Reverend's Preview: From Chastity to Chaz

Even though I was just a few years older than she was, I vividly remember little 2-year old Chastity Bono sending all us viewers a good night kiss at the end of her parents' hit 1970's TV show, The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour. Her mother, of course, went on to become an acclaimed solo singer and Academy Award-winning actress. Her father was a sometime actor (including a role in the original Hairspray) before serving as mayor of Palm Springs and, a few years later, dying tragically in a ski accident.

And little Chastity? Well, she is now a he in the wake of successful gender-reassignment surgery and hormone therapy that began in 2009. Having legally changed his name to Chaz Salvatore Bono (the middle name was his father's birth name), the now-son of Sonny and Cher is the subject of an eye-opening documentary, Becoming Chaz. It is scheduled to premiere on OWN: The Oprah Winfrey Network tomorrow night, but Reverend got an advance look at the film.

"I've hated my body since puberty," Chaz says on camera of his pre-op state. "In high school, I often went to bed praying I would wake up as a boy." He started considering transitioning from female to male in the late 1990's as he saw cultural acceptance growing, partly due to the acclaimed movie Boys Don't Cry. Chaz gratefully recalls Sonny encouraging him to dress and act like a boy following his parents' divorce when Chaz was four years old.

Years prior to the decision to transition, Chastity had come out publicly as a lesbian. Jennifer Elia, Chaz's longtime partner, plays an integral part in the documentary. A recovering alcoholic, Jennifer's sobriety is put to the test during the "exhausting process" of Chaz's surgery and recovery. Chaz's own, 10-year addiction to prescription painkillers proved its own challenge, resulting in a low tolerance to the drugs intended to give him comfort during and after his initial operation and following six years of abstinence.

"I believe this happened when it was meant to happen," Chaz says of his transition. The post-op Chaz appears much happier in the documentary than he does before surgery, whether he is playing video games with good friend RuPaul, buying a suit for the premiere of his mother's movie Burlesque, or serving as a role model/consultant to trans children and their parents. On bravely going public with his decision to transition, Chaz reveals, "I'm doing this to try to put a public face on a serious issue."

Becoming Chaz also helps to answer a long-standing question on the lips of many: what has been Cher's reaction to her only daughter's decision to become a male? (She has a biological son by fellow singer Greg Allman.) Cher was initially silent but allows this film's accomplished directors, Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato (who previously made 101 Rent Boys, Party Monster and the wonderful The Eyes of Tammy Faye) to interview her extensively.

"I wasn't happy," Cher says of her first reaction to Chaz's decision to go public. She later recounts hearing Chastity's (female) voice for the last time on her answering machine. "That's when it hit me." Whereas Jennifer does call Cher from the recovery room following Chaz's surgery to assure her everything had gone well, Cher apparently couldn't bring herself to be there personally.

One scene in the film shows Chaz watching his mother's appearance on Late Night with David Letterman in late 2010, and being moved by Cher's first public or private reference then to Chaz as a "he." Cher clearly continues wrestling with her child's decision but seems to be coming along. Be sure to watch through the end credits of Becoming Chaz to see Cher's and Chaz's face-to-face reunion at the Burlesque premiere.

Immediately following tomorrow's broadcast of Becoming Chaz on OWN, Rosie O'Donnell will interview Chaz and the filmmakers about their experience making it on The Doc Club with Rosie O'Donnell.

Review by Rev. Chris Carpenter, resident film critic of Movie Dearest and the Blade California.

MD Poll: All Hail the King

With just over a day until the "real thing", it's time to take a look at the final results of our latest MD Poll and see what movies and performers would win the top Academy Awards If You Picked the Oscars:

At close to 30% of the vote, The King's Speech was victorious as your Best Picture pick. However, second place went to Black Swan over the heavily favored The Social Network, which placed third. Inception and Toy Story 3 round out the top five.

Just as expected for tomorrow night, Colin Firth easily topped the Best Actor race, with Oscar co-host James Franco coming in a distant second for his performance in 127 Hours.

The Black Swan herself, Natalie Portman, triumphed as Best Actress, with her closest competition, The Kids Are All Right's Annette Bening placing second.

As for the supporting categories, one film delivered two knockout performances that you chose as the champions. With over half of the votes, The Fighter's Christian Bale was named your Best Supporting Actor. But it wasn't without a fight, as The King's Speech's Geoffrey Rush earned over half of the remaining votes.

The closest race, here and in reality, was for Best Supporting Actress. With just 0.5% of a difference, The Fighter's Melissa Leo squeaked past The King's Speech's Helena Bonham Carter for the win. Also making an impressive showing was True Grit's Hailee Steinfeld.

