"Sex and the City" Movie Talk, Yet Again

Variety is reporting that the long-rumored film adaptation of "Sex and the City" may very well happen this time, with New Line Cinema close to a deal to finance and distribute a feature version of the famed HBO comedy.

The show's key stars, Sarah Jessica Parker, Kim Cattrall, Kristen Davis and Cynthia Nixon, have all agreed to appear in the film, which according to plans will go into production this fall. Michael Patrick King will direct from his own script.

From the minute the show about four gay men single women and their friends living in Manhattan went off the air in 2004, rumors of a "Sex and the City" feature have been virtually nonstop. For a long time, the main holdout was Cattrall, though Variety suggests that her eventual contract for the feature included script input and a contract for a future series deal at HBO. (How Samantha of her!)

Love me some "Sex and the City" but I can't help but think this ship has already long sailed. My brother's suggested working title for the film? "New Hag City." Ouch.

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Porn Again Legitimacy?

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If F. Scott Fitzgerald was right when he wrote that "there are no second acts in American lives" then how do you explain the careers of former porn boys turned mainstream fashion models Scott Andreasen and Thierry (aka Terry) Pepin?

Andreasen -- who is absolutely adorable -- is represented by Next Models USA in Miami, yet he can also be seen as the ironically named "Harry" in JO films for SeanCody.com, the famed producer who gets "straight boys to unload." And Pepin starred in the hard-core gay porno flick "Minets du Quebec" (plus the less salacious "Danny in the Sky"), most of which have been pulled from shelves. Does being the face of Ralph Lauren's Romance get you some top-notch legal representation? What do you think?

Unlike some publications, I'm not exactly ready to deem these two examples a full-scale trend. But I do think it's safe to say we're living in a post-Paris Hilton sex tape world now in which the stigma of pornography is quickly disappearing. The phenomenon began back in 1990 when John Waters cast Traci Lords in his 1950s musical "Cry Baby" (Roseanne Barr took it a step further and put Lords on her smash sitcom -- on Disney-owned ABC, no less!). Then Jenna Jameson wrote a bestseller and started popping up in mainstream venues, which wound up being a prelude to Hilton's overnight superstardom (let's be honest here: it wasn't "The Simple Life" that took her from Page Six darling to international headlines). I used to think it was sad 15-20 years ago that the only recognizable "stars" the gay community had were the likes of Jeff Stryker, Ryan Idol and Joey Stefano -- or someone famous with HIV (Greg Louganis), but these days I almost find it sadder a lot mainstream "stars" aren't much different.   

The fact that Hilton hangeroner Kim Kardashian and "Brandy's brother" Ray J can't stop "accidentally" leaking their so-called "private" sex tape (it's even available on pay-per-view at the Waldorf Astoria!) -- and have wound up becoming tabloid darlings as a result -- further proves that pornography is not only no longer the kiss of death in Hollywood, it's often an entre. Maybe this is a good thing that indicates Americans are finally getting over our sexual hang-ups, Or maybe not.

You can see some COMPLETELY NSFW shots of the boys here, here and here. There's more information on the Terry Pepin legal action regarding "Minets du Quebec" here. (The post isn't NSFW but the site is.)

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Towleroad (Special Guest) Guide to the Tube

OHIO STATE WRESTLING TEAM: They've got talent, and it's for a good cause! (Via KDIM)

DARREN HAYES: The openly gay former singer of Savage Garden's latest, "On the Verge of Something Wonderful." (Thanks, Arjan!)

DAVID BECKHAM: The soccer stud explains why he's always Got Milk.

PIER DANCE PERFORMANCE: Didn't make it to this year's gay pride festitivies? Tony-winning singer Idina Menzel will help take you there with her performance of "Defying Gravity."

Check out our previous guides to the Tube here!

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News: Eco-Friendly Arrest, $250,000 Toilets, Tabloid Darlings, Butch Lawsuit

Highway Bust: The bad news is Al Gore Jr. was arrested for possession of pot (oh, and Valium, Xanax, Vicodin, Adderall and Soma, none for which he'd been given a prescription).  The good news is he was driving a hybrid Toyota Prius.

Verdict: A jury has found that the Los Angeles Fire Department failed to protect the civil rights of a firefighter who was harassed by coworkers because she is a lesbian and black and awarded Brenda Lee $6.2 million.

