AND THAT'S THE GOAL, ISHN'T IT?

OK... So have y'all caught The Soup yet this weekend?!?!



O. M. G. "Without cheese, bitch!!" Woooowww... Talk about an ingenius anthropological time capsule of the Bush years...

So now that we're in the height(h?) of Awards Season, the urgency is here and I'm gittin' much better with  my movie groove.  However, I am still so so far behind!!  (Like a year and a half behind, but that's OK...)  It still bums me to think I used to be able to catch 3-4 movies a week, especially back when I was with SUNDANCE or gap yearing it in VEGA$$.   Since I’ve moved to LA, however, it seems like it’s always been the last thing on my list of priorities.  Still, I’ve been able to catch up though lately thanks to all the jetting around I’ve been doing and since the New Year, I've also been able to take some more time out for myself... (I.e., I'm tryin' out the ol' Homebody/Domestification regime again and it's been really nice..)

So it goes without saying I'm getting back to taking time to check out obscure, small, foreign/ indie fare I used to so readily feast upon... The other day I took some time to work through one of the most feastiest of joints I've come across in sometime, the small west African piece known simply as Bamako.

This film takes some time and patience as it is essentially a film about a place where people have all the time in the world.  This film reminded me of what a movie geek I used to be, an examination of how political narratives are established and consequently influence the innocent and the least among us.  At the end of the day, the few will squalor while the many will simply puruse that inevitable dream: peace and happiness.  Ultimately, it proves to be a gorgeous and truthful essay set to image and music, with various arguments embodied through the use of character development.  If you have any idea who Foucault or Derrida are, you should be able to get what this film is trying to achieve.  (B+)

As Burrito King is off to Puerto Vallarta on Monday, this weekend is chock-full of hang-out time.  Let the games begin ;)

WHAT THE HELL IS THISH WORDS?..

Aaahh.. Since Weeds went on hiatus, we haven't heard much from my girl Mary Louise Parker, so I was happy to see her this morning on Live with Regis-is-out-today and Kelly...

I think I remember hearing that she was going to face the juggernaut that is Hedda Gabler, but it must have slipped my mind. Ibsen's Hedda Gabler is one of modern theater's most complicated characters so she's in worthy hands with Mary Louise.  Aaahh... These are the times when I wish I could just jet off to New York on a whim...  Hope the show doesn't close in a month :-/

So I wasn't planning on going to Coachella this year (I will one day, but this time around just didn't feel like the right time...) but after seeing the lineup of this year's offerings, I hafta say... I'm kinda interested in going.

I mean, is Amy Winehouse even allowed in the country??.. I'm fascinated by the choice of Paul McCartney, I would die to see The Killers live but I'd prolly come out of the experience with a restraining order against Brandon Flowers :-/... And The Yeah Yeah Yeahs rock my world so I'm pretty intrigued by this lineup.  I'll prolly be too cracked out from White Party in Palm Springs the weekend before, but.. As for now, I kinda wanna go...

Oh THE TUDORS...

Why are you the best show ever?!.. It's been far too long since last season so I'm stoked to see what the upcoming round will bring us. I love this promo work and I wouldn't be surprised if JRM came up with the idea himself ;) 

So this weekend promises to be another gorgeous, sunny LA wonderlust.  No definitive plans besides a few brunch and lunch meetings, and taking Ty-Ty to the Hollywood Lake dog park for the stars.  We might go check out fellow BYU alum Steven Fales's latest one man show, Missionary Position as well Saturday night and we still got plenny of movies to catch up on so tons to do... Let's get to it ;)

I MADE MYSELF PREGNANT!

So we're greeted today with fantastic news accompanying this even more fantastic image regarding the recent political shift in America.

I've stated time and time again my ardent political party independence, but this at least demonstrates the shift that most Americans are displaying in being able to choose the lesser of 2 evils. And wow, talk about an indictment on the Mormon religion. Geez, people.. Get a clue..


