Awards Watch: GLAAD Tidings 2009

GLAAD (Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation), the nation’s GLBT media advocacy and anti-defamation organization, has announced the nominees for its 21st Annual GLAAD Media Awards.

As expected, A Single Man and Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire led the nominees for Outstanding Film - Wide Release, where they are joined by Everybody's Fine, I Love You, Man and Taking Woodstock. Meanwhile, Casi Divas, The Country Teacher, Little Ashes, Phoebe in Wonderland and The Secrets fill out the Limited Release category

Nominations for television include three-time winner Brothers & Sisters in the drama race and freshman series Glee and Modern Family in comedy, plus One Life to Live for daily drama.  Pedro and Prayers for Bobby are among the TV movie nominees.  Plus, Sex and the City star Cynthia Nixon will be honored with the Vito Russo Award, presented to "an openly GLBT media professional who has made a significant difference in promoting equal rights for our community".

See the comments section below for a quick look at all the English-language nominees.  The GLAAD Media Awards ceremonies will be held in New York on March 13, in Los Angeles on April 17 and in San Francisco on June 5.

UPDATE:  Video salute to the 2009 film and TV nominees.

Dearie Awards 2009: New Stars of the Year - SCOTT EVANS & BRETT CLAYWELL

Soap operas have had gay characters before, but none have been as fully-realized as Oliver Fish and Kyle Lewis, the One Live to Live couple (collectively known as "Kish") expertly brought to life by Scott Evans and Brett Claywell.

Since their storyline began in early 2009, Llanview Police Officer Fish has come out on national TV, been ostracized by his conservative parents and, oh yeah, unknowingly fathered a secret love child (this is a soap after all). Meanwhile, his former college boyfriend Kyle has dodged blackmail charges, returned to med school and almost got married in a mass gay wedding. In the end, they found true love in each other's arms, culminating in a groundbreaking New Year's Eve love scene the likes of which daytime — or even primetime —television has ever seen.

Prior to their breakthrough roles on OLTL, Evans was primarily known as the gay brother of Fantastic Four's Chris Evans (god bless that gene pool), while Claywell had a recurring role on the teen sudser One Tree Hill. Now, with passionately loyal fans that follow the super couple's every move via live blogs, YouTube clips and tribute sites, the dynamic duo are certified soap studs ... and our New Stars of the Year!

Honorable Mentions:
Boldly going where William Shatner went before, Chris Pine brashly recreated the iconic character of James Tiberius Kirk in the new Star Trek, while Javier Beltrán brought poet Federico García Lorca to life in Little Ashes.

See more pictures of Scott Evans in The Back Room (NSFW).

Awards Watch: Golden Globe Nominations 2009

Nominations for the 67th Annual Golden Globe Awards were announced by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association this morning, with Up in the Air leading the way with six nods. In addition to Best Picture - Drama, writer/director Jason Reitman and stars George Clooney, Vera Farmiga and Anna Kendrick were also recognized.

Joining Up in the Air in the drama race is Avatar, The Hurt Locker, Inglourious Basterds and Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire, while (500) Days of Summer, The Hangover, It's Complicated, Julie & Julia and Nine compete for the Best Picture - Musical or Comedy prize. (See the comments section below for a quick look at all the film nominations.)

Several actors found themselves nominated twice, including Meryl Streep in the same category (Best Actress - Musical or Comedy for It's Complicated and Julie & Julia). Other double nominees include Sandra Bullock (The Blind Side and The Proposal), Matt Damon (The Informant! and Invictus) and Anna Paquin (True Blood and the TV movie The Courageous Heart of Irena Sendler). As previously announced, Martin Scorsese will be honored with the HFPA's Cecil B. DeMille Award for lifetime achievement.


On the television side, Glee was tops with four nominations. In addition to a nod for Best TV Series - Musical or Comedy, cast members Matthew Morrison, Lea Michele and Jane Lynch were singled out as well. Other Movie Dearest TV faves that are up for Globes include Lost, Modern Family and the TV movies Grey Gardens and Prayers for Bobby.

In other TV award news, the Writers Guild of America has also revealed their television nominations, with more nods going to Glee, Grey Gardens, Lost, Modern Family and True Blood, plus One Life to Live and Pedro by Dustin Lance Black. Winners will be announced February 20.

The Golden Globes will be broadcast live on NBC January 17 in a ceremony hosted by Ricky Gervais. And be sure to check back with us this Saturday for the start of our annual Golden Globe-themed MD Polls.

