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‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ Season 8 Queen Derrick Barry Is In the New Alexander Skarsgård Flick ‘War on Everyone’

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ConDRAGulations to our FAVORITE Britney Spears impersonator Derrick Barry! She hits the big screen as Kimberly in War on Everyone starring Alexander Skarsgård, Michael Peña, and Theo James.

From the press release:

Derrick Barry as ‘Kimberly’ in ‘War on Everyone’ starring Alexander Skarsgård, in select theaters now, also available on Amazon & iTunes.

‘War on Everyone’ is a 2017 dark comedy and buddy cop film set in
Albuquerque, NM that was both directed by and written by John Michael
McDonagh. The film stars Alexander Skarsgård, Michael Peña and Theo
James.

Derrick Barry plays the role of Kimberly, sharing the screen with the
stars of the film, Alexander Skarsgård & Michael Peña.

Barry has had a successful career as a drag performer on stage &
television, receiving global attention for his portrayal of Britney
Spears. The actor most recently appeared on television in DIG, Graves
& RuPaul’s Drag Race. Taking on the role of Kimberly was an exciting
opportunity for Derrick. He is always proud to represent the LGBTQ
community, sharing awareness through art.

Derrick Barry is available for interviews on his role as Kimberly in
‘War On Everyone’.

Press inquiry please email: derrickbritney@yahoo.com or nickjsanpedro@gmail.com
Booking agent email: michael@executiveprandtalent.com

‘War On Everyone’ in theaters now!

PRESS PACKET/Movie Stills & Clips:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B7Xa3v5Q2CD-LVM4TzJwMC1uTFk

Twitter: @WarOnEveryone @DerrickBarry
Web: www.ReprisalFilms.com www.DerrickBarry.com

The post ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ Season 8 Queen Derrick Barry Is In the New Alexander Skarsgård Flick ‘War on Everyone’ appeared first on The WOW Report.


The Perfect Rom-Com to Make Your Valentine’s Day Horny for Laughs!

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Need something fun to boost your Valentine’s Day blues?! Men Don’t Whisper is JUST the afternoon fix you need to turn those frowns upside down. MDW is that refreshingly hilarious romantic comedy you have been waiting for. A gay couple feel out of touch with their masculinity and to regain it by bringing back a couple of women they meet in a hotel bar. Turns out it is not as easy as they think and hilarity ensues. Directed by Jordan Firstman and written by Firstman and Charles Rogers of Search Party on TBS. (Which is also amazing!) Edited by Patrick Lawrence.

How can a man truly prove he’s a man? In Men Don’t Whisper, the brainchild of Search Party’s Charles Rogers and Jordan Firstman, the answer is pretty straightforward: Sleep with a woman. Gay couple Reese and Peyton, played by Rogers and Firstman, get their confidence demolished at a sales conference (led by Cheri Oteri as the motivational speaker of your dreams and nightmares) and decide the only way to get their masculine mojo back is to get in bed with a lady. Finding their prospective partners (played by Bridey Elliott and Clare McNulty) is easy, but actually going through with the plan is a lot harder–and hijinks naturally ensue.

Paper Magazine

Watch Men Don’t Whisper in full on JASH.com and go90.com on Verizon NOW!

The post The Perfect Rom-Com to Make Your Valentine’s Day Horny for Laughs! appeared first on The WOW Report.

Cheesecake Boys – An Adult Coloring Book of Hot Pinup BOYS Available TODAY!

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WOWPresents MCN content creator Paul Richmond just released the Cheesecake Boys – An Adult Coloring Book from Dreamspinner Press TODAY – on Valentine’s Day – chock full of hot and bulgy pinup boys to color!

From the release:

Cheesecake Boys – Adult Coloring Book of Cute Male PinUp Art – Paul Richmond Studio

Pinup girls from the ’40s and ’50s had such a hard time keeping their clothes on. A loose nail, a curious pup, or even a brisk wind all seemed to exist for the purpose of disrobing unsuspecting cuties. But one important question has gone unanswered—until now: how did men always manage to dodge these obstacles? Now it’s time to even the score!

Welcome to the colorful world of the Cheesecake Boys, pinups for a new generation where skin-baring wardrobe malfunctions take an equal opportunity approach. Grab your crayons, markers, or colored pencils because these fellows need your magic touch—all over!

Twenty-two full page, single-sided images.

Visit http://cheesecakeboy.com to learn more!

 

The post Cheesecake Boys – An Adult Coloring Book of Hot Pinup BOYS Available TODAY! appeared first on The WOW Report.