See the complete results in the comments section below, and be sure to tune in to the actual Oscars tomorrow night on ABC to see how well we matched the actual winners!

MD Poll: Hot for Teacher

The Gleeks have spoken: your ultimate Glee crush object is none other than Will Schuester, played by Matthew Morrison.  But it wasn't an easy win, as he is followed closely in the voting by bad boy Noah "Puck" Puckerman (Mark Salling). Gay cutie Kurt Hummel (Chris Colfer) rounds out the top three.

See the comments section below for the complete statistics for this MD Poll, and don't forget to tune in to Fox on April 13 for the much-anticipated return of Glee!

Reel Thoughts: Oscar Love (and Hate)

When the curtain rises on the Oscars tonight, there won’t be much notice of Tom Ford’s gorgeous drama, A Single Man. The story of a gay man dealing with the death of his partner didn’t get much Oscar love. Except for Colin Firth’s Best Actor nomination, the movie was ignored.  Just as Brokeback Mountain lost Best Picture, Best Actor and Best Supporting Acting honors to lesser challengers in 2006, this year, the GLBT community is again reminded that being “too gay” is the kiss of death as far as Oscar is concerned.

Still, there is a lot to love about Oscars this year ... and a lot to hate:

Best Pictures:
Love It: Ten Best Pictures are nominated, including Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire (directed by out director Lee Daniels), Inglourious Basterds, Up and District 9.
Hate It: Ten Best Pictures nominated include Avatar and The Blind Side, but not A Single Man or Julie & Julia.

Acting Nominations:
Love It: In a year that really wasn’t so great, great performances still happened, and Oscar noticed with nominations for Firth, Meryl Streep (Julie & Julia), Christoph Waltz (Inglourious Basterds), Mo’Nique (Precious), Jeff Bridges (Crazy Heart), Helen Mirren (The Last Station) and newcomer Carey Mulligan (An Education).
Hate It: No nominations for Julianne Moore (A Single Man), Michael Stuhlbarg (A Serious Man) or Irving Thalberg Memorial Award for Mariah Carey’s Precious mustache.

Oscar Music:
Love It: There’s a nice mix of Best Song nominees, thanks to Crazy Heart, The Princess and the Frog, Nine and some French movie no one has ever heard of.
Hate It: But we won't hear the songs. Producer Adam Shankman (Hairspray) has cut the live performances from the Oscars telecast. Come on! It’s not like Snow White was going to do a reprise with Rob Lowe.

Oscar Party Food:
Love It: There are great Oscar food inspirations this year! District 9 Prawns (or ... canned cat food?), Crazy (Artichoke) Hearts, a Coralime Jell-O Mold, Inglourious Strudel (don't forget the cream!), Hot Cocoa Before Chanel, Precious Pigs Feet (ew), etc. And if you're lazy, just get Taco Bell à la The Blind Side.
Hate It: Avatar’s inclusion means lots of blue food, except there are no really blue foods ... perhaps Blueberry Avatarts? Na'vi Blue Curacao Martinis will mean lots of hangovers the morning after.

First Nominations:
Love It: Sandra Bullock (The Blind Side) and Christopher Plummer (The Last Station) got their first nominations ... finally!
Hate It: Director Tom Ford and his brilliant art director Dan Bishop did not get nominated for A Single Man. If that movie wasn’t a brilliant bit of art direction, what was it?

Now, on to the part I love ... Picking the Oscars!:

Best Actor:
Who Should Win: Colin Firth gave a heart-breaking performance as George Falconer, an outwardly closeted man whose life partner is killed, and who wishes to join him in A Single Man. George Clooney is great in Up in the Air, and so is the man who will win, but it’s really hard to pull off the quiet intensity that Firth masters.
Who Will Win: Jeff Bridges, as a washed up but still pretty talented country singer in Crazy Heart. Bridges lives and breathes his role, and he’s considered “owed” the award.

Best Actress:
Who Should Win: Meryl, Meryl, Meryl! Saying it enough won’t make it happen. Her Julia Child in Julie & Julia was as light as a perfect soufflé, yet as earthy and grounded in real human emotions as a hearty stew. Streep makes it all look too easy, but she is never less than brilliant.
Who Will Win: Sandy, Sandy, Sandy! If any year belongs to Sandra Bullock, it’s this year. Hollywood loves a success story, and with her tart and funny performance in The Proposal and her immensely warm and lovable role in The Blind Side, she’s as unstoppable as Big Mike!