Here's an sneak peek at the upcoming issue of The Advocate which features a stunning set of photos and profile of Australia's gay gold medal-winning Olympic diver Matthew Mitcham.

Umm... Tell me where you get that body from, Mitchy! Damn! You might remember Mitcham made waves this summer in Beijing as pulling through the dive that proved to be the highest-scoring in Olympic history. Love him!

Here's more exciting cinematic news out of SUNDANCE. I posted on opening day of the festival about all of the exciting queer films in competition this year. Well, add this new film Dare to the list of festival darlings that I'm stoked to see this year.

And check out this article for some fantastic insight on the new age of "post-gay" filmmaking. I could sense we were moving toward this trend, but I had no idea it actually had label.


So it looks like LC's movin' on up to the westside...

Yeah I was wonderin' how much longer she'd be able to deal at that house and I love how she's still lookin' out for Lo.. So nice of her! Westwood's one of my fave area's of LA and I'm sure she'll do just fine there. Word is they're already filming new ep's for the 5th (and final) season! What dramz will this final season have in store??

WELL DONE! KUDOS ME!

So apparently the previously rumoured US-bound version of one of the best shows ever made, Absolutely Fabulous, is officially a go now.  

Well, what can I say? Umm... It better not suck! Honestly, I can't imagine how it will ever come close to living up the original. We'll be watching this develop closely..

So last night Andrew and I finally found the time to settle in with a nice bottle of 2 buck chuck and a borrowed "for your consideration" copy of this year's buzziest film, Slumdog Millionaire.


So first off, I have to confess... I kinda had a chip on my shoulder when it came to this film at first because it seemed to kind of just come out of nowhere, totally stealing what to me should've been the darling of the award's season, the magnificent Milk. But I somehow had missed the memo that this was a Danny Boyle joint, so as soon as I put that together I was all over this shizz. I mean, it's really nice to see this insanely talented and genius auteur finally get the attention and acclaim he has deserved for so long.

I mean, the film has everything going for it. The premise is innately engaging from square one and it's all executed with Boyle's signature style and eye. But only a few minutes into Slumdog, I actually felt very surprised-slash-impressed by all of the Academy attention this film has garnered. I would honestly be surprised if the Oscar goes to Slumdog. While it's completely right up my alley, it just feels a little too slick and cool for the Academy. If the Best Picture Oscar does go to Slumdog, it will be a clear referendum on the image the Academy wants to project (like the year the Grammy's started rewarding rap and hip hop artists. The thing is filmmakers (Boyle in particular) have been turning out work like this for years, so maybe this style has just now been around enough that the Academy finally feels comfortable digesting cinema in this matter. Or maybe it's just a lucky movie, being released at the right time and place and thereby hitting just the right chord.

Much has been written about this film, so I won't drone on much more, but I also had to feature the brilliant music choices throughout. The soundtrack for this film really adds a magical element to it all and of course Boyle gets mad points for featuring M.I.A. during some of the film's lighter moments. The cast, of course, really pulls this attempt at epicness together and I gotta say the kids in this movie are some of the cutest I've seen on screen. (A-)

UPDATE: Oh shit, this can't be good.. So apparently the parents of some of the cast's young stars say their children are not getting their fair share of the pie. Had I known this before watching the film, it would've deeply affected my experience and my response coming out of it. Hmm... That's too bad.

I'VE NEVER SEEN BALLS ON A CAT..

So sad news, y'all... I was bummed today to learn that the stars of one of my favorite films of 2007, Once, have called their relationship quits.

Normally I don't care about relationship news, both hook-ups and break-ups, but these 2 were special and I really enjoyed the parallel art meeting life aspect of it all. Oh well, I wish them both the best. 

Omg. So the rumors started circulating today that J.Lo might be heading to Broadway!! This would be great!

