer, has raised her nephew to dream of an exciting life in London. When an earthquake destroys their home, Aunt Lucy decides to smuggle her young nephew on board a boat bound for England, in search of a better life. Arriving alone at Paddington Station, Paddington soon finds that city life is not all he had imagined – until he meets the kindly Brown family, who find him with a label tied around his neck which reads ‘Please look after this bear. Thank you.’ They offer him a temporary home whilst he searches for the explorer who impressed Aunt Lucy all those years before.

‘But when Paddington catches the eye of a sinister, seductive taxidermist, it isn’t long before his home – and very existence – is under threat …’

The film is due out in the UK on November 28th.

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FILMS: Paddington

The Spongebob Movie: Sponge Out of Water Poster – He’s leaving Bikini Bottom

June 10, 2014 By Tim Isaac Leave a Comment

2004’s The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie was one of the most bizarre but funny animated movies in a long time. It’s taken a while but now he’s heading back to the big-screen for a 3D CGI adventure – The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out Of Water.

There’s not too much info on the plot, although it seems the title character will be leaving Bikini Bottom and finding out what happens on the land. Tom Kenny, Clancy Brown, Bill Fagerbakke, Rodger Bumpass and Carolyn Lawrence are all reprising their voice role.

The film is due out February 2015. Hopefully a trailer will arrive soon.

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FILMS: The Spongebob Movie: Sponge Out of Water

Sigourney Weaver Confirmed For All Three Avatar Sequels

June 10, 2014 By Tim Isaac Leave a Comment

Ever since James Cameron started talking about the sequels for Avatar, people have been wondering whether Sigourney Weaver would return. Due to the end of the first film, the initial presumption was that she wouldn’t, but then both Cameron and Weaver started suggesting she might be back after all.

Now that’s been confirmed, with the director himself saying Sigourney will return for all three Avatar sequels.

THR reports Cameron as saying, “Sigourney and I have a long creative history, dating back to 1985 when we made Alien. We’re good friends who’ve always worked well together, so it just feels right that she’s coming back for the Avatar sequels. Her character of Grace Augustine, as fans know, died in the first movie, so she’s playing a different and in many ways more challenging character in the upcoming films. We’re both looking forward to this new creative challenge, the latest chapter in our long and continuing collaboration.”

Although that suggests she will be playing a completely new character, due to the fact her death in the first film was almost a transition, it’s likely that however she returned it will be strongly linked to her role in the first movie.

The three films are due to be shot back-to-back, with production kicking off this year, with the first of the sequels due out in December 2016. Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana and Stephen Lang are also expected to return.

Josh Brolin Up To Join George Clooney In The Coen Brothers’ Hail Caesar

June 10, 2014 By Tim Isaac Leave a Comment

The Coen Brothers are following their pattern of making a small idiosyncratic movie with a more mainstream effort, as after Inside Llewyn Davis they’re putting together Hail Caesar. It already has George Clooney attached and now Deadline reports that Josh Brolin will join him.

The film is about Eddie Mannix, a 1950s fixer who works for major Hollywood studios. His job is to try and keep the movie stars in line and also cover up their indicretions. It isn’t clear who George Clooney and Josh Brolin are portraying at this time.

Joel and Ethan Coen are set to direct from their own script.

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ACTORS: Josh Brolin, George Clooney DIRECTORS: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen FILMS: Hail Caesar

Groot & Rocket Get A Guardians Of The Galaxy Character Poster

June 9, 2014 By Tim Isaac Leave a Comment

From the moment it was announced it was clear Guardians Of The Galaxy wouldn’t be quite like the other movies Marvel has made, not least because two of the main characters are a walking tree and a talking raccoon.

Now those unusual characters – Groot and Rocket (voiced by Vin Diesel and Bradley Cooper respectively) – have got their own character poster, which you can see above.

They are odd, but as in the comic books they could also be very cool.

Here’s the synopsis: ‘From Marvel, the studio that brought you the global blockbuster franchises of Iron Man, Thor, Captain America and The Avengers, comes a new team—the Guardians of the Galaxy. An action-packed, epic space adventure, Marvel’s “Guardians of the Galaxy” expands the Marvel Cinematic Universe into the cosmos, where brash adventurer Peter Quill finds himself the object of an unrelenting bounty hunt after stealing a mysterious orb coveted by Ronan, a powerful villain with ambitions that threaten the entire universe. To evade the ever-persistent Ronan, Quill is forced into an uneasy truce with a quartet of disparate misfits—Rocket, a gun-toting raccoon, Groot, a tree-like humanoid, the deadly and enigmatic Gamora and the revenge-driven Drax the Destroyer. But when Quill discovers the true power of the orb and the menace it poses to the cosmos, he must do his best to rally his ragtag rivals for a last, desperate stand—with the galaxy’s fate in the balance.