Best Supporting Actor:
Who Should and Will Win: This one’s easy. Remember a certain unknown actor who electrified people as a cold and murderous Nazi in Schindler’s List? Ralph Fiennes became a star and got his first Oscar nomination (and should have won over The Fugitive's Tommy Lee Jones). Christoph Waltz is a different man playing a different Nazi “Jew Hunter” in Inglourious Basterds, but he is no less thrilling to watch. He should win. He will win.

Best Supporting Actress:
Who Should and Will Win: If Waltz’s character was a hate-filled black woman living in the slums of New York, taking her wrath out on her obese daughter and grandchildren rather than helpless Jews, he still wouldn’t be all of the marvelous, horrifying, pitiful and raw things that Mo’Nique is in Precious. The actress is getting a lot of flack for not seeming grateful enough for Oscar’s love, but honey, that performance stands on its own (as Mo’Nique herself might say).

Best Picture:
What Should Win: Jason Reitman is an amazingly smart and talented director, able to create seemingly flippant films with surprising heart and soul. Up in the Air is his best work yet. In terms of achieving all that it attempted, it deserves the title of Best Picture.

What Will Win: The front-runners are The Hurt Locker and Avatar. I wouldn’t be hurt by a Locker upset, even though the film isn’t much more than one tense bomb-diffusing scene after another. But it does capture the hell of being in the Iraq War. Avatar however, is the big blue monster that can’t be stopped. It will win, and somewhere cinematic angels will weep.

The 82nd Annual Academy Awards will be presented live on ABC tonight.  Movie Dearest will chime in after the show with a quick round up of the winners, and we'll offer our full "Oscar Post Mortem" tomorrow.

By Neil Cohen, resident film critic of Movie Dearest and Phoenix's Echo Magazine.

Inglourious Basterds illustration by Morning Breath for Upper Playground. All other illustrations by Tavis Coburn for the BAFTA Awards.

MD Poll: Hurt's So Good

On this Oscar Eve, the results are in ... if you picked 'em, the Oscars would go to:

Best Picture was as close as it probably is in reality, with the three front-runners taking nearly 60% of the vote and only 3.6% separating them from victory. In the end, The Hurt Locker triumphed, with Avatar and Inglourious Basterds nipping at its heels.

Mamma Mia! co-stars (and Movie Dearest faves) Colin Firth (A Single Man) and Meryl Streep (Julie & Julia) are your lead acting victors, besting the favored Jeff Bridges (Crazy Heart) and Sandra Bullock (The Blind Side).

As for the supporting races, you went with the consensus: Christoph Waltz in Inglourious Basterds and Mo’Nique in Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire. The surprises here were second place finishes for Stanley Tucci in The Lovely Bones and Anna Kendrick in Up in the Air.

See the comments section below for the complete stats in all five polls.

Of course, we'll find out how well our picks match up with the real thing tomorrow night when ABC presents the 82nd Annual Academy Awards live from Los Angeles.

Illustration by Tavis Coburn for the BAFTA Awards.

Reverend’s Reviews: Gladiators in the Living Room

Kirk Douglas was sexy, to be sure, as the loincloth-clad star of Stanley Kubrick’s epic 1960 film Spartacus. Apart from that loincloth, though, Douglas doesn’t have anything on the sometimes-nude hunks that populate the new Starz series Spartacus: Blood and Sand, which premieres on the cable channel tonight.

Seemingly inspired by the blockbuster 2007 film 300 as much as by historical accounts of a slave uprising against ancient Rome, the series is a stylish if graphically bloody soap opera. A lot of money appears to have gone into Spartacus: Blood and Sand, and its high-powered producers include filmmaker Sam Raimi (best known for his Evil Dead and Spider-Man movies), Rob Tapert (The Grudge) and Steven S. DeKnight (of the beloved Buffy the Vampire Slayer TV show).

Newcomer Andy Whitfield plays the title role, although his character doesn’t initially sport the moniker “Spartacus.” Rather, he starts out as an unnamed, happily married Thracian who becomes enslaved by a treacherous Roman soldier with a vendetta against him. Subsequently forced to fight four trained gladiators at once, the Thracian stuns his captors and the audience by slaying all of his opponents single-handedly. A star is born and is christened “Spartacus” (after a legendary fighter) by the crowd.

Spartacus is purchased by the scheming Batiatus (played by John Hannah, who was very funny as Rachel Weisz’s high-living brother in The Mummy movies) for formal training at the ludus (gladiator school) he owns. Batiatus sees his new recruit as having the potential to earn him and his wife (Lucy Lawless, Xena herself, who looks ravishing here) enough money and prestige to be accepted into the upper-echelons of Roman society.

