Scott Walker: 30 Century Man screens at the Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF) this Thursday, July 26th at 9:10 pm (Steven Kijak will attend this first screening) and again on Sunday, August 12th at 7:30 pm. Visit the SW30 page at the MIFF site for details. The film will also screen in the 34th edition of the Flanders Film Festival in Ghent, Belgium that takes place October 9th to 20th. Madman Films have picked the film up for distribution in Australia and New Zealand and will be bringing it out soon.

NewsTimesLIVE.com serves up a glowing review of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (which runs until this Saturday in the Berkshires). Chesley Plemmons writes, "What makes 'Cuckoo's Nest' so much fun, in addition to McMurphy's rebellious ways -- hilariously interpreted by the usually restrained [Jonathan] Epstein -- are the other inmates. Randy Harrison, who is becoming one of this theater's sharpest players, is Billy Bibbit, a stuttering, suicidal young man with nagging virginity issues in addition to an unsympathetic mother. Harrison, who was so good as Mozart in last year's 'Amadeus,' reveals the flip side of genius -- fear and dangerous insecurity." Read the entire review here.

Reviewer Charles Kondek of the Independent online has many good things to say about the production as well. He writes, "The heart of the play is the stuttering, fragile Billy Bibbit, played with delicate refinement by Randy Harrison." [read more].

Another QAF alumnus is getting high praise for his theatre production. The New York Times reviews "Measure for Measure", the play staged at the Shakespeare Theater of New Jersey which is being directed by Jack Wetherall. Reviewer Naomi Siegel writes, "All in all, this production of 'Measure for Measure' is both wonderfully acted and dynamically directed. It is also meticulously designed." She adds, "The news is good for audiences in search of quality classic theater: The Shakespeare Theater of New Jersey has another big winner on its hands."

July 19, 2007

In a review of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Variety writes, "Randy Harrison gives a rich and poignant perf as the stammering, cowering Billy Bibbit. Harrison builds a well modulated arc as Bibbit gradually finds the nerve, inspired by McMurphy, to stand up for himself, only to unravel under Ratched's chilling threats."

Newberkshire.com says, "Among the inmates who stand out, although each is a successfully developed character, no matter how many lines he may have, are Randy Harrison, the tortured teen-ager Billy Babbit who can never please his mother, who stutters his words, and cannot be saved."

And here's yet another positive review from the Albany, NY Times Union, titled "Cuckoo touches Berkshire crowd."

Photos from the play can be found at the Berkshire site.

From TV in the Pink: GAY men and lesbians have never had such a good image on television, claims Doctor Who supremo Russell T Davies - the man who wrote Manchester drama Queer As Folk. "The image of homosexuals as figures of ridicule in TV shows is over. There are now complex gay characters at the forefront of groundbreaking TV dramas," he says. But when it aired in 1999, Queer as Folk had a huge impact and was massively successful. It spawned a US version, two soundtracks and is credited by some young people for inspiring them to come out. When Davies started writing Queer As Folk, he had no grand ambition to create a ground-breaking gay drama. He says in an interview with Radio Times: "I thought it was the sort of thing Channel 4 would show late at night - like a documentary on Tibetan quilt-makers."

There are only four dates left on the Arctic Babylon tour:
Friday July 20, 2007 - San Diego, CA (Pride) - Montage
Saturday July 21, 2007 - Houston, TX - South Beach
Friday July 27, 2007 - Asbury Park, NJ - Circuit
Saturday July 28, 2007 - San Francisco, CA - Mighty

As I posted a few weeks ago, Falling for Grace featuring Gale Harold is opening in two major cities this summer. You can see it starting July 20th at Sundance Kabuki, 1881 Post Strett (at Fillmore) in San Francisco, and then on August 3rd at AMC LOEWS Dupont 5 in Washington, D.C. Newsday.com mentions the movie in the "Hot Stuff" section, although they mistakenly call it by its previous title, "East Broadway" (can we blame them? this film has had more name changes than Elizabeth Taylor!). Newsday writes: "Starring Fay Ann Lee, Gale Harold and Christine Baranski, directed by Lee. A sort of Cinderella story about a Chinese-American who's mistaken for a Hong Kong heiress, and how a relationship subsequently blooms. Opens Friday."

Sharon Gless sailed with Rosie O'Donnell on her 'R' Family Cruise this past week. One night on the ship, Sharon dressed up as Debbie (her character on QAF). Here is a photo of her on the cruise. [ETA: two more here and here]. If you want to see some video chat blogs of Rosie, Sharon, Rosie's best friend since childhood and Ross the intern (from The Tonight Show) having a good time in Rosie's spacious suite, visit Rosie's blog and scroll down to "the fab 4" (no longer on the first page) and "fab 4 the sequel" for some laughs.

I'm not really one for toilet humour, but if you want to see a clip of Sharon Gless and Tyne Daly on The Graham Norton Show (BBC) you can view it here.

Nice words for Sharon Gless from Stafford "Doc" Williamson in this review from American Chronicle: Finally, on a bright note, I have to say that of the two episodes we have seen so far, we are much encouraged by the summer offering from the USA Network of Burn Notice the new series which brings back our old (but still lovely) favorite actress, Sharon Gless (formerly Detective Lacey in the Cagney & Lacey TV series), although she is now the hero's mother, not the leading character herself. She is a delightful addition to the cast and the writing is the main saving grace in this lightweight but enjoyable action/mystery series.

Queerty has a review of Robert Gant's new series: Gant plays the Jacob Keane, a gay former spy turned photographer living in Milan with his boyfriend and three daughters, all of whom were birthed by a lesbian pal. Sounds perfectly progressive, right? Right. Unfortunately, Doherty’s Marta (no last name, very mysterious) pulls him back into the spy games. She needs a bit of a hand help finding the villainous Vigo, played by gay actor Ian Roberts. Apparently he’s threatening their families, or something. You know what this all means? Loads of running around, a billion confused looks and a gun fight or two. And some intrigue. Probably.

There's a review of Measure for Measure in Variety.com: In a refreshing new staging of "Measure for Measure" by the Shakespeare Theater of New Jersey, director Jack Wetherall has taken a daring leap in time, moving the action of one of the Bard's darkest and most bitter comedies from 16th century Vienna to the Old West following the American Civil War. The concept works well, allowing the fine cast to reveal the plot's complexities and draw the audience into a broad spectrum of incisive character studies.

Another strong review of Jack Wetherall's new project comes from NJ.com: Wetherall's idea was to relocate the play that Shakespeare set in Vienna to the Old Wild West. Alas, most of his cast seem as if the only west they know is West Orange. However, because they're so good with Shakespearean dialogue, the play comes through, and packs a wallop from its sheer timeliness. And while it runs two-and-a-half hours, it rarely drags.