News: Australia, Vampire Queen, Utah, Jack Mackenroth, Phoenix

The best John Hughes tribute you'll read. Plus, Molly Ringwald releases statement...

Medaled: Jack Mackenroth cleans up at World Outgames.

Sharon Stone lets it all hang out.

Hundreds rally against AIDS cuts in San Francisco: "The Republican governor used his line-item veto power last week to slash another $52 million in general fund support to AIDS programs, including totally eliminating state funding for HIV prevention and testing efforts, on top of what lawmakers had agreed to cut from the state Office of AIDS budget."

State GOP actively promoting town hall mobs. More disruptions...

Queen Latifah's girls' night out: "The rapper-turned-actress recently sashayed with five stunning women into Country Club's weekly Wednesday night lesbian party, 'Eden,' on West 14th Street. 'She chilled for several hours, ordering bottle service for her friends and chatting up promoter Maggie Collier,' our spy said. She also showed up again this week."

Adam Lambert, Kris Allen, and David Cook do Good Morning America.

First look: Evan Rachel Wood is True Blood's vampire queen.

Christian Siriano surfaces at Victoria's Secret.

Brazil's Copacabana beach to get museum makeover.

Dan Savage: Was Obama a one-night stand?

Utah's new governor mum on gay rights: "Nearly three months after Lt. Gov. Gary Herbert learned he would become governor, the Republican has yet to stake out positions on a host of gay rights issues supported by the departing and highly popular Gov. Jon Huntsman, whom he serves with."

Male seahorses have "Rod Stewart syndrome".

Louisiana lawmaker calls for stricter laws on gay adoption...

Australian MP Dorothy Pratt: Homosexuality not "normal part of life": "I feel very strongly about that particular thought that . . . I'm not saying they aren't loving people, I'm not saying they wouldn't be fabulous parents, but I am saying that in my opinion a child deserves a mother and a father if possible and that whether you regard homosexual activity as a normal part of life or not, I don't."

Robbie Williams cleans up for new album.

Six Phoenix residents to walk 97 miles for marriage equality: "The walkers are members of Right to Marry: Arizona, an organization that seeks equal marriage rights for gays and lesbians. The plan is to walk about 15 miles a day for seven days, with stops along the way where they'll try to engage religious and political figures in conversations about the issue."

13-year-old bullied, sexually assaulted by teammates in Florida.

REPORT: Drunk straight men ruining Sydney's Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras. "A report released by the Australian Institute of Criminology this week said people travelling to and from Sydney's public gay and lesbian events were going in large groups, using private transport, visiting areas with larger gay and lesbian populations and remaining alert at all times. They were also avoiding showing affection towards their partners and not wearing make-up or extravagant clothing."

Queen Latifah on Her Sexuality: Assume Whatever you Want

Missed this Alex Witchel profile of Queen Latifah (who was brilliant as Gwen Ifill in last weekend's Biden-Palin SNL debate skit) in the NYT.

Writes Witchel: "One topic of persistent speculation on the Web is Queen Latifah’s sexuality, particularly a supposed romance with a female trainer. She has never addressed her relationships publicly and was in no mood to start."

Says Latifah: "I don’t have a problem discussing the topic of somebody being gay, but I do have a problem discussing my personal life. You don’t get that part of me. Sorry. We’re not discussing it in our meetings, we’re not discussing it at Cover Girl. They don’t get it, he doesn’t get it (she gestured upstairs, toward [her manager and childhood friend Shakim] Compere’s office) — nobody gets that. I don’t feel like I need to share my personal life, and I don’t care if people think I’m gay or not. Assume whatever you want. You do it anyway."

Her Highness Still Rules [nyt]

Queen Latifah Moderates Biden-Palin Debate

SNL does it again. You almost want Palin to stick around after the election so Fey can continue this streak. Almost. And Queen Latifah's a welcome addition to just about anything.

Fey as Palin: "I believe marriage is meant to be a sacred institution between two unwilling teenagers."

Watch it, AFTER THE JUMP...

Queen Latifah Throws Cold Water on Lesbian Wedding Rumors

Recent reports that Queen Latifah had proposed to her longtime personal trainer Jeanette were squashed by the Queen while she was in Chicago recently to promote her upcoming film The Perfect Holiday.

Said Latifah to the Sun-Times: "When you're famous these days, it's just part of the deal -- unfortunately. People will make up all sorts of things that are not true...There ain't gonna be no wedding."

Hairspray: a Review

[[WARNING: SPOILERS]]

Last night I saw an advance screening of Hairspray and while I went into the movie with my John Travolta shield at full power expecting the film to be a tired rehash of material I had seen before, I was pleasantly surprised, awakened by its raw energy and enthusiasm. I left the film thinking to myself that if a classic camp movie were to be retold on stage and then translated back to movie format, the newest Hairspray comes very close to the best possible outcome of that scenario. It feels like the logical creative progression to a story we've seen many times before.

The plot of the film is familiar to many: overweight girl overcomes fat bias to win a place on early 60's TV dance show and successfully battles Baltimore's segregation issues at the same time.

Many of the original film's lines are intact, including "Penny Pingleton, you are permanently, perenially, punished" (I'm sure I didn't get that exactly right) and the entire schtick about Edna Turnblad ironing ("My diet pill is wearing off!").