I was able to view the first three episodes of Spartacus: Blood and Sand in advance. While the main plot and setting will seem familiar to anyone who has seen Gladiator or, again, 300, there is enough sex (both romantic and kinky, as well as some lesbian action) and full-frontal male and female nudity to keep more than a few GLBT viewers interested. Gay men, especially, will want to catch the second episode, “Sacramentum Gladiatorum,” which features naked gladiators shaving, strutting and preening in the ludus’s bath. Be sure to have your thumb at the ready over the remote’s “freeze frame” button!

The series is set in a digitally recreated ancient Rome wherein men stand stoic in virtual snow and sunsets, and slo-mo blood sprays out in all directions during the fight scenes. The violence is completely over-the-top, with severed heads and limbs similarly flying across the screen. There is also gratuitous, historically questionable use of derogatory terms for sexual acts and anatomy.

What gives Spartacus: Blood and Sand some sorely needed credibility are the fine performances of its lead cast members. Whitfield makes a fine hero: strong and seething angrily as appropriate while adding a nuanced softness and everyman quality to his role. Hannah and Lawless are excellent, as is Peter Mensah as Doctore, the gladiators’ domineering head trainer. Mensah deserves special credit, as he keeps his and his character’s dignity intact while delivering the scripts’ ripest dialogue.

But if chiseled, oiled men grappling with one another while wearing little more than codpieces get your blood pumping, you won’t want to miss Spartacus: Blood and Sand. For more information, visit the show's official website.

UPDATE: The first season of Spartacus: Blood and Sand is now available on DVD and Blu-ray from Amazon.com.

Review by Rev. Chris Carpenter, resident film critic of Movie Dearest and the Orange County and Long Beach Blade.

MD Poll: Global Awareness 2009

The results are in:  your predictions for the Best Picture winners at this year's Golden Globes are Up in the Air for Drama and Nine for Musical or Comedy.  In fact, you were in complete agreement as exactly one third of the 84 votes in each poll were placed for both of these contenders.

Runners up, respectively, were Avatar and Julie & Julia. See the comments section below for the complete results of both polls, and tune in to NBC tomorrow night to see if the Hollywood Foreign Press agrees with us.

The Latest on TV: All I Want for Christmas

Two of our favorite things — Kristin Chenoweth and half-naked men — will be in one place tomorrow night: the new Lifetime Original Movie 12 Men of Christmas!

Described as "The Full Monty meets Calendar Girls", Chenoweth plays a publicist who loses both her high-powered Manhattan job and her lawyer-fiancé at her office Christmas party. So, naturally, she ends up taking a job in Montana where, to help the local search-and-rescue station raise desperately needed funds, she tries to convince the male rescue workers to pose for a beefcake calendar. Of course, along the way she discovers what really matters to her (and, no doubt, the "true meaning of Christmas") ... plus wins the heart of one of the pin-ups.

Cougar Town's Josh Hopkins, Paradise Falls' Stephen Huszar and DietTribe's Jessie Pavelka are amongst the dozen hunks appearing in the movie ... and the calendar. Speaking of which, you can get a sneak peek at all 12 Men of Christmas in their calendar poses right here, or watch the trailer here.

MD News Desk: Cover Stories

Keep up to date with all the latest from the entertainment world with the MD News Desk:

Out in Film:
- Ellen DeGeneres does O, the Oprah Magazine and Tom Ford does The Advocate.
- Candis Cayne chats about Nip/Tuck and her upcoming reality show.
- Will & Grace co-creator Max Mutchnick to turn the hilarious Twitter sensation "Shit My Dad Says" into a sitcom.
- Lily Tomlin on turning 70.
- The Advocate's "People of the Year" include Alan Ball, Chaz Bono, Larry Kramer, Annie Leibovitz and Ryan Murphy (part two here).

Cinematic Crushes:
- Luc-ky us: Gilles Marini hanging around Brothers & Sisters a little longer than expected.
- Jake Gyllenhaal to star in sci-fi thriller Source Code.
- Video Preview: James Franco is the mysterious stranger with a "Mad World" crush on Steve Burton's Jason on General Hospital.
- Alexander Skarsgård chats about his role in the upcoming Straw Dogs remake.


From Screen to Stage:
- If you're in LA this weekend, be sure to catch the camp-tastic Whatever Happened to Busty Jane?, a new play written by and starring Jackie Beat.
- "Welcome Christmas": Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas! The Musical now playing in Hollywood.
- Dame Edna Everage's It's All About Me lands on Broadway next spring.
- The Weisslers finally reach the bottom of the barrel: Ashlee Simpson-Wentz to play Roxie Hart in Chicago.
- Will The 39 Steps follow Avenue Q from Broadway to Off-Broadway?
- Silence! The Musical, the Silence of the Lambs parody, will premiere in London.
- Off-Broadway's Toxic Avenger to close in January.
- Listen to Glee's Chris Colfer and Lea Michele's solo versions of Wicked power ballad "Defying Gravity".