Apparently she's showing interest in taking part in some capacity of an upcoming version of In the Heights, and it very well may be a film version! (Which would be w00t-w00t!!) I'm all about J.Lo sticking around (it's the Puerto Rican in me...) and In the Heights sounds like the perfect project for her to pursue at this time. Andrew and I got to see it in New York over the summer and it absolutely earned every Tony it was rewarded. I still have the soundtrack in my 6-CD changer in my car and switch over to it whenever I feel like belting out some show tunes.


So the other night I finally got around to watching Molly Shannon's bri-zilliant turn in 2007's Year of the Dog.

So sorry if I *spoil* anything but the movie's been out for over a year and a half so... Oh well... Anyway, I've been wanting to see this quirky little film since it came out so it was high time to finally get around to it. Molly Shannon of course was mesmeric. I continue to maintain that she is one of the least understood and underestimated performance geniuses of our time. As soon as the image of her dowdy secretary character comes on the screen accompanied by her faithful beagle, I was hooked. These days, it's a feat alone if I'm able to stay awake through an entire 90 minute joint so leave it to Molly's genius to keep me transfixed throughout this film's 2 hour run. And I've got to give a shout out to the film's wardrobe coordinator. If you've seen this movie, you'll know what I mean. I must be noted that the film's the baby of School of Rock writer's Mike White who apparently will be taking part in this season of The Amazing Race which I believe is the first time a semi-notable Hollywood figure has confronted the race. (B)

GIVE YOURSELF A CHEST CAMEL-TOE

So did anybody else kinda get a case of the LOL's from BW's long distance appearance on THE VIEW this morning ?!?!

Did anybody else find this a little BRAVE NEW WORLD?... I guess she just couldn't resist being a part of the Blagojevich circus... Can't say I don't blame her. But seriously, it was like we were treated to a glimpse into the future, a day when BW is kept alive by some futuristic computer hologram-robot invention.

So according to all hitherto accounts, THE WOLVERINE is going to prove to be one of the sexiest, homo-licking good movies of the year! We've all seen plenny of shots of Hugh Jackman rockin' his hot boddy all over the beaches of OZ and beyond, and now with these recent shots of Ryan Reynolds (who's been rockin' my world for a few years now) we are certainly in store for a hot time, aren't we kids?

Yummo, indeed! Sign me up!

So last night I was woken up by a bout of insomnia at 2AM and after popping half a Xanax and still being wired, I decided to try to doze off to a NETFLIX I'd received, Public Fears in Private Places.

So I've had this film on my queue for nearly a year and a half and I was glad to finally getting around to it. Considering the circumstances, however, I'm probably not in any place to fully respond to it. Most films I'm fighting to stay awake these days so of course leave it to this film to keep me up for its entire 2 hour run in the middle of the night as I desperately tried to fight for some shut eye. The film was solid, but not amazing. Maybe there was a lot lost in translation, maybe it was just me, but it definitely didn't grab me by the throat and pull me in. It reeked of French nouveau filmmaking and its setting in a freakishly deep Parisian snowfall didn't help to breathe any life into the milieu of it all. I was surprised to find out (after the fact) that this film was actually an adaptation of one of my favorite Brit playwright's works, Alan Ayckbourn. There was almost no trace of Ayckbournwhatsoever in this joint, and maybe that's why it just never hit the mark. But hey, at least it kept me awake... Even though that's exactly the opposite of what I wanted at the time... (C+)

So I gotta say, last night's ep of The Simpsons was one of the best they've had this season. I found it incredible how after all these years, the team is still finding ways to evolve and remain creative.

I was touched by how much time it actually spent delving into Lisa's character developement. There was something very raw and personal about this ep. Anyway, turns out some people weren't likin' it and apparently The Simpsons team is getting a bunch of flack for going out on a limb and trying to create something new. Weird. Some people shouldn't be allowed to publish...

So this week in REAL WORLD BROOKLYN land looks like it's going to be a rough one.  Click here to check out a sneak peak at an episode that will delve deeper into Sarah's back story. This is going to be a hard one for me to watch. Sarah is a total sweetheart and an amazingly centered and wise beyond her years young woman and this ep looks pretty damn raw. We shall see what all the fuss is about this Wednesday..