WATCH NOW: Norman Meets Marion Crane In New “Bates Motel” Teaser

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The critically acclaimed Psycho origin series Bates Motel is in it’s fifth and final season premieres this Monday, February 20th at 9/8C on A&E. In the eerie conclusion to Season 4’s finale, Norman is full fledged, well, psycho and the latest teaser just dropped today providing more insight into the White Pine Bay community and what will become of life post-Norma Bates.

Check out the trailer here:

Rihanna guest stars in all-new episodes of Bates Motel, premiering Monday, February 20 on A&E. #BatesMotel

The post WATCH NOW: Norman Meets Marion Crane In New “Bates Motel” Teaser appeared first on The WOW Report.

January 15th: It’s YOUR Birthday, Bitch!

#BornThis Day: Movie Star, Cesar Romero

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February 15, 1907Cesar Romero‘s most famous role was The Joker on the campy television series Batman (1966-69), or maybe Estaban de la Cruz in the brief run of Zorro (1957-59). Both of those were television shows. but Romero was also a kind of minor star in Hollywood’s Golden Age where he usually portrayed the cliché Latin lover character in such innuendo-titled films as The Gay Caballero (1940), The Good Fairy (1935), The Devil Is A Woman (1935), Love That Brute (1937), and The Leather Saint (1956).

From everything I have read and everything told to me, Cesar Julio Romero, Jr. was the consummate professional, brimming with talent, and a total nice guy, one of the good ones. Famous as the “Latin From Manhattan”, he was Hollywood’s most popular date. He was also a gay man.

In showbiz insider Boze Hadleigh’s juicy book Hollywood Gays (1996), Romero gave a revealing, humorous account of what life was like in Hollywood’s Golden Age for a closeted gay man, or in Romero’s case: Gay, Catholic and Latino. Romero was only in the closet to fans and the press, but he was “out” to all his industry colleagues. It was often stated that Romero’s gayness was Hollywood’s worst kept secret. Romero claimed that he was busy servicing Desi Arnaz and at the same time he was escorting Lucille Ball to premiers and parties. He also spills the beans about gay politics, truck stops, glory holes, Joan Crawford, and Carmen Miranda.

After a hard day at the studio, Romero was always up for some nightlife. There was rarely a film premier, fashion show or gallery opening where the debonair, dramatically dressed gentleman was not seen with a famous star on his arm: Crawford, Linda Darnell, Barbara Stanwyck, Ann Sheridan, Jane Wyman, and Ginger Rogers were among his beards.

“You see, very, very often, I was out dancing with one actress or another. And that got press. Even when it didn’t, the whole town knew I was a dancing fool, and since I couldn’t very well dance with a man, they saw me dancing with a lady, and… what they saw was what they got in their heads.”

Romero’s actual closets held 30 tuxedos, 200 sport coats, and 500 bespoke suits. In his era, the running joke was: “Romero would attend the opening of a napkin”. He was especially well equipped for the job: handsome, 6’ 2’’, suave, witty and perfectly decked-out. Romero’s signature trimmed moustache was so identified with his persona that he refused to shave it off as The Joker in the Batman series. Makeup artists had to use heavy white pancake on top of the ‘stache.

Romero rarely spent an evening in his Brentwood home that he shared with his sister Maria. I like to think that after he dropped off his beautiful date from some big Hollywood shindig, he would end up in the arms of his longtime lover Tyrone Power.

Romero was born to wealthy Manhattan parents. His father was born in Italy and made his fortune in an import/export business and his Cuban mother was a concert singer. Romero’s first job was as a ballroom dancer, his first appearance on Broadway was in the musical Lady Do (1927), and his first Hollywood role was in the B-film The Shadow Laughs (1933).

During WW II Romero served in the U.S. Coast Guard in the Pacific, and then immediately returned to his acting career. Known for his charm and discretion, Romero had a reputation as the quintessential “confirmed bachelor,” although most people in Hollywood knew all about his long relationship with Power, and his assignations with Gene Raymond, Van Johnson and other actors. In a nutty footnote, Romero’s Hollywood social nickname was “Butch”.

Romero had supporting roles in nearly 100 films from the 1930s through the 1980s: Musicals, Period Pieces, Westerns, Noir, Comedy, he did it all.

In 1953, Romero starred in a 39 episode television serial, Passport To Danger, and he continued to do guest spots on television shows: I Love Lucy, including the special Lucy Takes A Cruise To Havana episode, 77 Sunset Strip, Fantasy Island, and Murder She Wrote (unfortunately, not in the episode in which I appear).