Videodrone:
- First Trailer: the new Clash of the Titans starring Sam Worthington.
- Legends of the Fail: Me Tarzan.
- Drunk Ewoks take over The Today Show.
- Saturday Night Live spoofs Twilight.

Coming to DVD:
- The Brüno DVD and Blu-ray(available next Tuesday) will include deleted scenes featuring La Toya Jackson and Pete Rose.

Women We Love:
- Cher set to return to the Colosseum at Caesars Palace in 2010.
- Pam Grier will play the hard-ass Amanda Waller on Smallville.
- Carrie Fisher's Wishful Drinking gets two extra weeks on Broadway.
- The Kathy Griffin hosted Let's Dance — in which celebs recreate classic movie dance sequences — bumped to next year.
- Christine Baranski will return to The Big Bang Theory in her Emmy nominated role as Leonard's mom.

The Latest on TV:
- Cheyenne Jackson makes his first appearance on 30 Rock this Thursday.
- ABC has canceled Eastwick, which is good news for Ugly Betty.

Hands Off the Merchandise:
- Dr. Horrible gets a comic book.
- CBS turning The Amazing Race, Ghost Whisperer, Hollywood Squares and more of their shows into video games.
- New Moon band-aids are not the most ridiculous Twilight merchandise after all: Robert Pattinson panties.

GLBT Entertainment:
- Looks like the Weinsteins are working overtime to "de-gay" the marketing of A Single Man.
- One of the real-life inspirations for Heavenly Creatures gets the documentary spotlight with Anne Perry — Interiors.
- Interviews: Kevin Rankin on his gay EMT on Trauma and Paula Patton on her lesbian teacher in Precious.
- Winona Ryder to join Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis in Darren Aronofsky’s lusty ballerina thriller Black Swan.

Awards Watch:
- Star Trek, True Blood and Twilight are among the big nominees in this year's People's Choice Awards ... and you too can vote for the winners!

MD News Desk: Kishy Face

Keep up to date with all the latest from the entertainment world with the MD News Desk:

Kish:
- This week saw the "Big Gay Wedding" storyline come to a head on One Life to Live, culminating in this climactic kiss between Scott Evans' Oliver Fish and Brett Claywell's Kyle Lewis. Watch it all here.
- You can catch up on all the soapy goodness of the complete Kish storyline at the Official Movie Dearest YouTube channel (courtesy of YouTuber final81).

Awards Watch:
- The Big News this week was that Oscar has not one host, but two: Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin.
- Academy Award nominated cinematographer Caleb Deschanel (The Right Stuff, The Natural) to receive the Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Society of Cinematographers.
- Jeff Bridges in Crazy Heart is a late-breaking Best Actor contender.
- Meanwhile, Sandra Bullock in The Blind Side could be a surprise in the Best Actress race, which is also seeing some last minute entrants.


The Latest on TV:
- Move over, Ellen: The Wanda Sykes Show premieres tonight on Fox. In preparation for her talk show debut, Wanda has been all over the place this past week, including chats with TV Guide and Entertainment Weekly.
- And speaking of Ellen: Miss DeGeneres and her Mrs., Portia de Rossi, will have a sit down with the Big O on Monday's edition of Oprah.

Coming Soon:
- Sex and the City Watch: Stars spotted filming in Morocco.
- More childhood memories to be plundered by Hollywood: feature film adaptations of the Risk board game, the Berenstain Bears books, the Marmaduke comic strip and Yogi Bear are all in the works.
- Is the world ready for Three Men and a Bride?
- Beyond the Apocalypse: Roland Emmerich's 2012 may get a TV spin-off.
- More than 50 years after To Hell and Back, movie star/war hero Audie Murphy to get another biopic.

Cinematic Crushes:
- First Look: James Franco on General Hospital. And after that, he'll head on over to 30 Rock.
- In more Soap Hunk News: Cameron Mathison's Dr. Dan brightens up Brighten Bay.
- Heroes' Adrian Pasdar to fly the coop. And apparently, this is how he found out about it.
- Casting About: Gerard Butler in Ralph Fiennes' directorial debut Coriolanus, George Clooney in Alexander Payne's family dramedy The Descendants, Bradley Cooper in the suspense thriller Dark Fields, Patrick Dempsey in an untitled bank-heist comedy, Johnny Depp joins Angelina Jolie in The Tourist and Dwayne Johnson in the action drama Faster.
- Wouldn't you like to be the cloth on that loin: Into the Wild's Dave Salmoni does Tarzan on Tyra.
- Cover Story: Robert Pattinson does Vanity Fair.

