Aretha’s Inaugural Hat has a Posse

Aretha's Inaugural Hat has a Posse

Aretha’s Inaugural Hat

“I Love You Phillip Morris” review from Reuters

Ewan McGregor and Jim Carrey in "I Love You Phillip Morris"

“I Love You Phillip Morris” doesn’t have anything to do with smoking, but that’s about the only thing it’s not connected to. The feature, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, is of the ethereal-absurdist-gay-romantic-biographical farce genre, which poses the question: How are they going to market this? Basically, just say Jim Carrey struts his stuff in this engaging oddity.

Carrey is at his nimble best as Steve, a Texas family man and lawman who bolts out of the closet into a life of, well, everything. He makes up for the lost years of a straight-arrow, heterosexual life by plunging headfirst into multiple lives as con man and lover. Based on a real-life character, Steve was abandoned at birth, and in the film’s glib psychology, he’s undertaking to find his real identity.

Carrey’s at his nimble best in gay-themed Morris | Entertainment | Film | Reuters.

Time Out: Alanis’ Humps

In case you missed it. This is for my buddy Jeff:

A personal note to everyone who came to DC for the inauguration, especially if you didn’t make it to the Mall

My group’s plan was to meet at the Shaw Metro Station at eight.
“The train is broken down on the tracks,” came the call.
“The platform is packed. We Better Walk.”

We walked down 7th street, passing signs that said,
“A Bus will be along every 10 minutes on Inauguration day”
But they neglected to mention buses would all be full.

A sea of people in the DC streets the morning of the inauguration

We emerged in the Capital, downtown, truly in a sea of people.
No one knowing what was happening, but following the crowds
Hoping to finally land in a place to witness History.

A report of a water-main Break on Seventh
“Entrances Every Three Blocks” they say.
But no one in those lines is moving either.

“Eighteenth and H! Eighteenth and H!”
One cop repeats to anyone looking for the Mall.
The Mall was full by seven we heard. Now it’s nearly ten.

A river of bundled pilgrims flowed around every corner,
And like an overflowing river, there was no hope of containment
We were fluid, escaping through every street and around every bus blockade

We made it to 18th, and down to the Mall.
We walked over the hill at the Washington Monument and hit a wall of people
We made it finally to 14th, but they said no one was going to get through.
So we retreated and settled near the base of the Monument.

The air was bitter cold and
The changing wind contained harsh reality
There was no transportation
But you came.

You were millions who believed in hope.
They told you it would be a “nightmare”
And anti-American preachers prayed for rain
But you came.

You woke before dawn, dressed your children
Loaded your cameras, and left your warm homes
Uncertain of the day, but determined to be part of it
That is why you came

Do not be sad if you came to the Capital but didn’t make it to the Mall.
Because your story is the most important one
You are living proof how America, in one of her most difficult moments,
Rejected fear, cynicism, empire, and oppression
For Hope, Belief, Common Good, and Liberty

Doug Mills/The New York Times

In our eagerness to embrace this new attitude and new Time
Our Capital City was bursting at the seams with restless Humanity
That only stopped for one brief moment while one young man put his hand in the air
Swearing himself to be our protector, and our servant.

Your pilgrimage to a patch of grass may have been cut short
And you may have ducked into a hotel or bar on the District city streets.
But where you settled only expands the reach of the importance of that day

Your wild tale of how you got there
Or how you made it only so far
Will go down in History.

And Generations from now when we look at that overflowing day in Washington
We will remember how we came together as One people. Full of hope. Full of promise.
And wherever we stood at that moment, we will remember when our country
Embraced a new day.

Public in LGBT embattled town invited to home viewings of “Prayers for Bobby”

Sigourney Weaver marches with P-FLAG in "Prayers for Bobby"

Parents in Kalamazoo, MI, whose city commission was recently pressured into repealing a gay rights ordinance, are inviting the public into their homes to watch Prayers for Bobby.

In “Prayers,” to premiere at 9 p.m. Saturday on Lifetime, (Sigourney) Weaver plays Mary Griffith, a devoutly religious woman whose son Bobby (Ryan Kelley, “Smallville”) reveals he’s gay. She tries to help him become heterosexual through prayer. After Bobby commits suicide, Mary questions her religious beliefs and becomes a gay-rights advocate.

“I just felt it was very important to make this movie, because I felt it was a story to save lives and to open minds,” said Weaver, 59, during a phone interview. “I love stories that are about something more than the people in them. It seems to me what’s begun to happen is that television is more interested in those stories sometimes more than studios are because studios are trying to make a lot of money. Television takes more risks.”

…Western Michigan University student Adam Taylor, 20, was an extra in “Prayers.” Taylor is the director of Kalamazoo-based Project Light, a resource of the Kalamazoo Gay/Lesbian Resource Center. Founded in January 2008, Project Light provides an educational forum on the mental health of lesbian, bisexual, gay and transgendered (GLBT) youths.

“One in three gay, lesbian or bisexual youth between the ages of 14 and 24 contemplate, plan, attempt or complete suicide. One in two transgendered youth do (the same),” Taylor said. “About 83 percent of transgendered youth will attempt suicide in their lifetimes, which is 20 times higher — not 20 percent, but 20 times higher — than the standard population of their heterosexual peers. It’s not nationally proven, but it is definitely in one of the highest categories when dealing with suicide.”

Taylor, who is openly gay, said he tried to commit suicide at 16 when “dealing with my sexual-orientation issues.”

Public invited to viewings of film about gay issues – Kalamazoo News

Milk nominated for at least eight Oscars

Gus Van Sant picks up Director nomination for Milk.
Danny Elfman picks up Original Score Nomination.
Dustin Lance Black’s vision pays off with a nod for Screenplay

Milk goes up against:

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Frost/Nixon
The Reader
Slumdog Millionaire, which is the one to beat

Sean Penn was nominated for Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role:

The Visitor
Richard Jenkins

Frost/Nixon
Frank Langella

Milk
Sean Penn

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Brad Pitt

The Wrestler
Mickey Rourke

Josh Brolin also nominated for Milk for playing assassin Dan White.

Danny Glicker also nominated for Milk for costumes.
Elliot Graham nominated for Milk for film editing.

OSCAR.com – 81st Annual Academy Awards – Homepage.