Big Gay Frat House Blog

The Big Gay ... Musical?

Coming to film festivals this summer and selected theaters this fall, it's The Big Gay Musical!

Alas, it's not ours. It has nothing to do with the Big Gay Frat House (though if we had the means of copyrighting "Big Gay ___ ___," we could have made a mint!). Except ... there is one tiny connection: adult star Brent Corrigan, who worked with us for our Midsummer Night's Dream fundraiser in August 2006 and Another Gay Fundraiser in June 2008, appears in the film.

Though best known for his porn career, including starting two porn studios by the age of 22, Brent is one of the rare adult stars to be able to break into mainstream acting roles as well. He's starred in two short films for writer/director Jody Wheeler, including In the Closet, played Stan the Merman in Todd Stephens' Another Gay Sequel, had a credited cameo in Milk, will star in the upcoming film Judas Kiss, and is rehearsing for the lead in The Masseur (a two-man play about the art of seduction).

But Brent isn't the only reason we're excited about The Big Gay Musical. I mean, hello! It's gay. And it's a musical!

The Big Gay Musical is the story of two actors, Paul and Eddie, whose lives begin to mirror the characters they play in an off-Broadway musical. It's written and produced by Fred Caruso, directed by Casper Andreas, and stars a cast generally best known for their work on Broadway, including Liz McCartney (Taboo, South Pacific), Jim Newman (Curtains, Minnelli on Minnelli), Joey Dudding (A Chorus Line, La Cage), Marty Thomas (Xanadu, Wicked, The Secret Garden), Andre Ward (Xanadu, Saturday Night Fever), Daniel Robinson (Hairspray), Jeff Metzler (Mary Poppins), Brian Spitulnik (Chicago), Josh Cruz (Wig Out), Celina Carvajal (Tarzan and the TV show The Search of Elle Woods) and Steve Hayes, one of the stars of the film Trick.

Embrem Entertainment recently acquired distribution rights and announced that the soundtrack will be released on July 14. The film hits film festivals this summer (we'll know in 10 days if it made it into Frameline) and will have a theatrical release this fall. We can't wait!

Cosmique Movie Awards

For many years, Kevin conducted an annual movie awards with his friends called the Cosmique Movie Awards. The awards honored the very best (and worst) of cinematic achievement from the previous calendar year but also inducted new films and actors into a Lifetime Achievement Hall of Fame.

Voting was conducted by an invited group of friends in two rounds. The first round was open-ended, with voters able to nominate whichever films or performances from the previous year that they wanted. They could choose up to five nominees per category and also had the option to designate one of them as a "power vote," giving it extra weight (passion counts). The top five nominees in each category were then presented back to the same pool of voters to determine the ultimate winner.

The awards were a blend of the gravitas of the Oscars (with categories like Best Film and Best Actor) and the irreverence of the MTV Movie Awards (with categories like Worst Performance and Actor's Character You Would Most Like to be Intimate With).

Recently a few friends have suggested that the Cosmo Awards be revived. But if so, how? Should it remain limited to invited friends, or be opened up to anyone reached through the BGFH? Would you vote if allowed? Please share your thoughts both in the poll below as well as in the comments section.

Survey Results - GlowDay.com

Cosmique Movie Awards

Seven years ago, Kevin created the Cosmique Movie Awards, a movie awards that blends the gravitas of the Academy Awards with the irreverence of the MTV Movie Awards.

The first year, all of the awards were for Lifetime Achievements, with any film from any year or era eligible. After that, most of the categories focus on films from the preceeding calendar year, but a handful of Lifetime Achievement categories are used to honor the best films, actors, and actresses of all time.

Many of the categories are serious, like Best Film, Best Actor, Best Drama. But some are a little different (Best Queer Film, Best Female Villain)) and some are downright silly (like Best Cameo, Sexiest Ensemble, and Actor's Character You Would Most Like to be Intimate With).

