ABBA reunites for the first time in 22 years!

CBC reports:
It was a reunion 22 years in the making as all four members of the Swedish pop group ABBA appeared for the first time together in public at a movie premiere of Mamma Mia! in Stockholm.

Benny Andersson, Bjorn Ulvaeus, Anni-Frid Lyngstad (Frida) and Agnetha Faltskog walked down the red carpet on Friday evening to the cheers of several thousand fans. The foursome last performed together in public in 1986 and have resisted calls and massive offers of money to do a reunion tour. The film's star, Oscar-winning actress Meryl Streep embraced Lyngstad and Faltskog on the red carpet. Streep said she was excited by being able to sing in a movie, recalling that she used to perform in high school musicals. "It was kind of like coming home to the thing that I loved very, very much," the 59-year-old actress told Reuters. READ MORE

Finally!

Earlier this week I posted a shirtless scene of Daniel Craig from the new Bond pic Quantum of Solace which featured his co-star Gemma Arterton. Finally, via my blogger buddy Garrett at Age Appropriate we have some proper solo pics of Mr. Craig!

Happy Canada Day!

Canadian actor, Shawn Ashmore (X-Men).

That t-shirt would look good on my bedroom floor

Canadian actor Ryan Gosling spotted taking it easy outside a New York City cafe on Sunday. Looks like he's been spending some time in the gym! Looking good, Ryan!

Is Uwe Boll cinema's worst director?

Clark Collis writes:
Is Uwe Boll cinema's worst director? Judging by 11 of his movies, the German schlockmeister is definitely in the running.

SANCTIMONY (2000)
Uwe Boll's first English-language movie is a boring American Psycho rip-off on which the director established a formula he would repeat for his next few cinematic offerings. Main ingredients? Thriller tropes; wordy, unbelievable dialogue; an intrusive soundtrack; and appearances by amiable straight-to-video mainstay Michael Pare and, more often than not, a member of the Starship Troopers cast. Here, cop Pare is on the trail of a serial killer played by Casper Van Dien (Starship Troopers, natch).

THE FIRST SEMESTER (1997)
Hilarity ensues in this college comedy when the uncle of an oafish student promises to give him a bunch of money if said nephew can pass two classes and get himself a steady girlfriend. Did we say ''hilarity''? We meant ''vomiting, flatulence, and poorly conceived plot twists.'' A box office bomb, The First Semester would be Uwe Boll's last (deliberately) comedic movie until his completed but as-yet-unreleased Postal.

HEART OF AMERICA (2003)
A dire, exploitative tale of gun-toting kids going berserk at their high school, Heart of America is what Gus Van Zant's Columbine-inspired Elephant might have looked like had Van Zant never directed a film before, or, indeed, had never seen one. Michael Pare and Clint Howard play, respectively, a teacher and cartoonishly unpleasant father.

READ MORE: Is Uwe Boll cinema's worst director?

The rise of Canadian porn star Pierre Fitch

Josh Ginsberg writes:
For most teenage boys, getting hold of some porn is the beginning of a good weekend. For Pierre Fitch (pictured), it was the beginning of a career. Now one of Canada's best known gay porn stars, Fitch saw the potential for profit from his early days of surfing the internet as a randy adolescent. "If those guys are going to be naked, I'm going to be naked," Fitch told himself as a kid.

And, to the delight of his legions of fans, Fitch has since bared all on dozens of websites and countless DVDs. At 26, he has proven himself a shrewd entrepreneur, having built a thriving business around his red-hatted, tattooed image.

Once the darling of Falcon Studios, a mammoth US producer of gay erotic entertainment, Fitch spurned the glitz of California for Montreal — but not before using it to make his name. Now he's working at his own pace, shooting his porn his way. READ MORE

Memorably inked characters

As Angelina Jolie proves in the new thriller 'Wanted, skin art has a way of marking movie and TV roles in our memories. Here are some of Entertainment Weekly's favorites...

READ MORE: Memorably inked characters

The first shirtless scene from "Quantum of Solace"

Here is the first shirtless scene from Quantum of Solace. Damn, he had to be with a woman! This steamy scene features the sexy 007, Daniel Craig and his co-star Gemma Arterton.

The trailer for Quantum of Solace can be viewed HERE.

Star-studded cast of 'Mamma Mia!' in Greece

Broadway World reports:
Meryl Streep, Colin Firth and Pierce Brosnan joined original ABBA members and other stars of the soon-to-be released "Mamma Mia!" movie this weekend at the Lagonissi Grand Resort, about 25 miles south of Athens, Greece to promote the film.

Also featuring Amanda Seyfried,Christine Baranski, Julie Walters, Stellan Skarsgard and Dominic Cooper, "Mamma Mia!" is based on the Broadway musical incorporating the iconic music of ABBA.
Read more and view photo gallery!

What's the most romantic (straight) movie ever?