Of course, Romero achieved his greatest fame as The Joker in the highly successful, crazy Batman series. He repeated the role in the 1966 film version, making him the first film Joker, before Jack Nicholson. Like Heath Ledger in the same role 40 years later, he was robbed of an Oscar.

My favorite anecdote about Romero: He danced with Carmen Miranda on a live broadcast of The Milton Berle Show. Wearing her usual glittering sequins and colorful fruit hat, Miranda forgot her panties while changing between acts, and when Romero twirled her above his head, she exposed her mango to millions of television viewers across the USA. Talk about your wardrobe malfunctions.

Enduringly popular with audiences and co-workers, the rather wealthy Romero didn’t need to, but he continued to work steadily through the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s.

He had a terrific sense of humor. Once, after taping a talk show featuring him and a beauty queen, the technician began removing their clip-on microphones, and Romero quipped:

 “You can do the young lady first. The young queen before the old queen.”

In 1968, at 61-years-old, Romero was named The Most Beautiful Man In The World by TV Guide, described as possessing “hair the color of stainless steel”, an “alert, erect posture”, and “charm to spare”. In 1985, when he was 78-years-old, the still handsome Romero was cast as Jane Wyman’s love interest on the popular night time soap Falcon Crest (1981-1990). Take that Ronnie Reagan! Romero:

“Those beautiful actresses all had individuality and a flair for glamour. Years ago the gals were real stars. There was an excitement to the business then.”

The elegant Romero was loved and adored by his fellow actors, friends and fans. He was taken from this existence by a blood clot on New Year’s Day, 1994. He was recently voted Best Dressed In Heaven by a jury of swank angels.

The post #BornThis Day: Movie Star, Cesar Romero appeared first on The WOW Report.

FASHION PHOTO RUVIEW: Kim Chi, Laganja, Tyra, Mystique, Dida & Sasha with Raja & Raven

#OMG: Susan Sarandon Says Her Sexuality Is “Up For Grabs”

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Most of the world has had a lady boner for Miss Susan Sarandon ever since she donned tighty whities in Rocky Horror Picture Show. Now she’s starring as Joan Crawford in Ryan Murphy‘s Feud which premieres next month so she sat down with Pride Source to discuss her upcoming work……

Maybe gay people are customarily compelled to thank Susan Sarandon for her longstanding advocacy, because that’s how I begin my frank, anything-goes conversation with the 70-year-old multi-hyphenate. After all, no matter where you stand on Sarandon’s divisive decision to vote for Green Party candidate Jill Stein in the recent presidential election, we can all agree that the Oscar-winning actress has used her massive screen-icon prestige to aid in the advancement of LGBT rights. She’s been a staunch supporter through the AIDS crisis and the fight for marriage equality – even in times when vocal Hollywood allies were scarce.

Reinforcing Sarandon’s pro-queer stance is a breadth of bold, iconic and uninhibited film roles dating back to 1970: Sarandon had sex with her co-star, Catherine Deneuve, in a lesbian-favorited scene that steamed up 1983’s vamp flick “The Hunger”; as Janet, she got her freak on in the cult classic “The Rocky Horror Picture Show”; and then, in 1987, teamed up with Cher for “The Witches of Eastwick” to, presumably, offer fresh fodder to every late-’80s drag queen. Later, in 1995, Sarandon appeared with many of her industry peers in the acclaimed documentary inspired by gay activist Vito Russo, “The Celluloid Closet,” which examined depictions of LGBT characters in Hollywood.

The next step in being a gay icon, apparently, is playing one: Starring alongside fellow acting dynamo Jessica Lange as Joan Crawford, Sarandon portrays beloved Hollywood legend and “All About Eve” leading lady Bette Davis in Ryan Murphy’s “Feud: Bette and Joan,” premiering March 5. Sarandon was fresh off the set of the FX series when she dished on “Feud,” and numerous other aspects of her storied life and career.

“I’m just getting back and acclimated,” she told me, dramatizing her experience shooting Murphy’s latest creation. “I’ve been gone for a very long time. Once I joined this cult, I didn’t get out.”

Free from “Feud” and any canned-answer pretense, Sarandon refreshingly freewheeled through revelatory discussions about her “up for grabs” sexual orientation, the gay actor she once romanced, and her impassioned response to critics (“to blame me is not productive”) who challenge her political convictions.

