TRAILER: Out To Kill

Clip recap:

OUT TO KILL, the new gay-themed murder mystery from award-winning filmmaker Rob Williams and Guest House Films. When gay private investigator Jim Noble (played by Scott Sell) moves into a beautiful loft complex in Tampa, he never expects to find his first case literally right outside his door - the corpse of one of his neighbors, Justin Jaymes (played by out up-and-coming singer Tom Goss in his film debut), floating in the pool right in the middle of the complex's courtyard. When he's hired to solve the crime, Jim quickly learns that everyone in the complex has secrets, and that someone was willing to kill to keep their secrets hidden.

TRAILER: Squared

From the director's Facebook page, via HuffPo:

From my dating experiences, I was bothered when guys called me their “Geisha” and other derogatory terms. I also often hear people ask gay couples, "Who's the woman in the relationship?” and point to the Asian guy. Society often objectifies Asians, especially gay Asians, and view them as submissive, feminine, and passive.

TRAILER: Call Me Kuchu

Plot synopsis:

In Uganda, a new bill threatens to make homosexuality punishable by death. With unprecedented access, the filmmakers follow David Kato – Uganda’s first openly gay man – and his fellow activists as they work against the clock to defeat the legislation while combatting vicious persecution in their daily lives. But no one, not even the filmmakers are prepared for the brutal murder that shakes their movement to its core and sends shock waves around the world. CALL ME KUCHU depicts the last year in the life of a courageous, quick-witted and steadfast man whose wisdom and achievements were not fully recognized until after his death, and whose memory has inspired a new generation of human rights advocates.

The film opens at The Quad in NYC on June 14th. It opens the following week in Los Angeles. Details.

TRAILER: Birthday Cake

Clip description:

Feature length sequel to the multi award-winning short film GROOM'S CAKE. A mockumentary following the three days leading up to the first birthday party of a child with two gay parents: television actor Steven James and his screenwriter husband, Daniel Ferguson. A movie about the family we are born into and the family we create. Two gay men, one a reality show star and the other a writer, throw their daughter a first birthday party where one disaster after another leads to one of the most memorably birthday parties ever. In a Bounce House, no one can hear you scream...

(Tipped by JMG reader Jasun)

TRAILER: Tom Of Finland

Clip description:

Until the year 1971, being gay in Finland could land you in jail for years. There was a boy born in 1920. In his childhood, he drew pictures of naked men. While drawing, he wore only leather boots. As a young man, he fought in the war and had sex with his fellow soldiers, both Finnish and German. During his adulthood, he lived a double life. By day, a talented advertising artist and a pianist, by night a genius creator of erotic drawings. We remember him through leather, huge muscles, even larger cocks and humour -- empowering the masculine gay man. We know who Tom of Finland is. Now meet Touko.

The film's Facebook page says it will be released in 2015.

(Tipped by JMG reader Homer)

TRAILER: Bridegroom

Clip description:

BRIDEGROOM gives an intensely personal edge to the ongoing debate over the legal rights of same-sex couples. Interviews, photos and video footage all testify to the uncommon connection that drew together Shane Bitney Crone and Tom Bridegroom. For six years they remained united despite extreme challenges from both family and society, until a tragic accident tears apart their dreams. Now one must fight to be recognized as his soulmate's legitimate counterpart. Tribeca Film Festival 2013 Official Selection.

Dates at the Tribeca Film Festival are here.

(Tipped by JMG reader Chuck)

ABC Buys How To Survive A Plague For Possible Mini-Series Development

Rights to the Oscar-nominated How To Survive A Plague have been purchased by ABC with the intent of turning the gripping documentary into a mini-series.

France's widely acclaimed doc, which he co-wrote and directed, focuses on two coalitions -- ACT UP and Treatment Action Group (TAG) -- whose activism and innovation helped turn AIDS from a death sentence into a manageable condition. Despite having no scientific training, these activists infiltrated the pharmaceutical industry and helped identify promising new drugs, moving them from experimental trials to real-world patients in record time. Ideally, the scripted adaptation, which is in its early days of development, will go broader and deeper. “We know we’d like it to be an extended story that’s not just about AIDS and what AIDS wrought but about this tremendous civil rights movement that grew from the ashes of AIDS and the dawn of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender movement,” France tells The Hollywood Reporter.

The casting should prove quite interesting.

Swag Tuesday

Courtesy of the filmmakers, this week's Swag Tuesday prize is Bear City 2, which is now available on DVD and Blu-Ray.

Kathy Najimy plays den mother to the returning cast of bears, boys and cubs, for a Bear Week bachelor party in Provincetown! Kevin Smith, Lt. Dan Choi, Frank DeCaro, Mike Ruiz and Varla Jean Merman, lend their support to our lovable gang as they navigate through a foam party, ex-boyfriends and 6,000 sexy men. BearCity 2: The Proposal, is an award-winning romp full of fur, fun and family as the bears realize that marriage is more than just the freedom to say "I do."

