Quick(?) review: Make The Yuletide Gay

"Make The Yuletide Gay" is probably destined to become a yearly holiday tradition on Logo, the gay cable network. (Pause for some enterprising TLA Releasing person to edit that into "'Destined to become a holiday tradition!' - Joe Guckin, The Joe In Philly Experience!" and put it on the DVD cover, or at least in print ads. There. My naked bid for attention is complete.)

This film screened at the Philadelphia QFest (which used to be called the Philadelphia International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, which led to the unfortunate acronym of PIGLFF) but I was unable to attend the two scheduled showings. Fortunately, the film was named a Festival Favorite and was shown again on the final night of QFest.

College sweethearts Olaf "Gunn" Gunnunderson and Nathan Stanford are headed to their respective family homes for the Christmas holiday. Nathan then finds out that his parents (including Gates McFadden of "Star Trek: The Next Generation" fame) won a trip to Israel and conveniently forgot to inform him until the day before his flight home. Rather than stay in an empty home, Nathan decides to make the trip to Wisconsin and surprise Gunn, only to be surprised himself: his boyfriend, out and proud on campus, isn't out to his family. Gunn's dad is a stoner and his mom is a Christmas freak, dontcha know (she talks like that); she's constantly spouting double-entendres and trying to fix her son up with Abby, a girl he dated in high school. (Abby's mom is played by Alison Arngrim -- Nellie Oleson from "Little House on the Prairie, and that fact is referenced in the movie.) It started a little slow for me, but got funnier as it went along. It plays out sort of as you'd expect, but with enough odd twists to keep it interesting. Nathan is played by Adamo Ruggiero. Adamo was Marco, a teenager who came out of the closet on "Degrassi: The Next Generation" -- what is it with the "Next Generation" trend? Now he's 23, utterly adorable (just look at that photo), out of the closet in real life also, and as of the time this profile appeared, still single. Call me, Adamo! I gave you a blurb for the DVD box, so you owe me! My grade: B-plus.

I'm not so good at multitasking

As I write this I'm listening to the latest podcast by sex-advice columnist Dan Savage. At least I'm trying to. I have found that I can listen to music while online, but if I try and listen to podcasts or sports-talk radio or something on the TV if I have it on, I can't do any online reading. I can't concentrate on both. I'll be listening to a podcast and have to stop because I have no idea what anyone's talking about and have to start it over. Or I listen closely to a podcast and I have to re-read the article I'm staring at. This is frustrating me to no end.

I've gotten about 7 minutes into the Savage podcast and have stopped and re-started it four times already, including twice while writing this. ARRRRRGH! Does anyone have any advice? I'd really like to be able to visit my favorite websites while listening to my favorite podcasts. Instead I have to sit here doing nothing or else play chess or solitaire on the computer. (Re-starting the Savage podcast for the fifth time now!)

ESPN reporter victim of hetero pervert

We constantly hear blathering from right-wing nuts and other assorted homophobes about the behavior of gays, but they and everyone else need to keep one thing in mind: most people are heterosexual, and quite a few of them are perverts.

For example: ESPN reporter Erin Andrews recently became the victim of one such sleazebag. Someone secretly videotaped her as she was naked in her hotel room. The video was posted to various websites, including YouTube. Her lawyer and ESPN got the sites to remove it, but hackers are using the hype to spread computer viruses and malware. The creep is now reportedly trying to sell the video. The worst part is that so far, no one even knows where or when the invasion of privacy took place.

Is there any doubt in anyone's mind that the perpetrator of this crime is a heterosexual male? Come on. How many lesbians would drill a small hole into a hotel room from an adjoining room and use a spy cam to film a naked woman? Yet it's homosexuality that's immoral? Does anyone really think that preventing same-sex marriage would have stopped this particular act, or any of the many similar acts by other straight people?

Another lying politician

The Times Square fixture known as the "Naked Cowboy" is going to run for mayor of New York City. Since I don't have a direct vote, I can only speak out and hopefully influence a voter or two (million). Do NOT vote for this man. We have enough politicians who don't live up to their promises. Here's one that we already know doesn't tell the truth. How do we know this (besides the obvious "because his mouth is moving" answer)? Simple:

He is NOT naked. He's NEVER naked. Frankly, I doubt he's even a real cowboy. Please, New York City, heed my warning! If you elect this man mayor he will ruin you!