Between “Feud,” your film career and your LGBT activism, I’d say you have more than earned your queer cred. 

(Laughs) Well, I hope so! I mean, I feel like an outsider myself. My people, my family for all these years have always been my allies and have always been very, very important to me, very dear to me through the AIDS crisis and everything. It’s just a natural, very easy extended family for me.

You grew up Catholic in Jackson Heights, a neighborhood in the northwestern end of the borough of Queens in New York City. Would you say LGBT people felt like family then too?

Well, not in my high school; I had 500 in my class. This was ages ago. But sure, in college, of course if you’re in a theater department or in any of the arts, that’s just part of the landscape, so there wasn’t any delineation as I became an adult. It was just natural. And, honestly, the people who I made friends with in my early day in New York in the ’70s are still my friends.

I find the guys who don’t stick with you are the guys that you’ve had affairs with or marriages… or whatever! (Laughs) It’s very rare that those guys – once you’re not involved in a relationship, it’s hard to maintain those ties. So, really, my friends I’ve had forever and ever and ever are gay men and women.

That makes sense, unless you’re having affairs with gay men.

Well, I did at one point have a very successful and very loving and wonderful affair with a man who then wasn’t with another woman after me, and that worked out fine! I don’t think you had to declare yourself as rigidly as you do now in terms of having to declare yourself almost politically about your sexual preference.

Just to clarify – you were in a romantic relationship with another actor who was gay? 

Yeah. Philip Sayer (who also starred in “The Hunger”) – he was a wonderful actor. He passed away, but yes, he was gay, and we had a great relationship in every way.

Is your sexuality more or less rigid these days? Basically, should we be welcoming you to the family?

(Laughs) Well, I’m a serial monogamist, so I haven’t really had a large dating career. I married Chris Sarandon when I was 20, and that went on for quite a while – each of my relationships have. I haven’t exactly been in the midst of a lot of offers of any kind. I’m still not! I don’t know what’s going on! (Laughs) But I think back in the ’60s it just was much more open.

Are you open regarding your sexuality? 

Yeah, I’m open. My sexual orientation is up for grabs, I guess you could say. (Laughs) 

The great thing about “Feud” is having you, a gay icon, play a gay icon. I can’t think of many things gayer than that. 

(Laughs) Well, I hope the appeal seems to be broader! I’m hoping we reach out across the aisles to heterosexuals also, because what I think the story is about is a really interesting examination of all kinds of things: power and roles and misogyny and aging. Have you seen it?

Not yet – episodes weren’t available before our interview. But because it’s my due diligence as a gay man, I’ve seen “What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?” countless times. 

Oh, you’re gonna love it then! Although it’s not all about that. We do move on, so at least you don’t think I’m wearing gobs of makeup (the whole time). There are some younger folks who haven’t seen “Baby Jane” who are like, “What is up with that? Does she do that through the whole thing? I don’t get it.” But we had a lot of fun recreating gesture for gesture, voice pattern for voice pattern. And some of the little snippets of the scenes were very tough.

What’s the closest you’ve come to a Bette/Joan-type feud? 

I think I’m just a little too young to see women as my adversary. I think that changed. I really haven’t experienced that. I think women just a little bit older than I am tried to align themselves with power, which were the men, and saw every woman as a threat. With my generation and slightly younger, you might be jealous that someone is getting all the good parts, but it’s just a different time – you don’t see them as your enemy. So, women are producing more projects, are finding things on their own. I feel very comfortable with all the women that are my competition.

There was someone that came (to “Feud”) for two seconds who was not particularly collaborative, and I didn’t get rid of her, but that was just not the tone. She kind of announced herself, and she was gone in two days. Because Ryan is responsible for having a wonderful environment with a very collaborative atmosphere, and it starts at the top. He just doesn’t tolerate anybody who isn’t part of that family, and looks at the bigger picture. And that was it. She was gone.

But it wasn’t about women against women – it was just about somebody who came in, sat down and announced that she was going to be difficult. I’m sure that came from a place of fear, in all fairness to her, but there wasn’t time or interest in developing a relationship with someone who isn’t a team player. Everybody was a team player on this. And I’ve seen men go at it on films, but I’ve never had an experience myself. It doesn’t work for me to work in an environment where there’s tension. I go out of my way to make sure there’s not.

Can you imagine throwing your guts out there and you have to be brave and you’re in a hostile environment? It’s just impossible. You open up your heart and all your energy, and you can’t do that if you’re in a protective mode. There’s a line that I found in one of Bette’s books where she said, “I would rather have a go at something I feel, and be hurt, than always be protecting myself – that way, one does not really live.” And she did that in romance, and I think she did that in her work.