The awards are chosen by more than 50 eligible voters. The first round is harder -- voters must come up with up to five nominees in each category from any eligible film released during the previous calendar year. (This ends up being harder that one might think; many voters end up making lists of films they saw to be able to check against during the nominations.)

In past years, Kevin inevitably saw more films than any other voter (including a record 94 films in 2004, his glorious year of unemployment). But these days, Kevin's busy! He's only seen 13 theatrically-released films that were released in 2006 that reported box office returns, and another six films that we will also count. Those films are:

Adam & Steve; Another Gay Movie; Blood Diamond; Casino Royale; The Conrad Boys; The Da Vinci Code; The Devil Wears Prada; Dreamgirls; Eating Out 2; Follow My Voice: With the Music of Hedwig; Jackass: Number Two; The Mostly Unfabulous Social Life of Ethan Green; Queer Duck: The Movie; Shortbus; Strangers with Candy; Superman Returns; Smalltown Gay Bar; and X-Men: The Last Stand

That leaves a lot of eligible 2006 films that Kevin hasn't seen. Two will definitely be seen soon; David owns John Tucker Must Die ad Kevin owns Pirates of the Caribbean 2, but neither have been watched yet. But of these 2006 films, which do you think Kevin should try to see before casting his nomination ballot:

10 Items or Less; 16 Blocks; 49 Up; Accepted; After Dark's Horror Fest: 8 Films to Die For; Akeelah and the Bee; Alex Rider: Operation Stormbreaker; All the King's Men; America: Freedom to Fascism; American Dreamz; American Hardcore; An American Haunting; Annapolis; The Ant Bully; Apocalypto; April's Shower; Aquamarine; Army of Shadows; Art School Confidential; Artie Lange's Beer League; Ask the Dust; ATL; Babel; Barnyard; Basic Instinct 2; Beerfest; Being Cyrus; The Benchwarmers; Bhagam Bhag; Big Momma's House 2; Black Christmas; The Black Dahlia; BloodRayne; Bobby; Bon Cop, Bad Cop; Borat; Boynton Beach Club; The Break-Up; Brick; The Bridge; Broken Bridges; Bubble; Cars; Catch a Fire; Cave of the Yellow Dog; The Celestine Prophecy; Changing Times; Charlotte's Web; Cheech; The Child; Children of Men; Chup Chup Ke; Church Ball; Clerks II; Click; Cocaine Cowboys; Color of the Cross; Come Early Morning; Confetti; Conversations with God; Conversations with Other Women; Copying Beethoven; The Covenant; Crank; Crossover; Curious George; Curse of the Golden Flower; Date Movie; Dave Chappelle's Block Party; Days of Glory; Death of a President; Deck the Halls; Deep Sea 3-D; Deja Vu; Deliver Us from Evil; The Departed; The Descent; The Devil and Daniel Johnston; Dhoom 2; Dirty; District B13; Don; Don't Come Knocking; Doogal; Down in the Valley; Drawing Restraint 9; Driving Lessons; Edmond; Eight Below; Employee of the Month; End of the Spear; Eragon; Everyone's Hero; Facing the Giants; Factotum; Failure to Launch; Fanaa; The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift; Fast Food Nation; Fateless; Feast; Final Destination 3; Find Me Guilty; Firewall; Flags of Our Fathers; Flicka; Flushed Away; Flyboys; For Your Consideration; The Fountain; Freedomland; Friends with Money; Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus; Gabrielle; Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties; Glory Road; Goal! The Dream Begins; The Good German; The Good Shepherd; A Good Woman; A Good Year; Grandma's Boy; The Great New Wonderful; Gridiron Gang; The Groomsmen; The Grudge 2; Guadalupe; The Guardian; A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints; Half Nelson; Happy Feet; Hard Candy; Harsh Times; Haven; Heading South; The Heart of the Game; The Hills Have Eyes; The History Boys; The Holiday; Hollywoodland; Hoodwinked; Hoot; Hostel; The