Videodrone:
- Trailer Park: Jake Gyllenhaal in Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time and Brothers, Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law in Sherlock Holmes and Bruce LaBruce's L.A. Zombie (NSFW) starring François Sagat.
- A video salute to gay characters in prime time soaps.
- Several Lloyd Doblers take to the streets of NYC to promote the 20th anniversary DVDof Say Anything ...


From Screen to Stage:
- First Look: The Addams Family starring gay faves Nathan Lane (Gomez), Bebe Neuwirth (Morticia), Kevin Chamberlin (Uncle Fester) and Jackie Hoffman (Grandmama).
- Both The Shawkshank Redemption and Prick Up Your Ears to close early in the West End.
- Billy Elliot, Bye Bye Birdie, Hair and Shrek (plus Alan Cumming and Jane Krakowski) to perform at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.
- Speaking of Billy Elliot: the hit musical gets another award and two new Billys.
- Photo Calls: The new cast of Irving Berlin's White Christmas, and The Lion King celebrates 5,000 performances.
- Buffy alum Anthony Head headlines the London revival of Six Degrees of Separation.
- Off the Shelf: Get all the backstage dish on your favorite musical parody revue in Forbidden Broadway: Behind the Mylar Curtain.
- Meet Broadway's Spider-Man.

Movie Music:
- Movie Music Videos: Adam Lambert's "Time for Miracles" from 2012 and Jake Monaco and Jen Hansen's "Gloria" from Make the Yuletide Gay (on DVDthis Tuesday).

Out in Film:
- Pedro Almodóvar and his muse Penélope Cruz on their latest collaboration, Broken Embraces.
- Finian's Rainbow star Terri White's inspiring story, from homelessness to Broadway to marriage.
- Neil Patrick Harris Watch: He'll lend his voice to the CBS Christmas special Yes, Virginia, and will be honored by the Trevor Project.
- Fiona Shaw to reprise her performance of T.S. Eliot's The Waste Land in London.
- Logo's Legacy Campaign salutes Mad Men's Bryan Batt.
- Rosie O'Donnell can now add "radio host" to her long résumé with the debut of Rosie Radio on Sirius XM.
- Michael Feinstein to return to Broadway with his new show All About Me next spring.
- Jane Lynch really really wants to sing on Glee.

Women We Love:
- Casting About: Jennifer Beals in the Hallmark Channel's The Night Before the Night Before Christmas, Annette Bening in Andy Garcia's Hemingway & Fuentes, Sally Hawkins in the coming-of-age comedy Dirty Girl, Helen Mirren in the espionage thriller Red, Elizabeth Mitchell in the indie ensemble drama Answers to Nothing, Sigourney Weaver in the comedy Cedar Rapids and Zhang Ziyi in the English-language drama Snow Flower and the Secret Fan.
- Jamie-Lynn Sigler dishes on her Ugly Betty stint.
- President Obama has selected the 25 members of the President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities, including Sarah Jessica Parker, Alfre Woodard and Vogue editor Anna Wintour, as well as talent agent Bryan Lourd and playwright George C. Wolfe.


GLBT Entertainment:
- A Single Man gets a poster, but is it "too straight"? Meanwhile, director Tom Ford is ready for his close up.
- The controversial play Jesus, Queen of Heaven — in which Christ is depicted as a transsexual woman — met with protests in Scotland; playwright and star Jo Clifford responds.
- More new queer theater: Made in Heaven (billed as "the best gay/straight Siamese twin comedy of 2009"), Loaded and My Mother's Lesbian Jewish Wiccan Wedding.
- Natalie Portman talks about her sex scenes with Mila Kunis in Black Swan.
- Author Annie Proulx to donate an early draft of her classic short story Brokeback Mountain to the New York Public Library.
- Foodie Frank Bruni's memoir Born Round heading to television.
- Grey's Anatomy's Jessica Capshaw on the future of Arizona Robbins and her relationship with Callie Torres (Sara Ramirez).
- More lesbian storylines coming to TV on Legend of the Seeker and Law & Order.
- Gwyneth Paltrow joins Nicole Kidman in The Danish Girl, an adaptation of the David Ebershoff novel that tells the story of the first post-operative transsexual.


