Every week, The GLAAD Wrap brings you LGBT-related entertainment news highlights, fresh stuff to watch out for, and fun diversions to help you kick off the weekend.
1) Opening in limited release this weekend is the highly anticipated new film from Precious director Lee Daniels, The Paperboy. The film stars Zac Efron and Matthew McConaughey as a pair of siblings who get wrapped up with a death-row groupie (Nicole Kidman) as they attempt to prove a condemned man’s innocence. As revealed by director Daniels and costar Macy Gray, McConaughey’s character is a closeted gay man who ends up in some compromising situations. Watch the film’s trailer below.
2) CBS gave a pilot order for a new single-camera family comedy from producer Will Gluck and Happy Endings staff writer Brian Gallivan. You might recognize Gallivan from the successful web series Sassy Gay Friend. The project currently does not have a title, but it will be loosely based on Gallivan’s life. The show revolves around an Irish-Catholic, sports-obsessed Boston family where the gay son’s biggest sin is his desire to not spend more time with his family. The pilot is being produced by Sony Pictures TV and Olive Bridge Entertainment.
3) Two freshmen LGBT-inclusive shows have received some of the first full season orders of the new TV season. NBC’s The New Normal, about a gay couple having a baby via a surrogate and the Matthew Perry vehicle Go On with lesbian character Anne who is part of his therapy group, will be enjoyed by audiences through the end of the season. The New Normal has been averaging a 2.2 rating and 6 million total viewers while Go On currently has a 3.2 average rating with 8.6 million total viewers. About the shows, NBC entertainment president Jennifer Salke said, "In partnering with Matthew Perry for Go On, creator Scott Silveri has created a comedy with a highly original voice that deftly combines humor and emotion. And Ryan Murphy and Ali Adler have created a truly unique family in The New Normal that is reflective of the changing dynamics of the world we live in.”
4) The Ft. Lauderdale Gay and Lesbian Film Festival is this weekend. The event, now in its fourth year, offers some of the best LGBT films of 2012. The Men Next Door is a comedy about 40-year-old Doug who falls for two extremely different men -- who happen to be father and son. Also showing is the documentary Taboo…Yardies about homophobia in Jamaica. The film features interviews with prominent figures, including former Jamaican Prime Minister Bruce Golding, who has been vocal about his anti-LGBT beliefs. The festival will include showings of other critically acclaimed LGBT films, such as Keep the Lights On, BearCity, and Gayby. Get more information on the official website here.
5) MEN, the Brooklyn-based art/performance collaborative band co-founded by JD Samson (formerly of Le Tigre) released a new song and video. The clip for “Let Them Out Or Let Me In” contains footage of a certain rock band in Russia who was recently put behind bars for protesting the government. There has been an outcry from supporters of the band, and MEN released the video on October 1st, a.k.a. the Global Day of Action. The video was edited by Tyler Jenson. Check it out below, and listen to other music by MEN on iTunes.
6) The Pet Shop Boys, one of the world’s best-selling electronic dance music artists, released a video for their new single “Leaving.” Shot entirely in black and white, the clip pairs the themes of love, death, and immortality with images of modes of transportation, specifically an urban train station. The track is from their recently released 11th studio album, Elysium, which you can download on iTunes here. Their success is at an all-time high since their spot performing in the 2012 London Summer Olympics. Check out the video for “Leaving” below.
7) Award winning director of The New Twenty, Chris Mason Johnson is working on his next feature film. Set in the San Francisco modern dance scene of 1985, Test is a poignant and powerful narrative on friendship and hope during a time of crisis in the early years of the AIDS epidemic. Johnson hopes to shed light on some of the untold stories from the time, including headlines about potentially quarantining gay people and the fear that AIDS could be transmitted through sweat. Test is currently in post-production, which means Johnson is editing, sound mixing, color correcting, and more. He will be shopping the film around to film festivals and releasing it on multiple platforms. Track the progress of the film here, like it on Facebook, and watch footage below.