That’s definitely where our philosophies align. You can’t live your life according to just what looks good on paper. I think the most interesting things happen when you’re out of your comfort zone, and this was way out of my comfort zone. It took me a good five weeks working with Ryan and working with Tim Monich, my dialect coach, to really get the fear/fun ratio to a place where it was in my favor (laughs). I was just terrified! I said to Ryan, “This really, really scares me. I just don’t know.” And he said, “Well, I’m scared too. We’ll find it together.” And that made me jump at it.

How do you explain the gay fascination with Bette Davis and Joan Crawford? 

Well, I can’t speak for Joan – I can only speak for Bette. But, first of all, being some kind of outsider – she was an intruder at the time, when she was trying to get good parts, because she wasn’t your classic Hollywood beauty. So, she started off as an outsider, and I think that she had a secret, and in the early days of being gay – and still in some places – that has to be a secret. I think she had a lot of secrets, and you sense that she was trying to do things that were not easily done as a woman and as an artist, and she was a very straight shooter. When we were working on it, our biggest challenge was trying to make it grounded in reality because they’re so big. Her gestures, everything – I felt like, “Here goes another meme!” (Laughs) The question was, are we able to make this into something that people are actually moved by? It’s very funny, obviously, and interesting.

Do you think audiences might come away with more empathy for Bette as we watch this?

I hope so. In watching all of her interviews and TV appearances, and in reading all the books she wrote and that her daughter wrote and other people wrote, she was pretty special in her focus to find good work that (gave her) some control over her choices at a time when you were given the protection of the studio in exchange for your freedom. Now, of course, if you do episodic TV, you’re right back in the same kind of contractual bind. Films have been liberated, but not these seasonal TV shows, because you really don’t know what they’re going to do with you. You sign away for years at a time, which was exactly what she was fighting against.

Shifting to politics, some LGBT people were disappointed in your decision to cast your vote for someone other than the predicted winner, Hillary Clinton. If you would’ve known that Trump would be elected, and that we’d currently be experiencing such a threat to human rights, which I know are so important to you, would you have voted differently? 

This is the thing: To have the conversations about “woulda, shoulda, coulda” opens up everything about the primaries and all kinds of things. The important thing right now is that we stop harping on blame because blame, if you really want me to talk about this election – you know, I was not the person who brought Trump into power. The DNC has a lot of… there are already suits all over the country about how that was rigged, the primary.

So, to talk about this, for me, is a waste of energy. I think right now we’re about to appoint Scott Pruitt, which is the end of the EPA (United States Environmental Protection Agency), and we’ve got this gal, (Betsy) DeVos. People have to get over what happened, take some personal responsibility for being in a bubble and not paying attention to what was going on in the country, and start applying their anger and their energy to rectifying what’s going on.

We’re at a moment in history where a revolution is taking place. We have a guy in there who is so obvious that he gives you very clear targets – this didn’t happen overnight. In the last eight years, the Democrats have lost thousands of seats. In the last eight years, we’ve put fracking and Monsanto and everybody in place. In the last eight years, there were tons of people deported. This guy is horrible. But this didn’t happen overnight.

So what are we gonna do now? This is a moment where we have to start using our energy and the time that we have and the media to divest from our banks that are building these pipelines all over the place, not just in Dakota, which are going to bring down this country. Fracking is going to go full speed ahead. We have to stop that. And we have to protect those who are vulnerable under this administration, and that’s not gonna happen until we let go of what happened before and really dedicate ourselves to making phone calls, putting our bodies in the street and, most of all, taking our money out of organizations, banks and networks that are supporting the actions of this guy.

Now that everybody is awake, we have to take that and that fear, and we have to not indulge our depression – not indulge on pointing fingers – and get out there and work with some of the people who are going to be betrayed by Trump who voted for him and use that as a force for real change, because now it can happen. And we’re in a moment in history where you’re gonna either be on one side or the other, and to be quiet or to be depressed or to blame me is not productive, so that’s what I would say about that. (via PrideSource)

OMFG! Susan don’t drop that bombshell and move on. All my childhood fantasies are aligning, and I can’t get enough. Susan Sarandon slays on and off the screen and we can’t wait to see what other surprises she has in store for us!

The post #OMG: Susan Sarandon Says Her Sexuality Is “Up For Grabs” appeared first on The WOW Report.