Potent Quotables:
- "This is the first time I’ve done an interview with an ice pack down my pants." — Invictus star Matt Damon, suffering from a pulled groin muscle while filming the romantic thriller The Adjustment Bureau, to The New York Times.

MD News Desk: 3 More Days 'Til Halloween ... Halloween ... Halloween ...

Keep up to date with all the latest from the entertainment world with the MD News Desk:

Videodrone:
- Blast from the Past: the "Silver Shamrock" song from Halloween III: The Season of the Witch.

True Blood:
- Creator Alan Ball hints at what's to come in season 3 ...
- While Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello has the scoop on a whole batch of new characters.
- And just in time for Halloween: make your own True Blood jack o' lanterns!


Coming Soon:
- High School Musical director Kenny Ortega bails on the new Footloose.
- Sequel Watch: More Paranormal Activity and the return of Mad Max.
- Matt Damon and Josh Brolin are in discussions with Joel and Ethan Coen to join Jeff Bridges in their True Grit remake.
- Brolin is also a part of Woody Allen's latest, titled You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger; cast also includes Naomi Watts, Anthony Hopkins, Antonio Banderas and Slumdog Millionaire's Freida Pinto.

The Latest on TV:
- Lots of classic tricks and treats this Halloween weekend, beginning with a special episode of CBS' Medium that finds Patricia Arquette in the middle of Night of the Living Dead on Friday.
- Also on Friday, Turner Classic Movies will air 11 Boris Karloff thrillers, followed by more thrills and chills during Saturday's Halloween marathon, including a salute to horrormeister Val Lewton.

RIP:
- Character actor Lou Jacobi, who played Mr. Van Daan in The Diary of Anne Frank on stage and screen, passed away Friday at the age of 95.

Cinematic Crushes:
- Ewan McGregor on playing Gore Vidal's dad in Amelia and kissing Jim Carrey in I Love You, Phillip Morris.
- While Melrose Place says goodbye to Ashlee Simpson-Wentz (good riddance), it will say hello to Billy Campbell.
- Hugh Jackman and Daniel Craig sell the shirts off their backs ... for a good cause.

From Screen to Stage:
- It's Turkey Lurkey Time: Promises, Promises (the musical version of The Apartment) will return to Broadway starring Sean Hayes and Kristin Chenoweth.
- The Nine soundtrack will hit stores in December.
- Loverly? Keira Knightley officially cast as Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady remake; Daniel Craig rumored for Henry Higgins.
- The Full Monty to strut its way back to London.
- Craig Bierko, Dick Latessa and Sherie Rene Scott are in the Little Miss Sunshine family; plus: more on Like Water for Chocolate.
- Tony winner Michele Pawk plays Oscar winner Joan Crawford in …"Flesh and Blood!"
- Potted Potter, a parody of the Harry Potter books, returns to the West End once more for the Christmas season.

Out in Film:
- Photo Call: Cheyenne Jackson in Broadway's Finian's Rainbow.
- Lily Tomlin hits Vegas.
- Author Augusten Burroughs turns to television, including a series adaptation of his best-selling memoir Dry.
- Chaz Bono to tell all to Mary Hart on Entertainment Tonight beginning tomorrow night.
- Alan Cumming chats with Playbill.com's Seth Rudetsky about his new solo album, I Bought a Blue Car Today.

GLBT Entertainment:
- Gay Nazis in love film Brotherhood wins big at the Rome Film Festival.
- I Want My Gay TV: out characters popping up on Trauma, White Collar and 90210.
- Watch This: the first trailer for Bruce LaBruce's Night of the Living Dead Porn Stars flick L.A. Zombie (NSFW).

Awards Watch:
- For the first time in 15 years, the Golden Globes will have a host: Ricky Gervais.

And the List Goes On:
- Forgetaboutit: Out.com takes a look at gay mobsters.

The Latest on DVD:
- Just in time for the holidays, a whole new take on those fireplace DVDs: Jingle Boys! Click here for a video preview.

MD News Desk: One Single Sensation

Keep up to date with all the latest from the entertainment world with the MD News Desk:

Cinematic Crushes:
- Gaze upon the angelic beauty of A Single Man's Nicholas Hoult in this photo spread by his director Tom Ford ... and try to forget that he was the kid in About a Boy. Out Magazine chats with the Single duo in separate interviews here and here.
- James Franco talks about being a stoner icon, what he did with his fake Milk penis, and buying the film rights to the Hart Crane poem The Broken Tower.

Off the Shelf:
- Attention Vintage Beefcake Connoisseurs: David L. Chapman’s American Hunksexplores "The Muscular Male Body in Popular Culture", including such stars as Charles Atlas, Johnny Weissmuller and ... Anthony Perkins?! Check out the (slightly NSFW) slideshow at Out.com.


