Movies: Wild Things On Screen

NATHANIEL ROGERS

Nathaniel Rogers would live inside a movie theater but for the poor internet reception. He blogs daily at the Film Experience.

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This weekend's big deal is Spike Jonze's adaptation of the Maurice Sendak classic WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE. Jonze's keen visual imagination first won hearts in the realm of the music video and transferred well to the cinema with the absurdist instant-classic Being John Malkovich in 1999. Despite that Oscar-nominated debut effort, Jonze has only made one other feature film since then (Adaptation, 2002). This return to movie theaters has been a long time in coming and infamously troubled. The production stories roughly fall into the familiar camp of 'fiscally nervous studio vs. man with an expensive vision'. Pray that the director figured out a way to bring this beloved but minimalist classic to full movie life.

In addition to Wild Things, Jonze also made a documentary about the gay artist behind this children's classic. HBO is screening Tell Them Anything You Want: A Portrait of Maurice Sendak to coincide with the film's release. According to the LA Times, the film is a wonderful informal portrait of an unhappy but entertaining man.

For all the cleverness and sharp-eyed originality in his work, Sendak turns out to be an unhappy guy, haunted by what he calls a "permanent dissatisfaction" in his life. Unwanted by his parents ("I was not intended -- it was an accident," he insists) and blessed with few social skills, he spent most of his time as a child alone, sitting at the window, drawing children playing in the street. He adored his older brother and sister -- he still talks about them with awe today -- but he was always an outsider, especially once he realized that he was gay, not an especially easy sexual orientation for a children's book artist in mid-20th century America.

As he bluntly puts it: "I didn't want to be gay. It was yet another sign of isolation. It was something that you hid.... It was extremely bad news."

Hopefully the genius artist has since found some joy knowing he's penned classics that continue to inspire other artists (not just Jonze) and will outlast us all.

Prince of Persia without Jake Gyllenhaal, Gerard Butler's bad taste in movies, and Heath Ledger's last role, AFTER THE JUMP...

News: Michael Phelps, Tennessee, Evelyn Waugh, Referendum 71

"Death to Obama" sign holder detained by Secret Service.

Biography: Brideshead Revisited author Evelyn Waugh had three male lovers at Oxford.

Michael Phelps sends woman to hospital after smashing her car with his Escalade.

Heath Ledger's final film finds stateside distribution: "Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions Group is in advanced talks to pick up 'The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus,' with plans for it to go out theatrically, likely this year, via Sony Pictures Classics. Pic is expected to be a lucrative homevideo title due to the Ledger angle and the other star power. Terry Gilliam’s adventure also features Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Colin Farrell, who replaced Ledger in various fantasy scenes after the thesp died during the film’s production in January 2008."

John Edwards to admit paternity of Rielle Hunter's child?

Accidentally, Like a Martyr: Play about six generations of gay men to get reading in New York.

Alexander Skarsgard nude in Generation Kill.

Bryan Singer and Justin Timberlake in Battlestar Galactica summit?

DA disagrees with musician Rhythm Turner that assault was hate crime: "Turner said the attack happened outside Canes Bar and Grill in Mission Beach. Turner was hugging her girlfriend when a 21-year-old man walked up, told the two women to kiss and eventually threw a punch when they refused to do so."

City of West Hollywood creates first-of-its-kind Transgender Advisory Board.

San Jose Mercury News supports 2012 Prop 8 battle. New poll: CA support for marriage equality inching up.

Hugh Jackman signs on to Wolverine sequel.

With 50,000 signatures counted, the rejection rate on Referendum 71, which would repeal Washington state's "everything but marriage" law, stands at 10.68 percent.

Some folks just always have to be the center of attention.

Lawsuit against Tennessee schools for blocking access to LGBT websites is dropped: "The schools already had agreed to remove the filters to the sites. If that agreement is broken, the case will return to court, according to the American Civil Liberties Union, which fought in favor of students suing the schools."

University of Alabama Birmingham offers public health scholarship in honor of the late chairman of the board of directors for Birmingham AIDS Outreach, Billy Cox.

Portland journalist arrested for criminal mischief with regard to Sam Adams recall effort: "According to police, Perlman approached volunteers with the recall effort acting as if he wanted to sign a petition and instead, he allegedly scribbled on the sheet, potentially invalidating the signatures of eight other people who had signed it."

Towleroad Guide to the Tube #521

FUTURE OF BANKING: Depositing checks with your iPhone (begins at 1:00).

HEALTH CARE: Michigan Rep. Dingell gets drowned out at rowdy health care town hall. "Scott Hagerstrom, the Michigan director for Americans for Prosperity -- a group opposing President Barack Obama's health care initiative -- said that after he learned about [the town hall], he sent an e-mail alerting 18,000 members in southeast Michigan."

THE IMAGINARIUM OF DR. PARNASSUS: The trailer for Heath Ledger's final film.

PSA: 10 drugs you shouldn't take while driving.

For recent Guides to the Tube, click HERE.

Heath Ledger Left a Video Gift for the Whales

 

Heath Ledger had been directing a video for indie rock band Modest Mouse's track "King Rat" at the time of his death. It premiered yesterday.

According to NME, "Ledger conceived the video's theme in order to raise awareness of the plight of whales that are hunted down illegally for commercial purposes off the coast of his native Australia. The video remained unfinished at the time of Ledger's death in January 2008, but video company The Masses, in which Ledger had been a partner, has completed it in his honour."

Downloads of the video from iTunes will benefit the Sea Shepard Conservation Society.

Watch it, AFTER THE JUMP...