Listen To Gaga’s Isolated Vocals From The Superbowl Halftime Show (She Slays It!)

Ladies & Gentleman, Presenting Senator Kid Rock! (Don’t Laugh, It Just Might Happen!)

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News out of Michigan today is that Kid Rock – yes, Mr Bawitdaba, the Detroit cowboy – just might be the next celebrity to wade into the political pool.

The radically right-wing rocker is being floated as a potential candidate in Michigan’s 2018 senate race. According to RollCall, Michigan GOP members floated Kid’s name during a party convention held last weekend. And everyone was verrrrrrrrry excited by the possibility.

Via Consequence of Sound:

Kid Rock (real name Robert Ritchie), who’s described himself as a libertarian, was a staunch supporter of Donald Trump during his 2016 presidential run. He appeared at several campaign events and even sold pro-Trump merchandise (including t-shirts with the phrase “God, Guns & Trump” in red, white and blue-colored text)

Debbie Stabenow, a Democrat, has held the senate seat since 2000. However, in the wake of Trump’s surprise victory in the state, Republicans are feeling more confident that they can flip the seat.

Hey. Crazier things have happened.

And watch out, Kanye. I think a Kid Rock presidential run would probably get more traction than yours!

(Photos: Pacific Coast News)

The post Ladies & Gentleman, Presenting Senator Kid Rock! (Don’t Laugh, It Just Might Happen!) appeared first on The WOW Report.

So Christina Aguilera Just Did an Oreo Commercial for Canadian Television and It Is EVERYTHING

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Xtina did a commercial for the “Oreo Dunk Challenge Canada” – and i absolutely INSIST you stop what you are doing and watch. It’s memorizing. As someone (not Tina) warbles a little song in voiceover, we see our sparkly-costumed songstress ride a (CGI) bike across a (CGI) tightrope high above a (CGI) circus crowd. She raises her arm, and then the bike tips over (CGI again, I presume). An upside-down Christina then dunks an Oreo cookie into a waiting glass of milk. That’s it. That’s the extent of the commercial. It might not sound very exciting but OH IT IS. It’s magnificent. Do they give Oscars for Canadian cookie commercials? Because if they do, SHE IS A SHOO-IN.

Watch below. (via OMGBlog)

The post So Christina Aguilera Just Did an Oreo Commercial for Canadian Television and It Is EVERYTHING appeared first on The WOW Report.

February 16th: It’s YOUR Birthday, Bitch!

#BornThisDay: Filmmaker, John Schlesinger

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February 16, 1926John Schlesinger:

“Hollywood is an extraordinary kind of temporary place.”

It would be difficult to underestimate the influence that at least two of Schlesinger’s films have had on my life as a gay man. Midnight Cowboy (I was just 15-years-old when I saw this X rated film) and Sunday Bloody Sunday (I was 17-years-old) both contained mind-blowing moments for me. Truly great films, they both have fascinating gay characters as well as homoerotic moments that lodged in my young mind and stayed through my middle-age.

Creepy Trumpster, Jon Voight, is young and simply luscious in Midnight Cowboy (1969), and Murray Head is the poster boy for the sexy 1970’s male in Sunday Bloody Sunday (1971), with Glenda Jackson checking out Murray’s perfect physique as he showered, which made me consider how I really felt when I stood next to beautiful boys in the showers after gym class, wondering if any of them might notice or might be mine.

Sunday Bloody Sunday is an astonishing film, especially for its time. It is the first film I ever saw where a gay man was rather “normal” and sympathetic, and where male attraction seemed inevitable. The film asks: Is it better to share a lover than to have none at all? It is the story of two people, a gay middle-aged Jewish doctor played by the great Peter Finch and a 30-ish working woman, played by Jackson, who are romantically intertwined with a boyish artist played by Head who treats them both with a bit of ennui.

Schlesinger was well-reviewed as a director, and celebrated in his lifetime, but history has not been as kind. He won Academy Awards for Best Picture and Best Director in 1969, and received nominations in 1965 and 1971, and he was still doing important work through the 1970s, but he made so many missteps in the 1980’s and 1990’s that when he, at last, made one last great feature film, it was mostly ignored. He followed that up with a couple of the worst films he ever made, the dreadful thriller Eye For An Eye (1996) and the miserable Madonna/Rupert Everett vehicle,The Next Best Thing (2000), it must have seemed a good idea on paper, and then he checked out for good in 2003, remembered only with headlines: “Oscar Winning Director Dies.”

