Prior to meeting Lisbeth Salander, the talented computer hacker at the center of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (scheduled to open in limited release this Friday), a man is warned: “Lisbeth is a pretty odd girl.” Glum, leather-clad, and sporting multiple piercings in addition to the skin art of the title, Lisbeth quickly proves herself not only a startling sight but a force to be reckoned with.This bracing new film is based on the novel by the late Swedish author Stieg Larsson. Unpublished at the time of his death in 2004, The Girl with the ...

Great exploitation movies straddle the line between tawdry and hilarious, and the new film Bitch Slap (now on DVD) works hard to capture the tarnished magic of such classics as Faster, Pussycat, Kill! Kill! and Beyond the Valley of the Dolls. Thanks to a pitch-black sense of humor, truly gorgeous women and a wild backwards/forwards storyline, Bitch Slap is a raucous good time. And yes, it’s just as crass, offensive and sexed-up as it can be, but the fun Behind-the-Scenes documentary helps put the filmmakers’ goals in perspective.Trixie (Julia Voth), Hel (Erin Cummings) and Camero (America Olivo) ...

When he first sent a certain young girl down a certain rabbit hole 145 years ago, it is unlikely that author Lewis Carroll had any idea of the longevity of his fantastical creation known as Alice in Wonderland. From movies to stage to television to theme parks to comic books to video games, Alice and the bizarre denizens of Wonderland have endured many, many incarnations over the decades, all of varying degrees of quality and arguably none as iconic as its original literary form.Director Tim Burton, seemingly a perfect fit for the material, has taken the latest crack ...

Most gay men have what we might politely describe as "unique" relationships with our mothers. For some of us, dear old Mom is our biggest fan, while others of us would say Christina Crawford had it easy!Mother, a new film by the extraordinary, Korean writer-director Bong Joon-ho (whose last production was the great giant-monster-on-the-loose thriller The Host), has its own unique take on the love of a mother for her son. It opens today in LA and NYC courtesy of Magnolia Pictures. Drawing inspiration from equal parts Oedipus Rex and Alfred Hitchcock, Bong weaves an engrossing murder-mystery.Do-joon ...

Roman Polanski has crafted a suspenseful thriller with The Ghost Writer, even if the mystery at its heart is somewhat inert. Based on a novel by Robert Harris, the film benefits from recent revelations about Britain’s involvement with CIA terrorist interrogations. Ewan McGregor plays a professional ghostwriter (never named) who is hired to finish the autobiography of a Tony Blair-like former prime minister. Already over his head, the ghostwriter has no idea how much worse the job will get. Britain’s former golden boy, Adam Lang (Pierce Brosnan, in a richly layered performance), is being investigated for “war crimes,” ...

Though it has grown in popularity over the years and now runs for ten days each July, the Outfest Los Angeles Gay & Lesbian Film Festival still can’t come close to showing every LGBT film produced each year around the world. Thankfully, we have Fusion: The Los Angeles LGBT People of Color Film Festival to supplement Outfest and provide a unique showcase of the diversity within our own community. Fusion 2010 starts today and runs through March 13.Wilson Cruz, the prolific stage, film and television actor, will be the recipient of the 2010 Fusion Achievement Award. ...

One doesn't often hear the terms "cabaret" and "rocker" used together as a description, so I was intrigued when I saw them applied concurrently to San Francisco-based singer and musician Mark Growden. Growden's new album, the provocatively titled Saint Judas, is set for release on March 16.Saint Judas is Growden's ninth CD, but his first full-length recording of primarily his own songs in eight years. During the interval, Growden grappled with a drug addiction that he, fortunately, overcame. Now sober for two years, the talented singer-songwriter has created a set of lyrically well-crafted tunes with titles ...

Imagine if a lesbian couple could, with the help of science, create a baby on their own, without the aid of male sperm. Alison Reid creates just such a scenario in her first film, The Baby Formula, a funny, often moving look at gay parenting and relationships available on DVD today.Athena (Angela Vint) and Lilith (Megan Fahlenbach) submit to an experimental procedure that impregnates Angela with an artificial sperm derived from Lilith's stem cells. It’s all recorded by a “documentary” crew led by director Reid herself. The couple struggles with all sorts of issues, including Lilith secretly ...

It’s been a long road to Avenue Q. The wildly hilarious musical that proudly features puppet nudity, and which beat out Wicked to win the 2004 Tony Award, bypassed the Southwest in favor of an exclusive booking at Las Vegas' then-new Wynn Casino. Sadly, Vegas didn’t take kindly to a show that lovingly sends up Sesame Street while imparting some of the smartest satire of any Broadway musical in years.  The Sin City Avenue Q closed to make room for Monty Python’s Spamalot (which also closed fairly quickly). Fast forward half a decade later, and ASU Gammage ...

Seriously, wtf was that?Well, I suppose after the high point that was last year's Oscar ceremony, the only way to go was down. And the signs were there that this year's program was going to be a letdown for some time now, from co-producer Adam Shankman referring to it as the "best-dressed reality show" to the axing of the Best Song performances. But who knew it would fail so badly?From the sloppy direction to the banal presenter banter to the needlessly complicated eyesore of a set, first time producers Shankman and Bill Mechanic cranked out one bad ...