And finally, did y'all catch former MTV veejay and gay porn star Simon Rex rockin' a porn stache on CHELSEA LATELY last night?  Good to see him still kickin' around, still sexy after all these years... Loves it!

AS LONG AS I DON'T BLEED OR CRY, I'LL DO IT!

So have y'all seen this adorable clip of Chris Brown being his adorable self starring along side Elmo on a recent episode of Sesame Street?!?



I totally get what Rihanna's featuring in this boy. Too. Damn. Cute! (And don't get me started on the lips...) 

So the video for Pink's newest single from FUNHOUSE "Don't Leave Me" has just been released.



This is one of my favorite songs on an album full of good jams.  Love me some Alecia... That's all.


OMG! So did y'all hear about the recent ep of Tyra where she delves into the fascinating world of gay-for-pay male porn stars?!



This is kinda huge!  This phenomena is actually really fascinating to me and some day I'm going to put together a documentary or a book or something delving into this hallmark of our times and culture.

Speaking of sexual ambiguity, The Killers new video has been released and it's tops!



Another home run! Seriously could Brandon Flowers get any more adorable?!?


Speaking of talented, contributive artists showing no signs of slowing anytime soon, Leona Lewis just released her newest video and of course is looking and sounding as flawless as ever.



Oh yeah, that guy from Gossip Girl pops up in it too... I mean, he's cute but... Ho-hum... Anyways, it looks like Leona's right on track to have a starring role in a film at some point these next 2 years.  While the song may have that immediate hit hook that Bleeding Love or Better in Time hits you with, it's a damn solid power ballad and that crystal clear voice of hers remains front and center.


So this shizz has got to be the perfect clip to sum up the week.  The weekend's upon us, and after a whirlwind couple of days, here's hoping that Barack and Michelle find plenty of time this weekend to get in one of their favorite reported pastimes.



LOLOLOLOL!! Have an amazing weekend everybody... The first weekend of the OBAMA administration!! Phew!! I can't believe this day has finally made it here! Our boy JD is in town with the rest of his REAL WORLD BROOKLYN cohorts so a crazy, eventful, whirlwind weekend is surely in store.

That's all.

IF YOU GET TOO MUCH OF ANYTHING IN YOUR MOUTH..

...Just spit it out, god knows I do..  ;)

And on that note...  We're already on our man's second day in office and I've got to say...

...So far, so good..

So it's that time of year again.  The 2008 Oscar noms came in early this morning and as always, I've got really mixed impressions about everything.

Check out my gut response to the nom's over here on my Facebook.


So turns out those alleged rumors about my man Kanye West's desire to possibly shoot some bi porn aren't true after all.. :(

Oh well, maybe next time...


And in heavier news, I was saddened today to realize that along with being nominated this morning (and the apparent shoe-in) for this year's supporting actor Oscar for his generational defining work in The Dark Knight, today also marks the one year anniversary of his death.

While I never knew him personally, I remember exactly where I was and what I was doing when the news hit.  Memoriams in his honor have popped up today all over the internets.  Click here to take some time to put this past year's posthumous events into perspective.

WELL I'M A HUNDRED PERCENT 50/50

So I'm watching Chelsea Lately right now and her rundown of GWB's last day in office is crackin' me up.  Obvz it's too soon to find a clip for it but I just had to post about it...  Did anybody else catch Chels tonight? Even though she's been kinda cunty lately, this definitely killed! 

UPDATE:  Umm.. Some other things observed this episode.. First of all, hold the phone! Josh Wolf  has kids?!?!  That sucks..  Kinda kills the fantasy,  but then again, maybe not... :-/  Speaking of hot daddies, it was nice to see one of my favorite people in the world, Laird Hamilton, on as a guest, though by this point, Chelsea seemed back to her cunty self.  Oh well, if Laird can handle record high monster waves, I think he can handle a cunty snatch.