Schlesinger was a very important part of British filmmaking in the 1960’s, directing the brilliant swinging London films: Darling (1965), Billy Liar (1963), A Kind Of Loving (1962), plus the beautiful, lush Far From The Madding Crowd (1967); each brilliant, with gorgeous production values and first-rate acting. Schlesinger then moved to Hollywood and made such thoughtful films as Day Of The Locust (1975) and Falcon And The Snowman (1985). After that, his films rarely rose above mediocrity, but his last great film is truly a treasure and one of The Husband’s and my all-time Top 10 Favorites Films.

Technically, Cold Comfort Farm came out in 1995, and would have been Oscar eligible had it not played on television in Britain. The film received good reviews but not much notice. Maybe it was a matter of timing. Cold Comfort Farm was riding the wave of popular Jane Austen film adaptations, although it is not Austen, and it is set in the early 1930’s rather than the 19th century, but it is a British Costume Comedy Of Manners. How much more would it get noticed today, now that Ian McKellen is known the world over for X-Men and those damn Lord Of The Rings films, and not just as the guy from the interesting Richard III? Or that Kate Beckinsale is now thought of as one of the world’s most beautiful women and a tough cookie, and not just the actor who was okay in Much Ado About Nothing (1993)?

Cold Comfort Farm is a divine peach of a film. Beckinsale (not wearing black leather jumpsuits) portrays a city girl who goes to live with her cousins in the country and perhaps discover herself as a writer. The collection of her very odd cousins includes the crazed matriarch, the earthy Seth (Rufus Sewell) and an enigmatic preacher father, played by McKellen in a fantastic and eccentric performance. Openly gay producer/director Bryan Singer told McKellen two years later while they were making Apt Pupil (1998) that he should watch this guy’s performance in Cold Comfort Farm to get some ideas on how to approach his role, not realizing he was talking to the very same actor. Add in some nutty, only slightly restrained performances by the great Eileen Atkins, Julia Margolyes, Joanna Lumley, and our dear Stephen Fry and you get a great cinematic mix of low humor and high style.

The film has a happy ending when a Hollywood producer enters the story, but the true happiness is that Schlesinger made one more excellent film, even if it was mostly ignored.

Schlesinger’s work with actors always received particular praise, and Dustin Hoffman, Julie Christie, Glenda Jackson and Alan Bates are among those who gave some of their very best performances while working for him. He also occasionally directed plays and opera, and he did some especially good work for television. His acclaimed television film An Englishman Abroad (1983) is the sort of quality product we expect nowadays on HBO or Netflix, so its accomplishment is especially outstanding for pre-cable programming. He also worked occasionally as an actor, especially good in a television adaptation of David Leavitt’s gay themed novel, The Lost Language Of Cranes (1991).

Schlesinger survived a quadruple heart bypass in 1998, but then he suffered a stroke in December 2000. In summer 2003, Schlesinger was taken off life-support in a hospital in Palm Springs by his partner of over 30 years, photographer Michael Childers. Schlesinger’s final credits rolled early the following day. He was 77-years-old when he left this sad old world.

My favorites of Schlesinger films:

Darling (1965)

Midnight Cowboy (1969)

Sunday Bloody Sunday (1971)

Marathon Man (1976)

Yanks (1979)

Madame Sousatzka (1988)

Cold Comfort Farm (1996)

The post #BornThisDay: Filmmaker, John Schlesinger appeared first on The WOW Report.

WATCH NOW: RuPaul’s “Snapshot” Music Video Is Here To Save The Day

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RuPaul’s latest video off her “Remember Me: Essential, Volume 1” is “Snapshot” and it’ll definitely brighten your day (literally!) From panther on the runway to fierce fashionista, the video showcases all of Ru’s runway looks. Drastic times DO call for DRAGTASTIC measures and Ru is giving us what we all need right now. Can we get an amen?!

Check it out:

Buy the album here!

This post is approved by the original video of “Snapshot”:

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The Awesome Frozen Hairdos of Takhini Hot Springs

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Check out the amaaaaazing frozen hairdos from this year’s International Hair Freezing contest held at Takhini Hot Springs in the Yukon. To enter, all you have to do is visit the hot springs, freeze up your hair in the 20 BELOW temperatures, and post a picture of it to the business’ Facebook wall, for a $150 cash prize.

Takhini Hot Pools manager Andrew Umbrich said that people can pull off their hairstyles by laying strands on the side of the pool so it can freeze. Participants can then move and shape it more easily. Typical freezing time? Just under a minute.