Recently, in a poll by British DVD rental company Lovefilm.com, director Baz Luhrmann’s 1996 modern take on Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet starring Leonardo Di Caprio and Claire Danes, was named the most romantic movie ever. The classic love story beat out other fan favourites such as Casablanca and Ghost.

My take on each film is in brackets.

Here are the Top 10:

1. Romeo + Juliet (Love it, I own it)
2. Casablanca (Love it, I own it)
3. Ghost (Sentimental - love the shirtless scenes!)
4. Gone With The Wind (Classic)
5. Titanic (Sentimental fave - I own it)
6. The Notebook (Haven't seen it, yet)
7. Brief Encounter (Classic - love it, I own it)
8. Pretty Woman (Ugh)
9. Love, Actually (Double-ugh)
10. Dirty Dancing (Who can resist those Swayze hips?)

Heath Ledger's performance in The Dark Knight being hailed as Oscar-worthy

CBC reports:
The first preview of the latest Batman movie, The Dark Knight, has resulted in profuse praise for the late Heath Ledger, who plays the Joker. Early buzz from the preview indicates Ledger — who had a breakthrough role as a gay cowboy in 2005's Brokeback Mountain — will be remembered as delivering the best performance of his career. "I can only speak superlatives of Ledger, who is mad-crazy-blazing brilliant as the Joker," writes Peter Travers of Rolling Stone magazine. Travers goes on to proclaim: "If there's a movement to get him the first posthumous Oscar since Peter Finch won for 1976's Network, sign me up." READ MORE

Gael García Bernal defends 'cool' gay film roles

Mexican actor and heartthrob Gael García Bernal recently had a few things to say about playing gay characters on film (he played gay in director Pedro Almodovar’s 2004 movie, Bad Education and kissed his male co-star, actor Diego Luna in 2001’s Y Tu Mamá También):

"It’s so cool. I don’t see what all the fuss is about playing gay characters. When I did Y Tu Mamá También, I was asked, ‘Don’t you worry about what people will say to you in the street?’ It seemed like it was such a huge deal. Why would it be an issue for me? I think it is a very American thing. In Mexico, no one has given me any shit for playing gay roles, for playing a transvestite, whatever. They don’t confuse the actor with the role. I mean, they don’t think Al Pacino’s a cop!"

Run! Tippi, Run!

Via blogger buddy Kirby, at Movie Dearest comes this funky, retro doll of actress Tippi Hedren, in her best-known role as Melanie Daniels from the movie, The Birds. Perfectly coiffed and impeccably attired, Hedren was one of director Alfred Hitchcock's pre-eminent icy, cool blonde leading ladies, famously 'tortured' (think Janet Leigh in the shower scene from Psycho) by birds in this 1962 suspense-thriller.


The pic below was taken from the set of The Birds. Director Alfred Hitchcock is giving direction to the film's leading man, one of my all-time biggest cinematic crushes, Rod Taylor and co-star Suzanne Pleshette. It's a good film; definitely check it out if you haven't had the chance yet. Trust me, there's nothing else quite like it. I remember seeing it with a group of friends in a repertory cinema some years back, and whenever Hedren appeared on-screen with 'the birds', we'd all yell out: Run! Tippi, Run!

Pic courtesy of Movie Dearest's Cinematic Crush: Rod Taylor

I, 'Mobot: a brief history of gay androids

Evan Mulvihill writes:
An opera version of Brokeback Mountain. Same-sex marriage in California. Madonna's new album. America is, by any reasonable measure, getting its gay on. And nowhere is this more apparent than when it comes to robots. Of course, film and television provide a rich history:

ROSIE THE ROBOT MAID
PLACE OF ORIGIN: The Jetsons
SEXUALITY: We can't help but think that the Jetsons' robot maid Rosie reminds us of ... another Rosie. One who also enjoys sensible clothing and is quick with the jokes. Although Rosie the robot did at one point have a robot boyfriend, he was tragically deactivated, leading her, we must presume, to find sapphic solace in the arms of robot women.

HOMOMETER RATING: 9

TIN MAN
PLACE OF ORIGIN: Oz
SEXUALITY: The Tin Man's earnest quest for emotional openness (i.e., heart) makes him a candidate for the velvet mafia, but his ill-fitting costume and lumberjack past are also strong hetero indicators. Pushing him over the midpoint: He’s literally a friend of Dorothy.