In fact, when I heard Travolta utter that line from the depths of his fat suit I was sure I was going to hate his portrayal, as Divine cast such a long (and large) shadow in that role. Whereas Divine uttered it as a brash warning to Tracy, Travolta's line reading is quiet, almost muttered.

So let's get to Travolta, who is certainly not the main character of the film but the one offered the most pre-show hype because of his transformation. I was trying to forget all the things he has said in press interviews for the film and just let the performance ride on its own. Travolta's Edna Turnblad is not the stern, commanding camp presence that Divine offered up, but at first a sort of strangely meek recluse who speaks in muted tones in an affected Baltimore accent.

With Divine, the breasts and the fat jiggling from the arms and the gaudy make-up was really in your face and with Travolta it's as if a fat suit has swallowed the Scientologist and all that remains of the actor himself are those familiar beady eyes staring out from a sea of plump, white seamless dough.

Travolta grows on you however, and his character really comes into her own when Edna dances, putting all that fake flesh into motion. It's then that the audience erupts into laughter, and the moment didn't happen nearly often enough. Edna Turnblad's voice is also strangely inconsistent, veering from the affected Baltimore accent back to Travolta's voice, in and out of character, again and again. I never forgot that it was John Travolta inside that fat suit, but his portrayal did win me over as the movie went on.

Also, gone is the seedy Baltimore that John Waters gave us, replaced by a freshly-rinsed happy-go-lucky Hollywood musical version. Waters' dark, twisted camp sensibilities have vanished, though his presence is still felt (once quite literally). The city here is crisp and colorful while Waters' Baltimore has always been dusted in a shadowy layer of thrift store grunge.

It's obvious that director Adam Shankman began his career in Hollywood as a choreographer, for the movie moves along at a dancer's pace. My boyfriend noted that he thought that the performances were not very well directed but the movement and pace of the story more than made up for it at the end.

Hairspray's diverse cast is its best asset.

"Discovery" Nikki Blonsky (Tracy Turnblad), who came, literally, from behind a counter at a Cold Stone Creamery and was plucked for the role from open casting auditions, has made herself a name to be reckoned with, even though her performance does not stray much from the character that Ricki Lake originated way back when.

Christopher Walken (Wilbur Turnblad) gives a quiet, endearing performance as Tracy's father and gag joke/novelty shop owner. Michelle Pfeiffer and Brittany Snow (Velma and Amber von Tussle) provide cartoonish, villainous foils to the film's themes of tolerance and integration. And James Marsden and Zac Efron twinkle as the squeaky clean leading men.

Queen Latifah is a commanding presence as Motormouth Maybelle. The movie actually strays from its two-dimensional cartoonlike box for a moment and reaches another, more emotional place altogether when she takes to the streets in a protest for integration, singing the gospel-tinged track "I Know Where I've Been".

And I won't soon forget Allison Janney as the uptight Christian bigot mom shouting "devil child" as she tosses holy water at her daughter Penny Pingleton, whom she's imprisoned in her bedroom. Seaweed (Elijah Kelley) is a standout and gives perhaps the best vocal performance of the film as Penny's (Amanda Bynes) "checkerboard" love interest. Bynes is perfect as the blinking airhead Penny. And Jerry Stiller is a great bonus as plus-size dressmaker Mr. Pinky.

The only real disappointment in the cast, because she didn't live up to the hype that the script built for her, was Little Inez (Taylor Parks), whose turn as Corny Collins' new, young dancing discovery wasn't dazzling enough to fill the plot that had been constructed.

And we're also treated to a few cameos, which I'll leave as a surprise.

Overall, I'd recommend Hairspray. It's an optimistic piece of filmmaking and a worthy summer diversion. I think it's particularly difficult to come at a piece of well-loved material and try to give it a fresh perspective. And they've succeeded here.

Hairspray hits theaters on July 20th.

You may have missed...
Drag Not Really a Drag for Travolta in Hairspray [tr]
Trick or Treat: More John Travolta as Edna Turnblad [tr]
John Travolta's New Look [tr]

Queen Latifah Offers Up Some Life Support

Queen Latifah is starring in the HBO movie Life Support which premieres on March 10th and tells the story of Ana Wallace, a woman who contracted AIDS from her husband, an intravenous drug user. In a recent effort with MovieWeb, Latifah had plenty to say about the disease, its prevention, and those who suffer from it:

Latifah: "The reason a disease like that can spread like it has is because you get caught up looking at my face and I get caught up looking at yours, that you get caught up looking at a gay man who had it and saying 'I'm not gay so I'm not going to get it.'

...That was the problem right off the bat with AIDS. We looked at it as a gay man's disease, and we let everybody else catch it because we told them it was just you because we were prejudiced as a country against gay people, and we are to this day. So because of that, now everybody is susceptible to it. It's just the same way you put drugs in a black community. You can't put drugs in one community. Drugs feel too good. So whoever gets a hold of it is going to do it. Now everyone's community is affected by it.

...When we understand that we are a human race, what affects you affects me, what affects her affects you and so on and so on, then we'll look at this thing for what it really is. It's a disease that's out to kill all of us. It's out to live in all of our bodies, and we're out to keep it out. It's that simple with HIV and AIDS at the end of the day. What will make it continue is our prejudices, our ideas about it, and the fact that we don't look at ourselves as one giant community and protect each other's children and protect each other's wives, and deal with our issues."

Love this woman. Read the full interview here.