So earlier tonight I finally set aside time to check out my TiVo'ed ep's of VH1's latest contribution to society, TOOL ACADEMY... And I have to say, I am kind of fascinated by how mesmerizingly mind-numbing the whole thing is!  Honestly, we haven't had a show like this on the air since early 2004!  

VH1 TV Shows | Music Videos | Celebrity Photos | News & Gossip

It's kind of like being witness to the very last whimper of the Bush years being anthropologically represented through the medium of basic cable, in'nit?

So I've gotta say, I'm loving all this Sam Adams hoopla.



Honestly, I don't see what the big deal is... The kid was 18 and he was hot... (And talk about the perfect porn star name..) I mean, I guess I get why people feel their trust was betrayed but if we lived in a less hypocritical and judgmental society, maybe he wouldn't have felt the need to lie... 

And finally, as if we all haven't seen this clip countless times already, I just had to post Beyonce's stunningly flawless performance of Etta James's At Last last night at The Neighborhood Inaugural Ball.

Got to give credit where credit's due.  Never mind what haters say..

I LIKE TO PLAY WHACK-A-MOLE OR POUND THE BEAVER..

So did y'all catch the BRO-meister himself on Regis + Kelly this morning??

Le swoon... The bit with Reeg competing for Brody's bromantic affections was way cute and I just gotta say... I'm nowhere near tired of seeing this guy self-promote his hotness.  I think time will prove how substantial Bro-bro proved to be in revolutionizing the ways males express themselves.  You just wait and see ;)

So is it just me.. Or is REM's genius of a frontman, Michael Stipe, starting to look a lot older these days??

Is it wrong that it makes me sad to see him looking so worse for wear? I used to think he was kind of sexy in that very 90s mysetriously intriguing kind of way... :(


Speaking of some of my favorite people from the 90s... I've always loved me some Julia Roberts and I've kinda been missing her as we haven't heard much from her lately and she hasn't really brought us a project worth paying attention to in a while.  Anyways, this recently leaked clip makes me like her even more.



You tell them, Mama Bear!! Fucking assholes need to get a life..


So we're not even a day within his administration and I'm sad to say that some of Obama's choices have kind of left me a lil, well, demystified...  I'm going to choose my words very carefully with this one because I'd like to believe that there's still a lot that we don't know about regarding his overall agenda and I don't want to fly off the handle prematurely, but I have to say, comedy legend and brilliant wordsmith Bruce Villanch really kind of hits the nail on the head with why much of the LGBT community is still feeling just a lil bit, umm... disenfranchised so far...


I mean at this point, for now, really only time will tell what good or bad this man is able to accomplish..

UPDATE: He said / she said continues to develop surrounding the Gene Robinson snub incident from this past weekend's WE ARE ONE event.  My verdict: Nothing more than a poorly executed lack of communication and misjudgment regarding the wrong incident at the wrong time.  And not to mention that once whitehouse.gov was refreshed over to the Obama administration on inauguration day, an extensive and ambitious LGBT equality agenda was added to the website for the first time ever.  Honestly, with everything else we're counting on this one man to fix, this is plenty of progress for now.  I still got the hope, baby!


So we haven't heard much from U2 in a while and now, seemingly out of nowhere, they've leaked a new track and well... Umm.. It pretty much sucks...



Sorry, y'all!  Watch the clip above to see for yourself..  I didn't know they were still making music... Shouldn't Bono just focus on saving the world at this point?  Apparently it would prove a much better use of his time...


So if you missed my girl B's appearance and performance at the WE ARE ONE event yesterday in DC, please enjoy her fierceness below.



Flawless as always.  Would we expect anything else at this point?  Tomorrow night apparently, she'll be treating us with Etta James's AT LAST as the newly sworn-in President and First Lady revel in their first dance at the Neighborhood inaugural ball.  At least Obama gets most things right... I'll give him that... ;) For some more excellent examples of Obama's innate sense of discernment, CLICK HERE to check out my Shakzilla's collab with Ur-sher and Stevie Wonder... Needless to say, she was tragically underused...  Then again, I always thought it was kind of random to invite her there, despite how much I still live for her..