House of Sand; How to Eat Fried Worms; Humko Deewana Kar Gaye; Ice Age: The Meltdown; Idiocracy; Idlewild; The Illusionist; Imagine Me and You; An Inconvenient Truth; Infamous; Inland Empire; Inside Man; Invincible; Iraq in Fragments; Jaan-E-Mann; Jesus Camp; Jet Li's Fearless; John Tucker Must Die; The Journals of Knud Rasmussen; Just My Luck; Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna; Kabul Express; Keeping Mum; Keeping Up with the Steins; The King; Kinky Boots; Krrish; La Moustache; La Mujer de Mi Hermano; Lady in the Water; Lage Raho Munna Bhai; The Lake House; Larry the Cable Guy: Health Inspector; Lassie; Last Holiday; The Last King of Scotland; The Last Kiss; Le Petit Lieutenant; Leonard Cohen I'm Your Man; Let's Go to Prison; Letters from Iwo Jima; Little Children; Little Man; Little Miss Sunshine; Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World; The Lost City; Loverboy; Love's Abiding Joy; Lucky Number Slevin; Malamaal Weekly; Man of the Year; Marie Antoinette; Marilyn Hotchkiss' Ballroom Dancing & Charm School; The Marine; Material Girls; Miami Vice; Mini's First Time; Mission: Impossible III; Monster House; My Super Ex-Girlfriend; Nacho Libre; Nanny McPhee; National Lampoon's Van Wilder: The Rise of Taj; The Nativity Story; Neil Young: Heart of Gold; Night at the Museum; The Night Listener; Night of the Living Dead; Night Watch; The Nightmare Before Christmas; Notes on a Scandal; The Notorious Bettie Page; The OH in Ohio; The Omen; Omkara; On a Clear Day; Once in a Lifetime; One Night with the King; Only Human; Open Season; Over the Hedge; The Painted Veil; Pan's Labyrinth; Peaceful Warrior; Perfume - The Story of a Murderer; Phat Girlz; The Pink Panther; Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest; Poseidon; A Prairie Home Companion; Preaching to the Choir; The Prestige; The Promise; The Proposition; The Protector; The Puffy Chair; Pulse; The Pursuit of Happyness; Pyare Mohan; The Queen; The Quiet; Quinceanera; Rang De Basanti; The Real Dirt on Farmer John; Red Doors; The Return; The Road to Guantanamo; Rocky Balboa; Romeo & Juliet: Sealed with a Kiss; Roving Mars; Running Scared; Running with Scissors; Russian Dolls; RV; The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause; Saw III; A Scanner Darkly; Scary Movie 4; School for Scoundrels; The Science of Sleep; Scoop; Screamers; The Second Chance; The Secret Life of Words; See No Evil; The Sentinel; Shaadi Karke Phas Gaye Yaar; Shadowboxer; The Shaggy Dog; Sherrybaby; She's the Man; Shut Up and Sing; Silent Hill; Sketches of Frank Gehry; Slither; Snakes on a Plane; Something New; Sophie Scholl - The Final Days; Stay Alive; Step Up; Steve Harvey's Don't Trip; Stick It; Stranger Than Fiction; Sweet Land; Take the Lead; Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby; Tamara; Taxi 9211; Tenacious D in: The Pick of Destiny; Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning; Thank You for Smoking; This Film Is Not Yet Rated; Time to Leave; Trailer Park Boys: The Movie; Tristan and Isolde; Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story; Trust the Man; Tsotsi; Turistas; Twelve and Holding; Two or Three Things I Know About Her; Tyler Perry's Madea's Family Reunion; Typhoon; The U.S. Vs. John Lennon; Ultraviolet; Umrao Jaan; Unaccompanied Minors; Underworld: Evolution; United 93; V for Vendetta; Venus; Viva Pedro!; Volver; Wah-Wah; Waist Deep; The War Tapes; Wassup Rockers; Water; We Are Marshall; The Wedding Curse; What the Bleep?: Down the Rabbit Hole; When a Stranger Calls; When Do We Eat?; Who Killed the Electric Car?; Why We Fight; The Wicker Man; The Wild; Wordplay; The Work and the Glory III: A House Divided; World Trade Center; You, Me and Dupree; Zinda; and Zoom

Lobby Kevin! What should he see?