Gender Bender: A lesbian who was ejected from the women's restroom at a Greenwich Village (of all places) restaurant for looking too masculine is suing the establishment. Khadijah Farmer, joined by her girlfriend and two others, went to dinner after the pride march on June 24. While she was using the bathroom at the Caliente Cab Company, a bouncer burst in and banged on her stall door after a customer complained that a man was in the women's bathroom.

Flushing Money? Fort Lauderdale's mayor wants the city to fork out a quarter-million dollars for a toilet he claims will put an end to gay sex that he says is "rampant" in public washrooms on the beach, even though the police department denies there is a problem. Mayor Jim Naugle has spent the better part of a decade fighting what he has claimed to be an attempt by gays to take over Fort Lauderdale. He has consistently fought all LGBT rights ordinances that have come before city commissioners. Sgt. Frank Sousa. tells the Sun-Sentinel that while there may once have been a problem it isn't today. "here's no evidence, no reports or arrests made for any men having sex in any restrooms," Sousa told the paper.

Return of the Gay Rag: Kroger Co. announced that a regional gay newspaper will once again be carried in the free publication rack inside some of its Nashville-area grocery stores. 

Funeral Home Murder: A gay man who raped and killed a co-worker after enduring what he claimed was constant anti-gay harassment has escaped the death penalty but will spend the rest of his life in prison. Nicholas Gutierrez, 23, was convicted last year of killing 51-year old Mary Stachowicz in 2002. Both worked at a Northwest Side funeral home.  Gutierrez claimed he and Stachowicz got along well until he came out.  After that he said Stachowicz constantly tried to convert him to her faith and regularly cited biblical verses condemning homosexuality.

The Fighter: You can never count Venus Williams out. (NYT)

Tabloid Fodder: OK Magazine has put Rosie O'Donnell, T.R. Knight and Dannielyn(!) on its  "most influential" celebrities list.   

Fancy a Dancy? Claire Danes' latest hot boyfriend, Hugh Dancy, says he's just got around to watching the  pilot of "My So-Called Life" but has never seen the rest. Silly Brit doesn't know what he's missing.

The Onion or NYT? More than 4,000 new Americans were sworn in Wednesday in Fourth of July ceremonies. About 1,000 people from 75 countries took their oaths together under the spires of Cinderella’s Castle at Walt Disney World in Lake Buena Vista, Fla., as Gloria Estefan sang “The Star-Spangled Banner.”

Ruling: Malaysian politician Anwar Ibrahim on Wednesday lost his bid to take former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad to court for calling him a homosexual, an accusation that landed Anwar in jail for six years. He is still free to still bitch-slap him, however.

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Get Sporty

Basketball: Photos by Nick Clements (as seen in L'Officiel Hommes)

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Bill Gates Rescues PlanetOut

Word leaked out over the holiday break that someone had come to the rescue of troubled gay media empire PlanetOut, whose stock (Nasdaq: LGBT) closed at a paltry $1.66 a share on Tuesday. A news release said that the company had (mysteriously) raised "$26.2 million in private placement financing." The Seattlest is now reporting that it was Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, aka the second richest man in the world, who did the good deed, keeping the doors open at The Advocate, Gay.com, PlanetOut.com and Out magazine for the foreseeable future.

Some have suggested this may be Gates' attempt at redeeming himself for letting Microsoft go neutral on Washington state gay rights legislation a couple of years ago, but given the fact that that the gays are just wild about Macs, perhaps he's trying to woo some to the PC world.

Whatever the case may be, it's good that The Advocate will be around. It would be sad to see another 40-year-old gay put out to pasture. And with the sharp-as-a-tack Anne Stockwell in charge over there, the seemingly erstwhile magazine could still have its best years ahead of it. And the boys still need Gay.com for those hookups dating purposes, don't they? Nice work, Mr. Gates!

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Thursday Ad Watch

This week's eye-catching advertisements:

Oh, to be that pillow (Lucien Pellat-Finet), left, Girl knows who what she's doing (Chevignon)

Emporio Armani is seeing Red

Christian Dior's Glam-Pack is a back-to-school must, and the Euro Axe effect in full motion.

Previously: Thursday Ad Watch (6/28) [k212] Thursday Ad Watch (6/21) [k212] Thursday Ad Watch (Winners' Edition) (6/14) [k212]

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