No stopping the Phils?

It's getting harder to believe that the Phillies won't win the NL East for the third year in a row. Despite everything that's happened so far, they find themselves 6 1/2 games up in the division after winning their 8th straight game today. A sweep of the Florida Marlins (only three games, due to the rainout last night) is a fine way to come out of the All-Star break. Today, J.A. Happ pitched seven shutout innings to go to 7-0 on the year. The Marlins loaded the bases with no outs in the 6th, but Happ kept them from scoring. If he keeps this up there needs to be some Rookie of the Year consideration for him at some point. Jimmy Rollins continued his strong hitting of late with three more hits; his average is up to .236 now. Next up: the Chicago Cubs.

This Week's Comic Books 7-15-09

It's good that I finish this before Wednesday, or I'd have a lot of catching up to do. Anyway, as I mentioned in my post about last week's purchases, it's time for one of those Big Events. So we start with...

Blackest Night 1 (of 8): I wasn't sure I'd get this after reading the Green Lantern book I picked up last week, but I find myself more intrigued than I expected. We see a bunch of black power rings flying across the universe and reanimating a bunch of corpses into Black Lanterns. (Are they Zombie Lanterns or something more? The ones that speak in this book apparently are in character to an extent; they're not just moaning or growling. Are their own personalities brought back to life but in a corrupted form?) Mixed in with all of this there are a number of well-written small segments revolving around a day set aside to honor heroes who gave their lives in saving the world. Of course, at least some of them are going to get those black rings...I am most curious as to the significance of Black Hand digging up Bruce Wayne's body and taking his skull. Are there some special plans for the (once and future?) Batman?

Action Comics 879: This is the other Superman book that doesn't have Superman in it. It features Kryptonians who have taken up the names of Kryptonian legends, Nightwing and Flamebird. They've undertaken a mission to capture other Kryptonians on Earth acting as "sleeper agents" in a planned plot against Earth. The problem is, as a result of the "New Krypton" events, all Kryptonians (except Superman) are banned from Earth, and a secret government entity is after them. Also, two pages feature Lois Lane, who (with an assist from Mon-El, in a cameo) learns some important information about her father.

Superman/Batman 62: Here's a series where the continuity hasn't yet been updated to reflect current events elsewhere. Superman is still on Earth and Batman is still Bruce Wayne. So do we get the start of another story arc where the "World's Finest" (as their team-up book was called, back in the day) heroes stop some calamity or ruin some villain's monstrous plans? Nope. They're only seen briefly in a flashback. This issue stars Supergirl and Robin (not the current one, the previous one who became Red Robin after Bruce's "death," but since in this timeframe Bruce is still alive...well, you get the idea), who have lunch in their civilian guises and reminisce about a time not long after they met, when they ended a hostage drama at Arkham Asylum. Meh.

Simpsons Comics 156: A story called "The Simpsons Save The World." It's set in the year 2194 and a tour guide at the Simpsons Museum explains how the Simpsons, "the most important people in history," managed to cure all diseases, bring about world peace and the end of nuclear weapons, and save the planet from global warming. With disastrous results, as it turns out. D'oh!

Quick review: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Having never read any of the Harry Potter books, I don't know everything that's left out of the films when they're made and, for the most part, I don't have any idea what's going to happen in the movies -- with one notable exception being an event that occurs near the end of the latest, "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince."

The problem with this is, since I only see the movies once (rarely do I watch a movie on DVD or on TV broadcasts if I've seen it already), and the last HP movie came out two years ago, I couldn't remember much of anything from the last one, so I felt sort of lost. Between that and the fact that much of the film was spent on burgeoning romances of various kids, I wasn't nearly as enthralled as I have been in the past. It seemed like there was a lot more talking and a lot less action.

I will say that the three young stars of the Harry Potter movies, Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson, are turning out to be pretty good young actors. I hope they can manage to keep their careers going post-Potter. I also hope that the last two movies (the final book is being made into two films instead of one) are more exciting than this one. My grade: C-plus.

