There is a god, because Sarah Michelle Geller is back on TV. Eight years after the end of the iconic Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Geller is the star of a new drama in which she plays twins Bridget and Siobhan who are mired in danger, scandal and drama. She recently described it as a cross…
HBO Signature Wednesday, Sept. 75 a.m. Kirby Dick’s scathing documentary about closeted gay politicians who work against gay rights will outrage anyone who doesn’t already know that, say, Charlie Crist and David Dreier are hypocritical scumbags. But the dirt digging goes beyond outing and exposes the ways in which politics and homophobia are deeply and…
This classic film about show people stars Ethel Merman, Donald O’Connor and Marilyn Monroe and features some amazingly bombastic Merman numbers, including her signature tune “There’s No Business Like Show Business.” Campy, earnest, fun and a must-see for lovers of the old school musical.
Logo, Sunday, Aug. 14, 8 p.m.: Jamie Babbit’s brightly colored comedy about an ex-gay therapy camp for teen queers is not quite as funny or moving as it wants to be, but it’s damn entertaining, with Natasha Lyonne as the lesbian cheerleader and Clea DuVall as her fellow camper. The rest of the cast is…
Sat, Aug. 6, 4:05 a.m., Encore Mystery: In one of his best performances, Frank Sinatra investigates a series of murders revolving around closeted and crazy gay men in 1960s New York. Sinatra’s character is empathic and sympathetic and tough. Made in 1965, the movie is creaky, but it’s also revolutionary in that the hero is…
Mervyn LeRoy’s 1956 thriller about a blonde grade-school psychopath is taut, terrifying and more than a little bit campy. Patty McCormack plays Rhoda, the titular character, with a cold, devilish calm that influenced every child playing evil ever since, from The Omen to The Good Son. The battle of wits between Rhoda and her mother…
Turner Classic Movies, Sunday, July 3, 10 a.m. On July 4 weekend, the networks flood their schedules with the most American of films, and one of my favorites is On the Town, one of the greatest musicals ever made. Directed by the occasional lovers Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen (no, really, they were!) and starring…
‘True Blood’ season premiere; HBO, Sunday, June 26, 9 p.m.: As if you need this reminder! The fourth season of HBO’s hit series about blood, sex and magic in Louisiana is finally here, and we can finally watch vampires, werewolves, fairies and rednecks get it on and kill each other again. We can thank gay…
Rob Epstein’s Oscar-winning 1984 documentary helped solidify the legacy of Harvey Milk, the ground-breaking gay San Francisco city councilman who was assassinated in 1978. Perhaps even more moving than Gus Van Sant’s 2008 docudrama, it treads similar ground but with archival film and interviews instead of great art direction and acting. It must be seen.
LOGO, Friday, June 3, 8 a.m. The bear cub in the title refers not to a slightly smaller, younger guy at Pecs but rather to the nephew of Pedro, a burly and hairy gay dentist with a very active sex and social life in Barcelona. When the nephew comes to stay with Pedro, the comedy…