News: Billy Mays, Orgullo, Kevin Jennings, Avenue Q, Prop 8

NCLR, ACLU, and Lambda Legal back federal challenge to Prop 8: "In legal documents filed late Thursday, the National Center for Lesbian Rights, Lambda Legal and the ACLU signaled a significant break with past legal tactics that avoided taking the fight to federal court."

NYT revelation: Gay men and straight men can be friends.

Zachary Quinto has a couple of male beach dates in Malibu, on the same day.

Scenes from the coup in Honduras.

Won't resign: Governor Mark Sanford compares himself to King David.

Despite ban, Russian gay activists plan to protest Obama next week on his trip to Moscow: "In a statement, Nikolai Alexeyev said the Moscow authorities had banned a proposed demonstration outside the U.S. embassy next Tuesday, the second day of Obama's July 6-8 trip...'We don't intend to abandon our plans and in the near future we will determine the format of action on July 7 during the visit of Barack Obama in Russia.' A Moscow municipal spokeswoman confirmed city authorities had turned down a request from gay activists to protest in front of the U.S. embassy on July 7. She said the area had already been booked for another event and that Muscovites were against the gay protest."

The last days of Heath Ledger.

Madrid's Orgullo gay pride festival a two-week event. Obama called out on gay rights in Paris.

Avenue Q to close on Broadway in September as 20th longest-running show of all time.

City of Toronto data sheds light on gay neighborhoods, marriages from out-of-state, etc.

Famous TV pitchman Billy Mays found dead in home.

The 5 strangest products pitched by Billy Mays.

Ashton Kutcher's spread - nsfw.

Wingnuts attack former GLSEN founder Kevin Jennings over Department of Education appointment.

Going to Rome this summer? You may want to check out these spots.

Gayby Boom: CNN on the children of same-sex couples.

Best banner ad ever?

Male model fix: Edilson Nascimiento.

Michael Jackson: UK's Daily Mail publishes tell-all; LAPD questions cardiologist.

NYDN: It's time to end LGBT discrimination. "That Stonewall has hit its fourth decade is only part of the reason that the media are giving this anniversary attention. The other reason is that there is a sense of excitement that, with the spread of gay marriage to more states, the struggle for gay rights may be about to reach a new high-water mark. But all this excitement glosses over a critical fact: Gay people have the same federal protections against discrimination in terms of the most basic civil rights that we had at the time of Stonewall. And that is exactly: zero."

News: Prop 8, Howard Bragman, Fin Whale, Heath Ledger, Earth

Dozens of amicus briefs (Google, California Council of Churches, California NAACP, Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Asian Pacific American Legal Center, and California Rural Legal Assistance) submitted in massive push against Proposition 8.

Massive Fin Whale perishes on Irish beach.

Some stunning shots of our beautiful planet.

Mom unhappy after finding Butt at American Apparel: "Trina Campbell told CBC News on Tuesday she and her 13-year-old daughter saw the magazine sticking out of a backpack on display inside the American Apparel outlet at the Park Royal Shopping Centre in West Vancouver. 'I pulled it out and I went to open it and it flipped open to a double-page spread of two men having full-on sexual activity, not just suggestive,' Campbell said. 'I don't think this is something that the average person wants to see unless they're ready or going out of the way to see it.'" Although she apparently left the store with her own copy.

John McCain kills Cindy's Dancing with the Stars dream.

DNC settles lawsuit with gay outreach director Donald Hitchcock: "Hitchcock, former director of the Committee's Gay and Lesbian Leadership Council, filed suit on April 17, 2007 in Washington DC Superior Court after his termination, which he charged was in retaliation for criticism of the party by his partner, party activist Paul Yandura, in April 2006. Yandura's open letter criticized the matter in which donations from gay Democrats were being used, particularly how he felt that the party's interest in the LGBT community was limited to their financial contributions."

Inside the Chateau Marmont party for PR guru Howard Bragman's new book Where's My Fifteen Minutes?

Gossip Girl spin-off to feature younger versions of the show's older characters, set in the 80's.

Gay Fort Lauderdale mayoral candidate Earl Rynerson, who is running on a 'bloated budget' platform, under magnifying glass over his past personal expenses.

STUDY: Coffee reduces Alzheimer's risk.

Showtime confirms spin-off to The L Word. SPOILER: Will follow character Alice Pieszecki (Leisha Hailey) in prison. "Famke Janssen ('Nip/Tuck') guest stars in the first episode, along with Melissa Leo ('Frozen River') and Laurie Metcalf ('Roseanne') who appear as prison guards. 'It's not all lesbians like 'The L Word,'' Greenblatt says. 'It is more of a sort of mixed group of female characters, some of whom are lesbians. It is not as dark as 'Oz.' There have been a lot of female prison shows over the years that have been campy. This is not campy.' The working title is 'The Farm,' he says. "

Was the winner of The Bachelor revealed in the show's preview?

David Beckham hitches on to the droopy drawers trend.

Ledger's last days.

New "superdrug" in the works to combat HIV/AIDS.

NBC's Southland series to include gay cop.

iTunes offering two free Sundance LGBT short films.

Could the lead in Gus van Sant's adaptation of The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test be Jack Black: "'Unfortunately, Heath Ledger was a pretty obvious choice, and he’s gone,' Van Sant told MTV News in an exclusive interview. But who else could play zany philosopher-king and 'One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest' author Kesey? 'There’s the opportunity that it could be Jack Black,' says Van Sant, hinting the film might possibly take on a more comedic feel. At the moment, though, the 'Milk' director is awaiting the initial draft of the screenplay, which is being penned by 'Milk' scriptwriter Dustin Lance Black. 'He’s cracking the nut,' Van Sant tells us. 'I’m not sitting with him every day. I probably should think about doing that, but I haven’t seen the first draft yet. I hope he cracks it. There are many ways to crack it.'"