Cover Story: Great Scott

The handsome and talented Scott Evans, a.k.a. Officer Oliver Fish on One Life to Live, graces the cover of Instinct Magazine's latest issue.

Read the interview, wherein he says his mom's reaction to his coming out was “Oh, yeah. I knew when I gave birth to you”, here.

See more pictures of Scott Evans in The Back Room (NSFW).

MD News Desk: Kishy Face

Keep up to date with all the latest from the entertainment world with the MD News Desk:

Kish:
- This week saw the "Big Gay Wedding" storyline come to a head on One Life to Live, culminating in this climactic kiss between Scott Evans' Oliver Fish and Brett Claywell's Kyle Lewis. Watch it all here.
- You can catch up on all the soapy goodness of the complete Kish storyline at the Official Movie Dearest YouTube channel (courtesy of YouTuber final81).

Awards Watch:
- The Big News this week was that Oscar has not one host, but two: Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin.
- Academy Award nominated cinematographer Caleb Deschanel (The Right Stuff, The Natural) to receive the Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Society of Cinematographers.
- Jeff Bridges in Crazy Heart is a late-breaking Best Actor contender.
- Meanwhile, Sandra Bullock in The Blind Side could be a surprise in the Best Actress race, which is also seeing some last minute entrants.


The Latest on TV:
- Move over, Ellen: The Wanda Sykes Show premieres tonight on Fox. In preparation for her talk show debut, Wanda has been all over the place this past week, including chats with TV Guide and Entertainment Weekly.
- And speaking of Ellen: Miss DeGeneres and her Mrs., Portia de Rossi, will have a sit down with the Big O on Monday's edition of Oprah.

Coming Soon:
- Sex and the City Watch: Stars spotted filming in Morocco.
- More childhood memories to be plundered by Hollywood: feature film adaptations of the Risk board game, the Berenstain Bears books, the Marmaduke comic strip and Yogi Bear are all in the works.
- Is the world ready for Three Men and a Bride?
- Beyond the Apocalypse: Roland Emmerich's 2012 may get a TV spin-off.
- More than 50 years after To Hell and Back, movie star/war hero Audie Murphy to get another biopic.

Cinematic Crushes:
- First Look: James Franco on General Hospital. And after that, he'll head on over to 30 Rock.
- In more Soap Hunk News: Cameron Mathison's Dr. Dan brightens up Brighten Bay.
- Heroes' Adrian Pasdar to fly the coop. And apparently, this is how he found out about it.
- Casting About: Gerard Butler in Ralph Fiennes' directorial debut Coriolanus, George Clooney in Alexander Payne's family dramedy The Descendants, Bradley Cooper in the suspense thriller Dark Fields, Patrick Dempsey in an untitled bank-heist comedy, Johnny Depp joins Angelina Jolie in The Tourist and Dwayne Johnson in the action drama Faster.
- Wouldn't you like to be the cloth on that loin: Into the Wild's Dave Salmoni does Tarzan on Tyra.
- Cover Story: Robert Pattinson does Vanity Fair.

Videodrone:
- Trailer Park: Jake Gyllenhaal in Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time and Brothers, Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law in Sherlock Holmes and Bruce LaBruce's L.A. Zombie (NSFW) starring François Sagat.
- A video salute to gay characters in prime time soaps.
- Several Lloyd Doblers take to the streets of NYC to promote the 20th anniversary DVDof Say Anything ...


From Screen to Stage:
- First Look: The Addams Family starring gay faves Nathan Lane (Gomez), Bebe Neuwirth (Morticia), Kevin Chamberlin (Uncle Fester) and Jackie Hoffman (Grandmama).
- Both The Shawkshank Redemption and Prick Up Your Ears to close early in the West End.
- Billy Elliot, Bye Bye Birdie, Hair and Shrek (plus Alan Cumming and Jane Krakowski) to perform at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.
- Speaking of Billy Elliot: the hit musical gets another award and two new Billys.
- Photo Calls: The new cast of Irving Berlin's White Christmas, and The Lion King celebrates 5,000 performances.
- Buffy alum Anthony Head headlines the London revival of Six Degrees of Separation.
- Off the Shelf: Get all the backstage dish on your favorite musical parody revue in Forbidden Broadway: Behind the Mylar Curtain.
- Meet Broadway's Spider-Man.