So I'm excited to hear that Kristen Bell might be getting more work...

I never actually watched Veronica Mars... I just love everything else I've seen Kris Bell in so far (especially REEFER MADNESS!! Hello!!! Talk about mad talent!!)  Anyway, it's always nice to see worthy talent continuing to get more work... Congrats, girl!


So speaking of more people I lurve who we haven't heard much from these days... It's nice to see Miss Andy Roddick has been keepin' up on her fitness...

I'll be a witness to that one! Way to go, boo! Keep up the good work ;)


And finally, it looks like we'll finally be getting much fought over WATCHMEN film afterall..

Can't wait to finally see what all the fuss is about!  It seems we've been getting teased the trailer for months now so we'll see...

SUM-SING YOU MAY NOT KNOW ABOUT ME..

OMG OMG OMG!!  So for the past 3 years, it's always been really difficult to be fed all of the news coming out of Park City at this time as yet another SUNDANCE film festival rocknrolls it's way into the filmophile's almanac starting today...

I just haven't been able to make it back as I always seem to have a conflict at this time of year but something tells me maybe next year's the year I'll finally get back up there... Mebbe even volunteer... So obviously it doesn't help when I came across this great rundown of all of the queer cinema (no that wrongly intentioned boycott never really got wings thank god... Talk about the wrong thing to target!) and I'm really excited to hopefully catch some of these films soon! (Especially Humpday and One Day in a Life!)

Yeah... I'll deffo have to make it a point to be there for 2010...

I'M NOW HERMETICALLY SEALED TO THE BIKE!

So have you heard the news?? Have you heard the news?? 

Sounds like WHIT-WHIT might be getting her act together sooner than we thought!  Well, I keep her in my prayers everyday and I'm pulling for her, whenever she decides to come around... Carn't wait to finally have her back!

CAUSE YOU'RE GONNA TAPE THIS, AND I'M GONNA SELL THIS..

So this is some pretty substantial shit that I had to give it its own post.

Looks like the trouble has only just begun for The Mormon Church due to its bewildering involvement in PROP 8.  First, please watch the clip below. 



And then, please take the time to watch this doc by my colleague Steve Greenstreet who I went through BYU with during the same time.  He also has a doc available on Netflix called This Divided State which I highly recommend (and I'm featured in if you know where to look ;)



And ask yourself.. Do you feel sorry for these guys? Well, do you? It's really just head-scratchingly bizaare to watch this all go down.  I sometimes find it hard to believe when I watch behavior and rhetoric come out of people who claim to commune with God on a daily basis.  Honestly, I've always had my reservations regarding the faith I was raised in, but the behavior coming out of Salt Lake over the past few years is almost unrecognizable to the teachings I grew up with.  Nowadays, it appears more like something out of FROST/NIXON... Do these men not hear the words that our coming out of their mouths?

WELL LOOK AT HOW BIG MY VA-JEAN LOOKS!!

So did y'all catch von Sexymeister himself, Daniel Craig on THE DAILY SHOW last night?

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

Daniel Craig

Barack Obama Interview
John McCain Interview

Sarah Palin Video
Funny Election Video

He was pluggin' DEFIANCE which I have to say I prolly won't get around to seeing as the reviews have proved rather lackluster but I still love me my man ;) 

OK so I came across this clip earlier today and seriously, this is the best video ever!!



Umm... W-O-W!!  I am in love with these guys!!  Make sure to watch it all the way to the end!!  And I mean.. If this gig doesn't really fan out for them, I know a couple places online they could apply to for potential employment ;) Yum!!


So the jam I just can't get enough of these days is once again one of B's newest singles off of I AM... her new gorge-fest HALO.



I heard it coming into work today and it just set me off for my day.  Seriously, how does this girl pull it off?  Obvz this actually isn't the official video, but I kinda like what it's doing a little better than the glossy version.. Will this woman ever slow down?? Love. Love. Love!