Shortbus

Today the Big Gay Frat House went to see the new film John Cameron Mitchell (of Hedwig and the Angry Inch fame): Shortbus.

Shortbus is an amazing film. Much has already written about Mitchell's innovative aproach -- auditioning unknowns who would accept the film's nude scenes; using real, unsimulated sex, including erections and cum shots; working with the actors over three years to develop their characters, and letting the script evolve from there.

The result could have been a disaster, but Shortbus succeeds beyond all expectations. It is artistic without being too "artsy." It is heartfelt and emotional without being maudlin. It has languid moments of beauty without being slow. It is sexy and sensual and even irreverent without being obscene.

It is, so far, the best film of 2006 (though we have all been uncharacteristically remiss in our movie watching this year).

Check out the (censored) trailer, and then check out the film!

Reception for "Queer Duck"

Tim and his business partners at Domicile Properties were the sponsors of "Queer Duck" at the Frameline Film Festival. They were allowed to bring over 20 guests, and we had a lovely cocktail reception at the Big Gay Frat House beforehand.

Tim hired Zhenya, the Russian bartender from Epiphany, to manage our bar. Moments before guests arrived, he whipped together a specialty cocktail (a Cosmo with half the usual cranberry juice supplemented with grapefruit juice, which made it pinker). We called it the Pink Saturday Cosmo, and it became the signature drink of the evening.

Matt, Frameline's development director, was in and out throughout the evening, and when Michael Lumpkin, Frameline's executive director, popped by, festival regulars were all abuzz which Kevin thought was amusing. (It was great that he came, but if Jennifer Beals or Reichen came, then we'd know we had a hit.)

All in all, it was a fun get-together. It was nice to finally meet Patty and Julie, Tim's business partners, and the guests (who were mostly his clients) were so fun. Many seemed astonished by what we were doing with the Big Gay Frat House concept, and several asked to be added to our mailing list.

Overall, the reception was a great success!

But it was a short reception. Pretty soon we had to walk together two blocks to the Castro Theatre. All ticket holders had already been let in, but they had three rows roped off for us in the Platinum area of the center of the theatre. So civilized!

"Queer Duck" is a silly, totally politically incorrect film, but it was so much fun! Definitely laughed more than any other film at the festival. The sponsors don't get to choose which films to sponsor (because otherwise they'd all pick the opening, closing, or centerpiece films), but when Michael Lumpkin saw "Queer Duck," he immediately thought "Tim!"

Check out the full "Queer Duck" Reception Photo Gallery at Flickr.

Follow My Voice

Tonight, Kevin and Tim went to see "Follow My Voice: With the Music of Hedwig" at the Frameline Film Festival. It's a documentary about the making of "Wig in a Box," the celebrity benefit tribute album with songs from or inspired by "Hedwig and the Angry Inch," created as a fundraising benefit for the Harvey Milk LGBT High School in New York City. The documentary also follows the lives of four students at the center that became the high school, and the music is used to underscore their stories.

It's a powerful, awesome film (and I'm not just saying that because I have a terrible crush on John Cameron Mitchell). I've had the album for over a year now (buy it, it's great!) but I had no idea that it was a benefit.

If you missed it at Frameline, fear not! The documentary will air on the Sundance Channel on Monday, June 26 -- just one week from today. Check your local listings!

I tried to embed the trailer, but couldn't find a site to do it, so you'll have to watch it on their official website.

The Conrad Boys

Tonight, Tim and Kevin went to see "The Conrad Boys" at the Victoria, one of the Frameline Film Festival films.

Justin Lo was the film's writer, director, editor, co-star, and co-producer. Amazing! We had heard he had graduated from UCLA; we hadn't heard, before tonight, that his degree was in Anthropology, not film. The film is amazingly polished and heartfelt, especially given the lack of big names, big budgets, and extensive experience.