Movie Music:
- Movie Music Videos: Adam Lambert's "Time for Miracles" from 2012 and Jake Monaco and Jen Hansen's "Gloria" from Make the Yuletide Gay (on DVDthis Tuesday).

Out in Film:
- Pedro Almodóvar and his muse Penélope Cruz on their latest collaboration, Broken Embraces.
- Finian's Rainbow star Terri White's inspiring story, from homelessness to Broadway to marriage.
- Neil Patrick Harris Watch: He'll lend his voice to the CBS Christmas special Yes, Virginia, and will be honored by the Trevor Project.
- Fiona Shaw to reprise her performance of T.S. Eliot's The Waste Land in London.
- Logo's Legacy Campaign salutes Mad Men's Bryan Batt.
- Rosie O'Donnell can now add "radio host" to her long résumé with the debut of Rosie Radio on Sirius XM.
- Michael Feinstein to return to Broadway with his new show All About Me next spring.
- Jane Lynch really really wants to sing on Glee.

Women We Love:
- Casting About: Jennifer Beals in the Hallmark Channel's The Night Before the Night Before Christmas, Annette Bening in Andy Garcia's Hemingway & Fuentes, Sally Hawkins in the coming-of-age comedy Dirty Girl, Helen Mirren in the espionage thriller Red, Elizabeth Mitchell in the indie ensemble drama Answers to Nothing, Sigourney Weaver in the comedy Cedar Rapids and Zhang Ziyi in the English-language drama Snow Flower and the Secret Fan.
- Jamie-Lynn Sigler dishes on her Ugly Betty stint.
- President Obama has selected the 25 members of the President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities, including Sarah Jessica Parker, Alfre Woodard and Vogue editor Anna Wintour, as well as talent agent Bryan Lourd and playwright George C. Wolfe.


GLBT Entertainment:
- A Single Man gets a poster, but is it "too straight"? Meanwhile, director Tom Ford is ready for his close up.
- The controversial play Jesus, Queen of Heaven — in which Christ is depicted as a transsexual woman — met with protests in Scotland; playwright and star Jo Clifford responds.
- More new queer theater: Made in Heaven (billed as "the best gay/straight Siamese twin comedy of 2009"), Loaded and My Mother's Lesbian Jewish Wiccan Wedding.
- Natalie Portman talks about her sex scenes with Mila Kunis in Black Swan.
- Author Annie Proulx to donate an early draft of her classic short story Brokeback Mountain to the New York Public Library.
- Foodie Frank Bruni's memoir Born Round heading to television.
- Grey's Anatomy's Jessica Capshaw on the future of Arizona Robbins and her relationship with Callie Torres (Sara Ramirez).
- More lesbian storylines coming to TV on Legend of the Seeker and Law & Order.
- Gwyneth Paltrow joins Nicole Kidman in The Danish Girl, an adaptation of the David Ebershoff novel that tells the story of the first post-operative transsexual.


Potent Quotables:
- "This is the first time I’ve done an interview with an ice pack down my pants." — Invictus star Matt Damon, suffering from a pulled groin muscle while filming the romantic thriller The Adjustment Bureau, to The New York Times.

MD News Desk: One Single Sensation

Keep up to date with all the latest from the entertainment world with the MD News Desk:

Cinematic Crushes:
- Gaze upon the angelic beauty of A Single Man's Nicholas Hoult in this photo spread by his director Tom Ford ... and try to forget that he was the kid in About a Boy. Out Magazine chats with the Single duo in separate interviews here and here.
- James Franco talks about being a stoner icon, what he did with his fake Milk penis, and buying the film rights to the Hart Crane poem The Broken Tower.

Off the Shelf:
- Attention Vintage Beefcake Connoisseurs: David L. Chapman’s American Hunksexplores "The Muscular Male Body in Popular Culture", including such stars as Charles Atlas, Johnny Weissmuller and ... Anthony Perkins?! Check out the (slightly NSFW) slideshow at Out.com.


The Latest on TV:
- "Toon" in to Cartoon Network this Friday for the special musical episode of Batman: The Brave and the Bold guest-starring Neil Patrick Harris.
- Miss True Blood? Disappointed by The Vampire Diaries? Than be sure to catch all six first season episodes of Being Human this Sunday on BBC America, followed by the special Being Human Unearthed. This excellent British series stars Russell Tovey as a werewolf who shares a flat with a hunky vampire and a girl ghost.

