By Romeo San Vicente
Kelsey Grammer is blue and hairy
After years on one of the gayest sitcoms in TV history, will "Frasier"'s Kelsey Grammer finally be playing gay himself? It all depends on whom you ask. Grammer recently signed on to play effete scientist Hank McCoy in "X-Men 3," due out in 2006. In his mutant form, Hank McCoy is The Beast, a 350-pound creature who's blue and hairy from head to toe. The character's been a part of the "X-Men" universe since the comic book's beginnings, but in the past few years, speculation that The Beast is more homo than hetero has prompted open dialogue in the comic about his sexuality. For the record, everyone thinks he is, but The Beast claims otherwise. In other words, it's a role that confirmed heterosexual Grammer was born to play.
David Lynch's secret movie
After the sort-of-lesbian-themed "Mulholland Drive," queer audiences wondered what David Lynch, one of America's most idiosyncratic filmmakers, would do next. Well, he's not telling exactly. In fact, in an era when movie production start dates are usually accompanied by publicists and press releases, Lynch's follow-up movie is shrouded in mystery. Already in production, with cast and crew seemingly sworn to secrecy, the film is "INLAND EMPIRE." Named after the desert region lying just outside the farthest reaches of Los Angeles and its various valleys, it stars Jeremy Irons, Laura Dern, and "Six Feet Under" regular and "Mulholland Drive" alum Justin Theroux. The plot? "A woman in trouble" is all the director will say. Sounds like "Mulholland Drive" revisited to Romeo.
Father's day for Showtime
Showtime's June programming slate is even gayer than usual. In addition to the final season's episodes of "Queer as Folk" and a slew of repeats of queercentric specials, the premium cable channel will offer two new gay-themed documentaries, "Damaged Goods" and "We Are Dad." "Damaged" premieres June 14 and follows the lives of five people living with HIV and AIDS as they travel through their various treatments. "We Are Dad" is the true story of partners Steve Lofton and Roger Croteau – foster parents to five HIV-positive children – who were declared "unfit" by the state of Florida to adopt those children because they're a gay couple. (America got introduced to them during Rosie O'Donnell's coming-out interview with Diane Sawyer.) "We Are Dad" debuts on Father's Day, June 19.
A very scary "Sisterhood"
For queer film fans, David DeCoteau may not be as revered as filmmakers John Waters and Gus Van Sant, but the former gay porn director who went on to helm trash classics like "Sorority Babes in the Slimeball Bowl-O-Rama" and "Test Tube Teens from the Year 2000" isn't to be ignored. Lately his horror-fests have taken a homoerotic turn, usually involving lots of young, nearly naked 19-year-old guys, and 2005 alone will see the DVD and cable releases of the gayish "Killer Bash," as well as the latest installment of his fraternity horror franchise, "Brotherhood IV: The Complex." And just in time for Gay Pride month, Here TV will air "The Sisterhood," a lesbian-themed thriller about a corrupt sorority known for practicing witchcraft and torture. But then, aren't they all known for that?