Check out the trailer....

Afterwards, Kevin went up to speak with Justin and asked to interview him for Gay.com (one of the delightful perks of the job). Justin will hopefully call next week to set something up. Probably a phone interview, since the film is at some other festival next week. It will come out on DVD in late August.

We then met up with John T and had dinner at Krave (or Crave?), the new restaurant attached to The Cafe. Tapas-style small, shared plates. Great food, but very expensive (though the fact that there were six cocktails involved, and one guest was not drinking, contributed to that).

Then Tim and Kevin went to one of the Frameline parties at "Tom and Jerry's" house. Wow, amazing pad! Four balcanies, each with one of the most spectacular SF views we've ever seen. Steep hill, though -- so close to the Castro, and yet, when you're drunk and stumbling home from the bars, so far. But still, quite a nice place.

Frameline

The Frameline Film Festival is now underway, and that's a big deal at the Big Gay Frat House. David has been known to buy a season pass and take the season off of work to see practically every film. Kevin is the founder of the Cosmique Movie Awards, so you know he's a huge film fan. And Tim ... ah Tim.

Tim is such a huge fan that he's a major, major donor to the film festival. He has a pair of platinum passes, tickets to every festival party, and is sponsoring the "Queer Duck" film on Pink Saturday. (At one point the BGFH was also going to host a VIP reception for Q. Allen Brocka's "Boy Culture," but that fell through.) He now serves on the Board of Directors for Frameline's Capital Campaign.

This year there is something like 140+ film screenings (a few films are being shown twice) at at least five theaters in the Bay Area, mostly inside San Francisco but a few across the bay, too. The flagship theater, of course, is the historic Castro Theatre. It has the largest capacity, the most comfortable seats, is by far the most beautiful, and of course is the largest, most recognizable landmark in the gayest neighborhood on the planet.

The two other major theaters participating every day of the festival this year include the Roxie and the Victoria, but a few others are hosting special screenings periodically throughout the week: CinéArts @ Empire and, over in Oakland, the Parkway Theater. There used to be a big pecking order in terms of where films were screened: the very best were always at the Castro. But this year, that's changed. In some cases, it appears that Frameline organizers have made a conscious effort to promote the satellite theaters. And in other cases, the movie studios themselves have insisted on using theaters with smaller capacities. (The reason is because they want to generate buzz from the festival before releasing more broadly later in the summer, but they don't want to cut too heavily into their potential general release ticket buyers.)

People with Platinum passes are highest in the pecking order of film-goers. They don't have to wait in line; they just mill about in front and get seated before anyone else. At the Castro Theatre, they don't even have to show up early; the theater has special roped-off seats for Platinum holders (although for crowded screenings, they'll only hold those seats in reserve until about 10 minutes before). We're very grateful that Tim has a pair of platinum passes; it's so nice to be able to waltz up, skip the lines, and still get a good seat. The other theaters don't have the roped-off platinum section, but they still have early admission.

Next are the gold passes. There's a special line for those folks, too. No reserved seats, but they go in early enough that it's generally not a problem finding a good seat. But for a hot film the gold ticket line can go all the way down the block, so it's still prudent to arrive relatively early for a really hot film.

After that, Frameline members (those who donate $35 or more a year to Frameline separate from buying individual tickets) have their own line. There can be hundreds of people in this line; those who want a good seat sometimes show up an hour or more before the film is scheduled to start.

And after that, it's just regular folks who bought a ticket for that showing. They have to resign themselves to the fact that there may be hundreds of other people seated before them even if they show up an hour early.

Of course, with the festival spread across so many theaters, there's often conflict and it's impossible to see everything. Because Kevin works for Gay.com, sometimes he can get screener copies of some films. That's how we got to see The Mostly Unfabulous Life of Ethan Green and Colma: The Musical early. We'll post our reviews of the films later this week.