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) Chely Wright’s new documentary Wish Me Away opens in New York today, and chronicles the Nashville musician’s career since she came out publicly two years ago. The film picked up a number of awards on the film festival circuit, and is worth catching for Chely's remarkable journey from country superstar to hard-working LGBT advocate. You can watch the trailer below.
2) Folks looking to stay home this weekend might want to check out the Italian comedy Loose Canons, which was released today on several Video on Demand platforms. Being released by Focus World, the film follows a young man whose careful plan to finally come out to his family over dinner goes awry when his brother ends up beating him to the punch by coming out first. With the family dynamic suddenly in chaos, he’s forced to temporarily remain in the closet. Watch the trailer below.
3) The 25thConnecticut Gay and Lesbian Film Festival kicks off today and runs until June 9th. The annual festival is produced by Out Film CT, which is a small, not-for-profit organization that is dedicated to selecting high-quality films that cover a range of genres, subjects and viewpoints. Among this year’s featured movies is Love Free or Die: How the Bishop of New Hampshire is Changing the World, a documentary about Gene Robinson, the first openly gay, non-celibate bishop (screens on Saturday, June 9th at 3 PM). Also featured is Cloudburst, a drama featuring Oscar winning actresses Olympia Dukakis and Brenda Fricker, who play an elderly lesbian couple who break out of their nursing home so they can travel to Canada to marry (screens Friday, June 1st at 7:30 PM). Most of the screenings are being held at Cinestudio, located on the Trinity College campus in Hartford. For more information and a complete list of films, visit http://www.outfilmct.org/.
4) And speaking of LGBT films, some of the best ones every made were created by out director Todd Haynes, who will be the subject of a career retrospective at this year’s Munich film festival. Running June 29 through July 7, all of Hayne’s work will be screened, including the seminal New Queer Cinema classic Poison, his gay-themed glam-rock opus Velvet Goldmine, and the beautiful Douglas Sirk homage Far From Heaven. Haynes and cinematographer Edward Lachman will be in attendance.
5) This week, the Showtime network renewed the GLAAD Media Award-nominated comedy series Nurse Jackie for a fifth season. The fourth season finale airs on Showtime June 17 and the fifth season is set to begin production in the late summer with new showrunner Clyde Phillips (Dexter, Suddenly Susan).
6) In more Showtime news, the network will be showing three LGBT documentaries on Thursday, June 7 in honor of pride month. The evening begins at 7 pm EST with Orchids: My Intersex Adventure about filmmaker Phoebe Hart’s journey of discovery and acceptance when she learns that she and her sister were both born intersex. At 8pm is No Look Pass, the coming of age story of Harvard basketball star Emily Tay who is struggling between respecting her mother’s conservative values and her own happiness. The night wraps up with Ultrasuede: In Search of Halston which tells the story of the legendary celebrity designer, Roy Halston Frowick. Read more about the films here and watch the trailer for Ultrasuede below.
7) The Sundance Channel will be bringing more diversity to American television this Monday with the premiere of Push Girls. The show gives a glimpse into the lives of four women living with paralysis in Los Angeles as they pursue their dreams and live life to the fullest. One of them, Tiphany openly dates women and men. Watch below as they talk about their lives and the show with Ellen.
8) Sky Atlantic is set to broadcast a three part series profiling British gay icons titled God Save the Queens through June. The first episode will focus on male stars that hid their sexuality such as Liberace and Danny La Rue before moving on to stars such as Freddie Mercury, David Bowie and Lily Savage in the remaining episodes. While the series focuses primarily on gay male performers, there is the possibility of another series which would look at lesbian icons. Read more about the series at the Sky Atlantic website.
9) This week, the Scissor Sisters released the video for their new single, “Baby Come Home,” which is off their album, Magic Hour. “Baby Come Home” is reminiscent of classic Scissor Sister tunes, complete with catchy piano hooks and a funky melody. The band members don knight, Viking, nun, and sailor costumes in the creative and vibrant new video.
10) Though the issue isn’t set to come out until later in the month, Marvel Comics has released the first set of unreleased pages from the upcoming Astonishing X-Men #51, in which the hero Northstar will marry his boyfriend Kyle. You can get a look at the rings at right, and check out the rest of the rest of the pages here.
11) Los Angeles residents and visitors looking for a different perspective on the cities LGBT culture might want to check out Hollywood’s Out & About Tours, which will feature Miss Coco Peru as guest navigator this Saturday. Riders will learn about the rich and fascinating LGBT history of Los Angeles with a stop at LA’s last gay piano bar where riders can enjoy a cocktail while listening to Coco croon a few tunes. Tickets are $65 with a portion of the proceeds benefitting the Jeff Griffith Youth Center. http://www.outandabout-tours.com/
12) Filmmaker Sam Feder started a Kickstarter campaign to raise $20,000 to complete work on her film about Kate Bornstein, entitled Kate Bornstein is a Queer and Pleasant Danger, which documents the Gender Outlaws author and performance artist around NYC and on her tour and “offers fans new angles from which to consider her achievements.” Feder is raising the funds to film Kate on tour this summer, and to edit and score the film. To learn more about the project and visit their Kickstarter page here.