Once again, Movie Dearest has tallied up the total trophies handed out by the top 28 organizations, critics groups and industry guilds to get a clearer picture of what is indeed the Best Picture (et al) of the year; only categories with at least two wins are included.Picture of the Year: The Hurt Locker, 10 winsActor of the Year: Jeff Bridges in Crazy Heart, 6 winsActress of the Year: Sandra Bullock in The Blind Side and Meryl Streep in Julie & Julia, 4 wins eachSupporting Actor of the Year: Christoph Waltz in Inglourious Basterds, 10 winsSupporting Actress of the ...

And the winners of the 82nd Annual Academy Awards were ...Best Picture: The Hurt Locker - Producers: Kathryn Bigelow, Mark Boal, Nicolas Chartier and Greg ShapiroBest Actor: Jeff Bridges in Crazy HeartBest Actress: Sandra Bullock in The Blind SideBest Supporting Actor: Christoph Waltz in Inglourious BasterdsBest Supporting Actress: Mo’Nique in Precious: Based on the Novel Push by SapphireBest Director: Kathryn Bigelow for The Hurt LockerBest Adapted Screenplay: Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire - Geoffrey FletcherBest Original Screenplay: The Hurt Locker - Mark BoalBest Cinematography: Avatar - Mauro FioreBest Art Direction: Avatar - Art Direction: Rick ...

When the curtain rises on the Oscars tonight, there won’t be much notice of Tom Ford’s gorgeous drama, A Single Man. The story of a gay man dealing with the death of his partner didn’t get much Oscar love. Except for Colin Firth’s Best Actor nomination, the movie was ignored.  Just as Brokeback Mountain lost Best Picture, Best Actor and Best Supporting Acting honors to lesser challengers in 2006, this year, the LGBT community is again reminded that being “too gay” is the kiss of death as far as Oscar is concerned.Still, there is a lot to love ...

We are just about a month away from the much-anticipated return of Glee to the airwaves, so to tide all you Gleeks over until then, the latest MD Poll asks, "Who is your Glee crush?"Yep, just like in high school, we all have our secret crushes, even of fictional TV characters. Now is your chance to make it public, at least in regards to which "New Directions" gleester or William McKinley High faculty member floats your boat.Make your selection and place your vote in the poll located in the right hand sidebar. Results will be revealed on April ...

On this Oscar Eve, the results are in ... if you picked 'em, the Oscars would go to:Best Picture was as close as it probably is in reality, with the three front-runners taking nearly 60% of the vote and only 3.6% separating them from victory. In the end, The Hurt Locker triumphed, with Avatar and Inglourious Basterds nipping at its heels.Mamma Mia! co-stars (and Movie Dearest faves) Colin Firth (A Single Man) and Meryl Streep (Julie & Julia) are your lead acting victors, besting the favored Jeff Bridges (Crazy Heart) and Sandra Bullock (The Blind Side).As for the ...

This year's "Fearless Oscar Predictions" is brought to you by* the delectable creations found in Eleni's Oscar Season cookies! Above you'll find the five Best Actor edibles, which brings up the inevitable question, "Who would you rather nibble, Colin Firth or Jeremy Renner?" Now on to business ...This year's predictions aren't quite so fearless as there are several sure things in the mix, including at least three of the four acting categories. Nevertheless, there are still plenty of tight races, including the expanded Best Picture field and the highly competitive Best Actress category (both envisioned in dessert form ...

The Los Angeles premieres this past week of the Ginger Rogers bio-musical Backwards in High Heels as well as Robert Longbottom's revised and revamped revival of Dreamgirls proved to be cause for celebration. With one's subject a Hollywood Golden Age icon and the other a thinly-veiled account of the backstage travails that afflicted Diana Ross and the Supremes, it has been a while since local stages have seen this much glamorous girl power unleashed at once.Backwards in High Heels is the inaugural production of International City Theatre of Long Beach's 25th season. (For the unitiated, ...

Movie Dearest's sister site, The QuOD - The Queer Online Database, has been nominated for Best LGBT Blog in the 1st Annual TLA Gaybie Awards!Click here to vote for the "most outstanding (or perhaps outrageous) work in gay-themed entertainment throughout the past year", including categories covering film, television, books, comics and, yes, blogs!To say that I was surprised is an understatement, and I am thrilled that The QuOD was named alongside so many other well-known websites. Voting continues through the month of March, so vote as often as you like! Award winners will be announced April 15th. ...

Loosely based on the Hans Christian Andersen classic The Little Mermaid, Ponyo (available this week on Disney Blu-ray and DVD) is yet another jewel in the crown of legendary Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki and his Studio Ghibli. Marking his return to lighter fare following his darker and more mature Spirited Away and Howl’s Moving Castle, Ponyo is a delight-filled feast for all the senses … and not just for its young target audience.As is usual for his films, Miyazaki fills every corner of the screen with gorgeously intricate detail. His imagination practically seeps ...

The success of the musical [title of show] is a “bit of a Cinderella story,” according to its co-creator Hunter Bell. “I pinch myself every day.”The show about two gay guys (“Two Nobodies in New York”) and their gal pals who decide to create a musical just to see how far they can take it is currently being staged by Arizona Theatre Company for its regional premiere. Bell (who was nominated for a Tony Award for writing the [tos] book) and composer Jeff Bowen wanted to enter the New York Musical Festival, but they discovered ...