The Latest on TV:
- "Toon" in to Cartoon Network this Friday for the special musical episode of Batman: The Brave and the Bold guest-starring Neil Patrick Harris.
- Miss True Blood? Disappointed by The Vampire Diaries? Than be sure to catch all six first season episodes of Being Human this Sunday on BBC America, followed by the special Being Human Unearthed. This excellent British series stars Russell Tovey as a werewolf who shares a flat with a hunky vampire and a girl ghost.

Tune in to TCM:
- On Saturday you'll find a marathon of movies based on the works of author W. Somerset Maugham, including the Bette Davis classic The Letter.

Awards Watch:
- And the Oscars go to: Hairspray director Adam Shankman and Pandemonium Films' Bill Mechanic named the producers of the 82nd Annual Academy Awards. The Los Angeles Times chimes in on the announcement.
- Star Trek, Twilight and True Blood among the winners of Spike TV's "Scream 2009" Awards, to be broadcast October 27.

From Screen to Stage:
- In more Adam Shankman news: he'll bring the Tony Award nominated 1980s rock musical spoof Rock of Ages to the screen.
- Another out director, Lee Daniels (who's current Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire was a fest fave and is gaining strong Oscar buzz), is working on the film adaptation of the Tony winning musical Miss Saigon for producer Cameron Mackintosh.
- The Terrence McNally/Lynn Ahrens/Stephen Flaherty musical A Man of No Importance (recently named one of the top "screen to stage" shows of all time by our own Chris Carpenter) will make its London debut next month.
- Could the notorious, the infamous, the one and only Carrie: The Musical (recently named one the worst "screen to stage" shows of all time by our own Neil Cohen) actually be headed back to Broadway?
- The Off-Broadway musical hit The Toxic Avenger is now sliming Toronto.
- The Beatles film Backbeat to get a UK stage version next year.


Out in Film:
- Eating Out: All You Can Eat’s Leslie Jordan dishes out quite a mouthful about wise elders, closeted actors, his out co-stars (such as the hunkalicious Rick D'Agostino) and his prized gay-for-pay poodles.
- The Big Gay Sketch Show's Julie Goldman on her big gay romantic comedy Nicest Thing.
- Lance Bass butches it up as a beefy boxer.
- Looks like Thom Bierdz' (and Phillip Chancellor III's) return to The Young and the Restless will be short-lived after all.
- Reality TV star Ryan Brown on his Flipping Out ex Jeff Lewis.
- Desperate Housewives creator Marc Cherry reveals he will be killing off a character (or two ... or three ...) in the series' mid-season cliffhanger.
- Kelly Osbourne and her Dancing with the Stars partner Louis Van Amstel visited Chelsea Lately recently ... and brought his cute boyfriend along too.


Videodrone:
- Call Wallace and Gromit! The 30 Second Bunnies do The Wolf Man.
- Gerard Butler ends DADT in Sparta.
- Homer Simpson goes gay for Halloween.
- Here it is: Adam Lambert's 2012 music video. (In related news, the glam rocker and Lady GaGa are collaborating on what will no doubt be the gayest song ever made.)

Kish:
- One Life to Live’s fabulous Tika Sumpter on Layla’s men.

RIP:
- Joseph Wiseman, who played the very first James Bond movie villain as the title character of Dr. No, passed away Monday at the age of 91.
- Vic Mizzy, composer of the iconic theme songs to The Addams Family and Green Acres, died Saturday at the age of 93.

GLBT Entertainment:
- Ugly Betty’s Marc, played by Michael Urie, will get a new Bahama boyfriend.
- Spoiler Alert! A certain Law & Order: Special Victims Unit character (played by a certain actor) will (finally) come out of the closet.
- 8: The Mormon Proposition is a new documentary (narrated by Dustin Lance Black) about the Mormon Church's involvement in the passage of California's Proposition 8. Watch the trailer here.

Glee:
- Model Behavior: Cory Monteith (Finn) is the face of Five Four’s Fall/Winter 2009 Collection.
- Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog creator Joss Whedon will be directing a future episode.
- Spring Awakening reunion: Jonathan Groff will join the show for a few episodes as a(nother) love interest for Lea Michele's Rachel.
- More Michele: she sings "Out Here on My Own" at the HRC National Dinner.
- Dressed for Success: an interview with Glee's costume designer Lou Eyrich, wherein you'll find out her favorite character to dress.
- And forget the Thanksgiving parade: the Glee cast will sing at the World Series!