Going Deep Inside Hollywood

Did you know that there’s a new wave of moviemaking happening in Chile’s film culture?

Well, there is. And one of its more successful directors, Sebastian Silva, has a couple of critically acclaimed movies you should catch up on: 2009’s The Maid and 2013’s English-language Crystal Fairy & The Magical Cactus, which starred Michael Cera. His latest project is another English-speaking feature, produced by lesbian mogul Christine Vachon, titled Nasty Baby. It stars Kristen Wiig and Arrested Development’s Alia Shawkat and it’s about a gay couple (Silva and actor Tunde Adebimpe) who enlist their friend (Wiig) to help them conceive a baby. Sounds funny, right? Well, it’s a drama. That shouldn’t shock you; Wiig has been popping up in those lately, most recently turning in an affecting performance in the comedy-drama The Skeleton Twins. She’s more than capable of switching gears. So get ready, the Target Lady has a somber side and you’re about to see a lot more of it.

Remember that first episode of Looking when Jonathan Groff’s clueless character encountered a man that with all the attributes one normally associates with a member of the gay bear subculture? And then afterward he never had to go near another one?

That’s about to change, because Mean Girls’ Damian, aka the young man who introduced the concept of “too gay to function,” is back. OK, so his name’s not Damian. It’s Daniel Franzese and he’s an actor. And Mean Girls was 10 years ago (even if we just finished watching it again for the 53rd time 10 minutes ago). And Franzese has worked in critically acclaimed comedy projects like The Comeback and Party Down since then. But none of that lessens the affection we have for his breakthrough role or the pleasure in knowing that the skinny bitches gentlemen on HBO’s hit gay non-com will have to deal with, as the actor himself described it on Twitter, “the new bear in town.”  Franzese will play Eddie, a potential love interest for one of the characters. And that’s all we know. That’s all we need to know. Maybe next they can give the entire gang more than one token female friend. Baby steps.

You can watch all the Orange Is The New Black you like, but the fact remains that real prison is unpleasant. Furthermore, it also turns out that fake prison isn’t a picnic, either. This was proven in 1971, the year that Stanford University psychology professor Philip Zimbardo, commissioned by the U.S. Office of Naval Research, conducted his now-notorious experiment on two dozen male students, who played the roles of prisoners and guards in a days-long scenario that resulted in traumatizing psychological torture and abuse. And now gay director Kyle Patrick Alvarez (C.O.G.) is prepping a feature film on that dark moment in academia, The Stanford Prison Experiment. Co-written by first-timer P.W. Hopsidor, Edge of Tomorrow’s Christopher McQuarrie and South Park alum Tim Talbott, the movie will feature self-identified “queer” actor Ezra Miller (The Perks of Being a Wallflower) and Michael Angarano (The Knick). It will also feature young men in deep distress for the sake of science, and almost certainly bear very little resemblance to your other favorite brand of prison drama, the male-on-male-on-male specialty narrative designed for adult viewing. But that’s art for you, rarely imitating your favorite porn.

If you care even a little bit about the world of dance (in fact, let’s just call it the world of having fun while watching people do crazy stuff with their bodies), then you’ll want to commit Elizabeth Streb’s name to memory. Her star is on the rise and with good reason; the choreographer and “Out 100” honoree has been dubbed the “Evel Knievel of Dance” for her wild, athletic, laws-of-physics-defying style. And now a new documentary from filmmaker Catherine Gund, Born To Fly: Elizabeth Streb Vs. Gravity, is coming soon to reach what will certainly be an army of new fans. The Brooklyn-based Streb has her own dance company – STREB Extreme Action – who works through her routines like the committed, daring (and possibly a little crazy) athletes they are, soaring through the air via bungee cords and narrowly escaping dangerous objects (see: cinder blocks) being hurled at them. If it all sounds like too much, then that’s exactly the point. The film begins its run this month in New York and Los Angeles and then aims itself right for your face as the fall rolls on.