‘Marvel’s “Guardians of the Galaxy,” which first appeared in comic books in Marvel Super-Heroes, Issue #18 (Jan. 1969). James Gunn is the director of the film with Kevin Feige producing, and Louis D’Esposito, Victoria Alonso, Jeremy Latcham, Alan Fine and Stan Lee serve as executive producers. The story is by Nicole Perlman and James Gunn, with screenplay by James Gunn. Marvel’s “Guardians of the Galaxy” releases in UK cinemas on August 1, 2014.’

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ACTORS: Bradley Cooper, Vin Diesel DIRECTORS: James Gunn FILMS: Guardians Of The Galaxy

Joaquin Phoenix Producing LGBT Teen Summer Camp Documentary & He Needs Your Help

June 9, 2014 By Tim Isaac 1 Comment

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JWV-u2ttLrU

You can never be 100% certain what Joaquin Phoenix will do next, and I doubt many people would have put a bet on the fact he’d lend his name to a documentary about LGBT teens heading off to a summer camp. However he’s comes onboard Camp: The Documentary, which is now looking for funding on IndieGoGo.

The campaign says, ‘In the simplest form, we are having a unique camp this summer, July 13 through July 19, during which we will be transforming the lives of 20 diverse teenagers from across the country. We want to film this journey as a documentary so that we can provide everyone with the same tools as these teens. It is our goal to continue to connect with mainstream media providing content that is thought provoking, igniting larger conversations around the issues that often divide communities.’

Joaquin is involved as the camp and the documentary is a product of The River Phoenix Center for Peacebuilding and Be More Heroic, with the hope the teens will engage in experiential workshops, resolve personal conflict, forms lasting friendships and become confident and compassionate leaders.

To get the camp and doc going, they’re hoping to raise $40,000 via IndieGoGo, so take a look at the video above, and if you want to help out, head over to IndieGoGo.

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ACTORS: Joaquin Phoenix

Neil Patrick Harris & Hedwig Win At The Tony Awards

June 9, 2014 By Tim Isaac Leave a Comment

It was a good night for the gays at the Tony Awards (but then, isn’t it most years?). As many had predicted, Hedwig And The Angry Inch picked up some big gongs, including Best Revival Of A Musical, Best Actor In A Musical for Neil Patrick Harris (a year after he hosted the Tonys) and Best Actress In A Featured Role In A Musical for Lena Hall.

It wasn’t only LGBT tale Hedwig that was celebrating though, as also winning for the gays was A Gentleman’s Guide To Love and Murder’s director Darko Tresnjak, as well as After Midnight’s choreographer, Warren Carlyle.

Bisexual Alan Cumming got to kick the proceedings off with Wilkommen from Cabaret (which you can watch amongst the clips below), while the likes of Matt Bomer, RuPaul, Zach Quinto, and Jonathan Groff presented awards.

However the biggest winner was Audra MacDonald. To many she’s unfortunately just known for appearing in the TV series Private Practice, but at 43 she has made history by picking up her sixth Tony, this time for Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill. That puts her ahead of five-time winners Julie Harris and Angela Lansbury. Perhaps just as impressively it means she’s now the only person to win Tonys in all four competitive Actress categories.

You can take a look at a few clips from the show below, including Alan Cumming’s musical number, NPH and Lena Hall singing a ditty from Hedwig, and host Hugh Jackman’s opening numbers below. [Read more…]

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ACTORS: Neil Patrick Harris, Audra McDonald

First Period Trailer – Take a look at the John Waters-style comedy ahead of its Baltimore Q’Fest Gala Screening

June 8, 2014 By Tim Isaac 1 Comment

This Thursday, First Period has the honour of being the Opening Night Gala screening at the Baltimore Q’Fest. The proud director, Charles Vaughn, reached out to us about it, so we thought it was a great opportunity to post the trailer.

You can certainly get a bit of a John Waters feel from the promo, particularly as the main female characters are played by men in drag but that fact isn’t mentioned, as well as the style of humour.

Here’s the synopsis: ‘New girl Cassie (Brandon Alexander III) and outcast Maggie (Dudley Beene) are easily the most awkward girls in high school. Together, they decide the way to win the hearts of the cute boys and popular girls is to come in first at the school talent show. But rivals Heather, Other Heather, and their popular boyfriends Brett and Dirk will stop at nothing to keep our heroes the laughing stock of the school. It’s going to take makeovers, courage, and maybe even a little rapping to beat them in true 80s style.’

Take a look at the fun looking trailer above. [Read more…]

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Channing Tatum Shows Support For Jonah Hill After Gay Slur Incident

June 7, 2014 By Tim Isaac Leave a Comment

Jonah Hill had to go on a bit of an apology tour earlier this week after TMZ got hold of footage of him yelling, “Suck my dick, you faggot,” at a photographer. He was keen to stress that, “I’m happy to take the heat for using this disgusting word. What I won’t allow is for anyone—it would break my heart to think that anyone—especially with all the work that I’ve done and all the loved ones that I have—[would think] I would be against anyone for their sexuality.”

