Every week, the GLAAD Wrap brings you LGBTQ-related entertainment news highlights, fresh stuff to watch out for, and fun diversions to help you kick off the weekend!
1) Independent musical Saturday Church opens in limited theaters and on demand this weekend. The film tells the story of teenager Ulysses, whose feminine side and sexuality is not accepted by members of his family and bullies at school. The film follows him as he find the “Saturday Church” program for LGBTQ youth, and becomes involved in the ball scene. Saturday Church boasts a cast that includes many trans people of color who provide the heart of this film. For those in New York and LA, Saturday Church is in theaters now, and it is available to purchase on demand everywhere.
2) Coming-of-age dramedy Freak Show is out in theaters this weekend. The film follows Billy, an out gay teenager who dabbles in drag, as he makes the decision to run for homecoming queen at his conservative high school. The film addresses bullying in high schools across the country and shares a message of acceptance. Freak Show also stars Laverne Cox in an ensemble cast which includes the likes of Abigail Breslin and Bette Midler. It is now playing in theaters in New York and LA, click here for tickets!
3) Showtime announced this week that it will premiere the documentary XY Chelsea later this year about Chelsea Manning. The doc combines over two years of interviews with Manning, picking up after she leaves prison and works to find her place in the national conversations about security conversation and transgender rights. XY Chelsea will be given a theatrical release as well as screening at festivals, and then will air on Showtime and be available on its online platforms.
4) The Director’s Guild of America Awards nominations were announced this week for both film and television. Guillermo Del Toro and Greta Gerwig were nominated for The Shape of Water and Lady Bird respectively, both of which include LGBTQ storylines. On the television side, directors from The Handmaid’s Tale, Veep, and Godless were nominated, as well as Melina Matsoukas for directing the “Thanksgiving” episode of Master of None, which told the emotional coming out story of Denise (out actor, writer, producer Lena Waithe.) The ceremony will be held February 3rd,click here to see the full list of nominations.
5) Nominations have also been announced for the Producers Guild of America Awards, to be given out on January 20th. LGBTQ-inclusive films that have been nominated are coming-of-age romance Call Me By Your Name, Lady Bird, and The Shape of Water. For television, The Handmaid’s Tale was nominated for Drama, and Master of None and Veep were nominated in Comedy. Also receiving nominations within television categories were Feud: Bette and Joan, The Voice, and Doc McStuffins.
6) The 2018 Critics’ Choice Awards were held Thursday night. The Shape of Water won Best Picture and three other awards, while Call Me By Your Name took home Best Adapted Screenplay. For television, The Handmaid’s Tale received the award for Best Drama Series as well as two other prizes, The Voice took home Best Competition Reality Series, and RuPaul was awarded Best Reality Show Host. The Los Angeles Online Critics Society have also announced their award winners, which included three awards for The Shape of Water, two for Lady Bird, and one for Call Me By Your Name.
7) The trailer for season three of Showtime’s Billions was released this week at TCA. This season of the financial drama has promoted non-binary actor Asian Kate Dillon to a series regular. They portray the non-binary character of Taylor Mason, who will play a bigger role this season as the CIO of the central hedge fund management group. Season three of Billions will premiere on March 25th on Showtime.
8) Out musician, writer and actress Carrie Brownstein is adapting her memoir Hunger Makes Me a Modern Girl into a comedy pilot for Hulu. Loosely based on Brownstein’s experience growing up and eventually forming band Sleater-Kinney, the pilot, Search and Destroy, will follow “a young woman, a band and a community learning how to be unafraid of their own noise.” In other Hulu news, Marvel’s Runaways has been renewed for an expanded second season. All of the first season, which includes a queer romance between teen heroes Karolina and Nico, is available to watch on Hulu.
9) Out singer and GLAAD Steven F. Kolzak Award-recipient Troye Sivan has released a new single “My My My!,” the first single off his upcoming sophomore album. Sivan says it is “a song of liberation, freedom, and love.”You can purchase and download the single now and watch the music video below!
10) Jussie Smollett, out singer and actor of Empire fame, has released the video for his debut single “Freedom.” The video stars Cynthia Erivo and Tika Sumpter as a couple who are very much in love. Smollett told Complex, “This video is about love. I wanted to show two people doing the everyday things that every single couple does…Love is freedom. Freedom is love.” The video features a montage of couples at the end, many of which are LGBTQ. “Freedom” is available for purchase and download, and look for it on Smollett’s upcoming debut album Sum of My Music, available on March 2nd!
11) Out pop star Hayley Kiyoko released a new single “Curious” and music video on Thursday. Co-directed by Kiyoko, the video and song tell a story of flirtation and jealousy between Kiyoko and another woman. “Curious” is the first single off her debut full-length album, Expectations, which is set to be released on March 30th. The single is available for download and now, and the video is below!
12) Lauren Jauregui, the out bisexual singer of Fifth Harmony fame, released a new song and video with Steve Aoki, “All Night.” You can watch the video here and stream and download the song wherever music is sold. Out Canadian singer Ria Mae also released a music video this week for her song “Red Light,” which tells the heartbreaking story of when she was broken up with by her girlfriend at a stoplight. The song is available on Mae’s EP My Love which is available for streaming and purchase.
13) Marvel’s new Exiles series has just announced that the final member of the team will be a version of Tessa Thompson’s Valkyrie from Thor: Ragnarok, and the comic will include her queerness. Though Thompson tweeted about the character’s bisexuality, it was not included in the film, but this new comic series will include Valkyrie’s “maiden-wooing.” The comic will see her and the other exiles in modern day New York as they attempt to save the multiverse. Issue one hits shelves on April 11th.
14) The documentary Deep in Vogue is looking for funding help to finish production. The doc explores the Vogue culture of Northern England, and the internal politics of Vogue in this part of the UK as LGBTQ people and people of color seek the art form as a way to express themselves. Currently, the filmmakers are seeking funds for archival footage to complete the documentary. To find out more info, click here!