I could be on ESPN someday!

Earlier today I turned on the TV to watch the baseball game of the week on Fox, but before I got to it I found something on ESPN called "The Border Battle." Apparently it was the first-ever game between teams of what the announcers described as "elite players" from the USA and Canada...in men's slow-pitch softball! I don't know how these players were determined to be elite, but now I have something to shoot for in my own softball career.

The game was played in Oklahoma City at the ASA (Amateur Softball Association) Hall of Fame Complex, in between games of an event called the World Cup of Softball, featuring some of the top women's fast-pitch teams. So the field they were playing on, unlike the adequate-at-best fields in Fairmount Park that the City of Brotherly Love Softball League uses, was pristine and had an outfield fence. Thus, in the men's game they had a rule that a team can hit no more than 10 home runs in a game. After that, any balls hit over the fence are considered outs.

When I turned on the game, Canada had a 16-8 lead going into the bottom of the fourth. The USA then sent 21 batters to the plate and scored 17 runs, to move ahead 25-16. However, by that point in the game they were already up to 9 homers, and the announcers were worried that too many of those home runs had one or no runner on base when they were hit. With the 10-homer limit it's considered wise to hit as many as 3-run bombs or grand slams as possible.

However, it turned out not to matter as Canada was retired in order in the 5th, and team USA scored some more, threatening to hit the 15-run lead required for the game to end under a mercy rule. The USA eventually got its 10th homer and one ball over the fence for an out after that, but were able to finish off a 30-23 win.

I was surprised to see slow-pitch softball on ESPN, but at least it's a sport, sort of, instead of yet another poker show.

This is no way to bring back Futurama!

It seems that none of the actors who did the voices for "Futurama" are going to return when production on the series resumes. They want more money than the producers, Twentieth Century Fox, are willing to pay.

The success of reruns on Cartoon Network, and then Comedy Central, led to the making of some made-for-DVD movies (which later aired on Comedy Central as individual episodes), which then led to Comedy Central buying new episodes. But without the actors, why bother? You can get almost anyone to do voices, but when a talented actor establishes a particular voice, you lose something when he or she is replaced. No one's ever really been able to duplicate the late Mel Blanc as Bugs Bunny and so many others, and there's no one who can replace anyone on "The Simpsons."

This annoucement could be a negotiating tactic. Let's hope so, because otherwise the future looks bleak for "Futurama."

Quick review: I Love You, Beth Cooper

The AMC movie theater nearest to my house has an interesting new pricing policy. Prior to this summer, on weekdays during the afternoon tickets were just $5.00. (Other AMC theaters charge $5.00 or $6.00, but only for showings held before noon. From noon on, they're $7.50 or $8.00, and higher at night.) Now, at the theater near me, if a movie has just opened, from the day it opens until the following Sunday, the weekday afternoon price is $7.50, but for older films it's still $5.00. So it's now possible for a family or a group of friends to hit this multiplex, split up if they're seeing different movies, and pay different ticket prices.

Since I didn't get up too early this morning, I couldn't get to the theater before noon to see the latest Harry Potter movie for five bucks. I still wanted to see a movie, though, so I chose "I Love You, Beth Cooper." At a high school graduation, the valedictorian passes on his prepared speech to declare his love for, yes, Beth Cooper, a cheerleader played by "Heroes" actress Hayden (Save the cheerleader, save the world) Panettiere, so she's not exactly stretching. The geeky valedictorian calls out a number of fellow graduates on various issues -- the bully who was abused as a child, his best friend who won't admit to being gay, etc. -- and angers Beth's boyfriend, which sets the predictable plot into motion. I loved the first season of "Heroes" even though Panettiere didn't display much acting range. In this movie she shows even less, though her character has some issues of her own to deal with. Her young co-stars aren't much better. While the movie isn't exactly dreadful, there's not much positive to say for it. Now and then there was a glimmer or two of an idea that, had it been fleshed out competently, might have made the movie better. Or they could have at least made it raunchy. At one point, in order to buy beer, the underage Beth offers to kiss the convenience store clerk "so hard you'll mess your underwear" or something like that. The movie doesn't even show the kiss. My grade: C-minus.