HOMOMETER RATING: 6

READ MORE
I, 'Mobot: a brief history of gay androids

Famous Gay African-Americans

This is a great gallery.
Long overdue.
Surprisingly, Keith Boykin did not make the list!?!
Rod2.0 writes:
Just in time for gay pride, AOL/Blackvoices produces a thoughtful microsite devoted to Famous Gay African-Americans. The editors went beyond the usual suspects and devoted slides and bios to 29 contemporary and historical men and women, and, some of the choices were surprising. On the historical side, there is Bayard Rustin, James Baldwin, Langston Hughes, as well as women such as the late Congresswoman Barbara Jordan, author Octavia Butler, and singers Ma Rainey, Bessie Smith and Billie Holiday. The sexuality of these women is often ignored by mainstream and black media, so their inclusion was commendable. READ MORE

Kermit Love, co-creator of the “Sesame Street” character "Big Bird", dead at 91

Dennis Hevesi writes:
Kermit Love (pictured), the costume designer for some of ballet’s most renowned choreographers whose greatest fame came as a creator, with Jim Henson, of the beloved Sesame Street characters Big Bird and Mr. Snuffleupagus, died on Saturday in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. He was 91 and lived in Stanfordville, N.Y. The cause was congestive heart failure, said Christopher Lyall, Mr. Love’s partner of 50 years. READ MORE

Orlando's bloomin' butt

These pics of actor Orlando Bloom (Pirates of the Caribbean, Lord of the Rings) were recently taken while he was on vacation in Tenerife, Spain with girlfriend, Miranda Kerr. Nice butt shot!

Dread Reckoning: Horrors in the Closet

Marco Lanzagorta writes:
If anything, horror is about transgressing boundaries and norms. If you think about it, monsters are creatures that challenge biological, physical, social, and even moral rules. And truth be told, it is such an attitude of contravening rules that ultimately makes them dangerous to our world, our culture, our persona, and our society.

As stated by Noel Carroll in his magisterial study of horror culture, The Philosophy of Horror (1990), a monster is distinguished by its “impurity and dangerousness”. Because monsters represent radical alterations to our sense of normality, they tend to embrace ideologies, rituals, traits, and behaviors that are forbidden or considered taboo in our society.

For instance, consider the recent controversies concerning gay marriage, and how it continues to be a delicate political issue that directly places traditional moral values against civil rights. Indeed, even after the liberal decision recently taken by the California Supreme Court, gay marriage remains problematic and ostracized in the state. These debates clearly suggest that gays and lesbians continue to be feared and rejected by society at large.

Clearly, our conservative culture remains anxious and apprehensive regarding gender and sexual identities that do not conform to our (presumed) heteronormative society. READ FULL ARTICLE HERE

George Carlin (May 12, 1937 to June 22, 2008)

How George Carlin Changed Comedy
Richard Zoglin writes:
When the culture began to change in the late 1960s — when the old one-liner comics on the Ed Sullivan Show were looking pretty tired and irrelevant to a younger generation experimenting with drugs and protesting the war in Vietnam — George Carlin was the most important stand-up comedian in America. By the time he died Sunday night (of heart failure at age 71), the transformation he helped bring about in stand-up had become so ingrained that it's hard to think of Carlin as one of America's most radical and courageous popular artists. But he was. READ MORE


Carlin was a man of many media. Below, Entertainment Weekly's George Carlin: 20 Career Milestones, takes a look back at some of the comedian's greatest hits, including books, movies, and the ''Seven Words You Can Never Say on Television''.

On Location: George Carlin at USC, 1977
KT writes:
The first of his 14 HBO specials was a landmark not only for Carlin but for the cable channel. Robert Klein may have inaugurated HBO's one-man comedy shows, but Carlin made them an institution. In this one, he proved that at age 40, during the then new punk-rock era, he could connect with a college audience through his unique combination of whimsical curiosity and vehement outrage. It includes a great performance of his ''Seven Words'' routine.

George Carlin of the '60s
Josh Wolk writes:
In the 1960s, after a two-year stint in a comedy team with Jack Burns, a clean-shaven Carlin developed a squeaky-clean act that just barely poked fun at the times (like as with his character the hippie-dippie weatherman). It earned him multiple spots on Merv Griffin's and Ed Sullivan's shows, as well as The Tonight Show, but as the '60s progressed, he became more liberal and intrigued by the countercultural views of the day and grew frustrated at how his apolitical act clashed with his personal politics.

READ MORE
George Carlin: 20 Career Milestones HERE

The Coolest Movie and TV Spy Gadgets in History

Kevin Carr writes:
One of the coolest things about secret agent movies is the toys they have to do their jobs. The scary thing is that while some of these gadgets were figments of a writer’s imagination many years ago, some are becoming a reality. Whether these really exist or not, here are the coolest gadgets that we’ve seen in the movies over the years.

The Shoe Phone from Get Smart
Okay, I know it’s a little odd to put a clunky shoe phone on the list ahead of James Bond’s super cool Ericsson mobile. However, the shoe phone was from the 60s, and it was actually pretty cool… as well as funny.

The Jet Pack from Thunderball
What was so cool about this gadget is that it was a real contraption back in 1965. Sure, it just made James Bond into a sitting duck as he slowly hovered away from danger, but it was a personal flying machine that actually worked in real life.

READ MORE:
The Coolest Movie and TV Spy Gadgets in History HERE