Frozen hair should be a mini-challenge on next season’s Drag Race, don’t you think?

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(via PeeWee.comHuffPo and Oddity Central)

The post The Awesome Frozen Hairdos of Takhini Hot Springs appeared first on The WOW Report.


What the Fork: It’s Floral Bouquets!!! Made of Kitchen Utensils!!!!

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In her series “Bouquets and Butterflies,” artist Ann Carrington created elegant “floral” bouquets using hundreds of spoons, knives, and forks that she brilliantly clumped together.  The recontextured roses and tulips are unbelievably realistic, looking “like organic flowers dipped in a layer of silver.” Beautiful. And rather weighty, no doubt.

Via This Is Colossal:

The sculptures were included in Carrington’s solo exhibition Pop goes the Weasel! last summer at the Royal College of Art in London in addition to her ships formed from strings of pearls. You can see more of Carrington’s work on her Facebook and Instagram.

The post What the Fork: It’s Floral Bouquets!!! Made of Kitchen Utensils!!!! appeared first on The WOW Report.

OH NO: James Charles Slips Up and Posts an Insensitive Tweet

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James Charles who broke boundaries last October by becoming Covergirl’s first male ambassador is now making headlines for a naive comment he made earlier today on twitter. The now since deleted tweet read, “I can’t believe we’re going to Africa today omg what if we get Ebola?”

Twitter quickly popped off, saying they were going to stop supporting Covergirl and berating James for what he said. The reason his tweet is so ridiculous, is because it goes back to the avid stereotype that Africa is an un-industrialized wasteland of naked people and diseases. Which is quite the opposite of the continent, yes there are areas where people do wear less clothing and live in buildings that aren’t as structured as America’s, but that’s their culture! South America, Tanzania, Zimbabwe all have some of the most beautiful architecture and cities in the world. His comment was ignorant and something he needs to forgo if he wants to stay in the limelight.

 

James just arrived to South Africa a few hours ago and wrote this tweet.

Seems pretty inconsiderate right? He quickly realized this and sent another tweet out.

At least he realize he made a mistake. Obviously James is 17 and still has a learning curve to go through, but when you’re an ambassador to one of the biggest brands, you’d think you’d watch what you say a little more carefully.

The post OH NO: James Charles Slips Up and Posts an Insensitive Tweet appeared first on The WOW Report.

Check Out the “Freak Show” Panel at DragCon featuring JSJ, Star Ian Nelson, and the Movie’s Producers

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The movie of my book Freak Show premiered at the Berlin Film Festival on Monday to packed theaters and standing ovations (so I hear). By all accounts, Alex Lawther is ASTOUNDING as young Billy Bloom, the transgender student at a conservative red state school who (eventually) triumphs over bullying. IndieWire went so far as to say

There’s no denying that Billy Bloom is the most flamboyantly fabulous character in the history of high school movies — it’s not even close. A “trans-visionary gender obliviator” who’s been forcibly relocated from the liberal enclave of Darien, CT (“hometown of Chloë Sevigny!”) to an anonymous red state somewhere in flyover country, Billy struts into the heartland like Boy George showing up for a round of golf at Mar-a-Lago.

In THE HISTORY OF HIGH SCHOOL MOVIES. I’ll be damned. Fabulous!

Last summer, we had a Freak Show panel at DragCon, featuring ME, producers Bryan Rabin and Jeffrey Coulter, and the one of the wonderful stars Ian Nelson (who plays Billy’s love interest, dreamboat/football star Flip Kelly).

Watch below. And keep an eye out for more details of Freak Show screenings around the country as they happen. PLEASEPLEASEPLEASE.

The post Check Out the “Freak Show” Panel at DragCon featuring JSJ, Star Ian Nelson, and the Movie’s Producers appeared first on The WOW Report.

Tom Goss! Arend Richard! Paul Richmond! Novympia! Luke Birch! New Videos From the WOWPresents MCN!

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Check out the latest videos from our WOWPresents Network!  Tom Goss, Arend Richard, Paul Richmond, Novympia, Luke Birchand SO MANY MORE all have new videos from the WOWPresents Network!!! Watch all these and more right now on the WOW Report!

Here are the latest videos from our fabulous partners! Make sure you subscribe to their channels for new videos!























The post Tom Goss! Arend Richard! Paul Richmond! Novympia! Luke Birch! New Videos From the WOWPresents MCN! appeared first on The WOW Report.

M.U.G. with Kim Chi & Eden The Doll – Drag to Daytime

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