It was particularly bad timing for Hill, whose sequel 22 Jump Street hit UK cinemas this week and will be released in the US on Friday.

It was inevitable that at some point his co-star, Channing Tatum – himself known for his support of gay rights – would be asked about the controversy. Tatum decided to speak up during a join interview with Hill for the US show, Extra.

Jonah apologised again, saying, “It’s just about owning up to when you mess up in life, and hopefully some people can learn from mistakes that I’ve made in my life and that’s it.”

Tatum then jumped in, adding, “I’ll jump in and just say that I think most of the time when people have to go on and sort of apologize for something it might not come off all that well because it’s not actually like what they mean. I can honestly say that is not who he is. It came off well and he did it well because he really means it, that wasn’t who he was that day.”

Although many people seem prepared to forgive Hill for his indiscretion, many others feel that despite his series of apologies, he shouldn’t be let off the hook for using the gay slur in such an offensive manner. The detractors point out that if he’d used a racial slur, he’d almost certainly have faced much greater condemnation.

Take a look at the clip of Tatum supporting Jonah below.

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ACTORS: Channing Tatum, Jonah Hill

Gay Fave Andrew Hayden-Smith Amongst The Cast Of Russell T. Davies’ LGBT Series Banana

June 7, 2014 By Tim Isaac Leave a Comment

This time last month the cast for Russell T. Davies’ gay-themed drama series Cucumber was announced. Now we get new about its sister show, Bananas, which will air on the UK TV channel E4. The one thing we’re now waiting for is news on the third part of this interlinked triptych, Tofu, which will be air online.

The youthful cast includes Andrew Hayden-Smith, the openly gay actor who went from Byker Grove and presenting kid’s TV to finding a whole new audience as a recurring character on Doctor Who. Of course Smith was on Doctor Who when Russell T. Davies was running the show, so he must have impressed the Queer As Folk creator to get hired here.

Here’s the official announcement about the show: ‘Exciting and emerging talent from the fields of acting, writing and directing are to lead the charge in multi-award winning Russell T Davies’ much anticipated new E4 series, Banana, produced by RED Production Company.

‘Banana (8 x 30’) starts filming in Manchester next week, following hot on the heels of Cucumber, its partner drama for Channel 4.

‘A series of eight witty, charming and unique stand-alone stories, Banana covers 50 shades of gay and beyond – offering an intriguing and often outrageous peek into the individual lives, loves and losses of a range of characters. Young lesbian, Scotty pursues an unrequited love; 19 year old Dean has mysterious family secrets and a sexually charged liaison with the enigmatic Geordie Man; Sian struggles to choose between lover Violet and her over-protective mum Vanessa; and Helen who’s besieged by unwanted attention from an ex.

‘The series features exciting, up and coming talent including HANNAH JOHN-KAMEN (Happy Valley), LETITIA WRIGHT (Top Boy), GEORGIA HENSHAW (Waterloo Road), ANDREW HAYDEN-SMITH (Doctor Who) and comedian BETHANY BLACK in her television debut. They are joined by Cucumber regulars FREDDIE FOX (Parade’s End) and FISAYO AKINADE (Fresh Meat).

‘Alongside showrunner Davies who has written three episodes, Banana will feature the writing talents of comedian and presenter of The Great British Bake Off SUE PERKINS, MATTHEW BARRY and brilliant new writers CHARLIE COVELL and LEE WARBURTON

‘The series will be crafted by exciting new directors LEWIS ARNOLD (Misfits), LUKE SNELLIN (My Mad Fat Diary) and AL MACKAY (My Jihad) who are already gaining a profile in the industry.

‘“The joy of Banana is in the beautiful, charming, witty and sometimes heart breaking stories of a wide variety of characters, be they gay, lesbian, transgender or anything in-between,” explains Davies. “The fact we have a bunch of brilliant and wildly talented young people in it, and making it, will give it even more bite and an exciting edge.”

‘Banana, Cucumber and Tofu, are three interlinked shows that explore 21st century gay life in all it’s powerful, witty, dark and uplifting guises and were devised by multi-award-winning showrunner Russell T Davies (Queer As Folk, Doctor Who) for E4, Channel 4 and online.

‘The ambitious projects are created with the same ferocious wit, startling honesty and heartfelt warmth that made Queer as Folk a landmark Channel 4 series, Banana will be broadcast on E4.

‘Online Tofu will be an anarchic and entertaining factual series about sex – from gay to straight, and anything in between – inspired by the dramas each week.’

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ACTORS: Andrew Hayden-Smith DIRECTORS: Russell T. Davies