We have three copies of Bear City 2 to give away. Enter to win by commenting on this post. Please remember to leave an email address you check often in the text of your comment. Entries close at midnight on Thursday, west coast time. Publicists: If you'd like to take part in Swag Tuesday on JMG, please email me.

Swag Tuesday

Today's Swag Tuesday booty is a prize package for the new movie Gayby, which opens at select theaters nationwide on October 12th. The prize package includes a Gayby t-shirt, a Gayby tote bag, and two "run of engagement" passes to see the film at New York City's Cinema Village.

Sex with your best friend has never been this reproductive. Jenn (Jenn Harris) and Matt (Matthew Wilkas) are best friends from college who are now in their thirties. Single by choice, Jenn spends her days teaching hot yoga and running errands for her boss. Matt suffers from comic-book writer's block and can't get over his ex-boyfriend. They decide to fulfill a youthful promise to have a child together... the old-fashioned way. Can they navigate the serious and unexpected snags they hit as they attempt to get their careers and dating lives back on track in preparation for parenthood? Gayby, written and directed by Jonathan Lisecki, is an irreverent comedy about friendship, growing older, sex, loneliness, and the family you chose. Official Selection SXSW Film Festival 2012

We have five Gayby prize packages to give away. Enter to win by commenting on this post. Only enter once and please remember to leave your email address in the text of your comment. Entries close at midnight on Thursday, west coast time. Publicists: If you'd like to take part in Swag Tuesday on JMG, please email me.

TRAILER: How To Survive A Plague

Opening September 21st in NYC, SF, LA.

Russian Gays Have Only Just Begun

Towleroad has the recap:

Director Elias Koskimies sends us his short musical film "I've Only Just Begun" which he put together with more than 60 people who volunteered their time. The clip is set somewhere just outside of St. Petersburg, and is a stunning visual statement about LGBT discrimination, individuality, and gays fighting back against those who oppress them.

Hauntingly beautiful.

TRAILER: Hotel Arthritis

From the makers of the gay films Circuit and Hellbent, featuring Bruce Vilanch, Lee Meriwether (!), Rip Taylor, and John Tartaglia (Avenue Q).

NYC's LGBT Film Festival Starts Tonight

Schedule.

Limbaugh Claims Dark Knight Movie Villain Bane Is A Secret Jab At Mitt Romney

Another laughable conspiracy theory from Rush Limbaugh.

Rush Limbaugh has come under the impression that the villainous Bane, played by Tom Hardy in “The Dark Knight Rises” and Batman's most destructive nemesis yet, is a dig at Bain Capital, the financial services company once headed by Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney that's featuring prominently in President Barack Obama's campaign ads. Hmm, this might be more of a headscratcher than “Inception.” "Do you think it is accidental that the name of the really vicious fire-breathing, four-eyed whatever-it-is villain in this movie is named Bane?" Limbaugh lamented on his syndicated radio show today.

Another conservative quoted in the above-linked story wonders if the Batmobile was "made in China." Because Obama is Batman, one presumes. Comic fans point out that the Bane character first appeared in print almost twenty years ago.

TRAILER: Torino GLBT Film Festival

The event ends today, but I thought this was cute.

The Devotion Project

"A series of short films documenting and celebrating happy, thriving LGBTQ couples and families."

Movie Synopsis Of The Day

From the Miami Gay & Lesbian Film Festival:

Leave it on the Floor - Directed by Sheldon Larry

Sheldon Larry’s audacious, raunchy and big-hearted musical—with songs by Beyoncé’s music director Kim Burse and her choreographer Frank Gatson Jr. —takes us into the fabulously funky world of voguing. The setting is contemporary downtown L.A., where our hunky, homeless hero Brad is discarded by his homophobic mom. Out on the streets, Brad falls in with the members of The House of Eminence, ruled by the stern aging diva Queef Latina.

Queef Latina. ::dead::

UPDATE: Scissor Sisters frontman Jake Shears confirms that Queef Latina was the name his band used to announce their secret performances.

Adele Meets Brokeback Mountain

Zack Ford: "The heartbreaking mash-up nobody needed."

TRAILER: Breaking Free

Clip description:

"I've a right to love and live with dignity", cry out the Indian gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community who have been made invisible and pushed underground by a draconian law Sec 377 that criminalized homosexuality till recently. The film BREAKING FREE strings together anguished voices of those who were tortured, blackmailed and indicted by this law; alongwith voices of advocates, activists and opinion builders who have fought a decade-long battle to have this law read down in 2009.

March 1st - 8th: Queens Film Festival

The Queens World Film Festival begins on March 1st and this year includes a slate of nine LGBT-related flicks. Schedule.