Tune in to TCM:
- On Saturday you'll find a marathon of movies based on the works of author W. Somerset Maugham, including the Bette Davis classic The Letter.

Awards Watch:
- And the Oscars go to: Hairspray director Adam Shankman and Pandemonium Films' Bill Mechanic named the producers of the 82nd Annual Academy Awards. The Los Angeles Times chimes in on the announcement.
- Star Trek, Twilight and True Blood among the winners of Spike TV's "Scream 2009" Awards, to be broadcast October 27.

From Screen to Stage:
- In more Adam Shankman news: he'll bring the Tony Award nominated 1980s rock musical spoof Rock of Ages to the screen.
- Another out director, Lee Daniels (who's current Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire was a fest fave and is gaining strong Oscar buzz), is working on the film adaptation of the Tony winning musical Miss Saigon for producer Cameron Mackintosh.
- The Terrence McNally/Lynn Ahrens/Stephen Flaherty musical A Man of No Importance (recently named one of the top "screen to stage" shows of all time by our own Chris Carpenter) will make its London debut next month.
- Could the notorious, the infamous, the one and only Carrie: The Musical (recently named one the worst "screen to stage" shows of all time by our own Neil Cohen) actually be headed back to Broadway?
- The Off-Broadway musical hit The Toxic Avenger is now sliming Toronto.
- The Beatles film Backbeat to get a UK stage version next year.


Out in Film:
- Eating Out: All You Can Eat’s Leslie Jordan dishes out quite a mouthful about wise elders, closeted actors, his out co-stars (such as the hunkalicious Rick D'Agostino) and his prized gay-for-pay poodles.
- The Big Gay Sketch Show's Julie Goldman on her big gay romantic comedy Nicest Thing.
- Lance Bass butches it up as a beefy boxer.
- Looks like Thom Bierdz' (and Phillip Chancellor III's) return to The Young and the Restless will be short-lived after all.
- Reality TV star Ryan Brown on his Flipping Out ex Jeff Lewis.
- Desperate Housewives creator Marc Cherry reveals he will be killing off a character (or two ... or three ...) in the series' mid-season cliffhanger.
- Kelly Osbourne and her Dancing with the Stars partner Louis Van Amstel visited Chelsea Lately recently ... and brought his cute boyfriend along too.


Videodrone:
- Call Wallace and Gromit! The 30 Second Bunnies do The Wolf Man.
- Gerard Butler ends DADT in Sparta.
- Homer Simpson goes gay for Halloween.
- Here it is: Adam Lambert's 2012 music video. (In related news, the glam rocker and Lady GaGa are collaborating on what will no doubt be the gayest song ever made.)

Kish:
- One Life to Live’s fabulous Tika Sumpter on Layla’s men.

RIP:
- Joseph Wiseman, who played the very first James Bond movie villain as the title character of Dr. No, passed away Monday at the age of 91.
- Vic Mizzy, composer of the iconic theme songs to The Addams Family and Green Acres, died Saturday at the age of 93.

GLBT Entertainment:
- Ugly Betty’s Marc, played by Michael Urie, will get a new Bahama boyfriend.
- Spoiler Alert! A certain Law & Order: Special Victims Unit character (played by a certain actor) will (finally) come out of the closet.
- 8: The Mormon Proposition is a new documentary (narrated by Dustin Lance Black) about the Mormon Church's involvement in the passage of California's Proposition 8. Watch the trailer here.

Glee:
- Model Behavior: Cory Monteith (Finn) is the face of Five Four’s Fall/Winter 2009 Collection.
- Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog creator Joss Whedon will be directing a future episode.
- Spring Awakening reunion: Jonathan Groff will join the show for a few episodes as a(nother) love interest for Lea Michele's Rachel.
- More Michele: she sings "Out Here on My Own" at the HRC National Dinner.
- Dressed for Success: an interview with Glee's costume designer Lou Eyrich, wherein you'll find out her favorite character to dress.
- And forget the Thanksgiving parade: the Glee cast will sing at the World Series!

MD News Desk: Trick ünd Treat

Keep up to date with all the latest from the entertainment world with the MD News Desk:

Hands Off the Merchandise:
- Acht, lederhosen! Get your own Brüno costumefor Halloween! Also available in "Clear Vinyl" and "Pink Penis".
- Coming to a Wii near you: Project Runway, the video game.

Cinematic Crushes:
- The Robert Pattinson phenomenon is explored in the new documentary Robsessed, coming to DVDNovember 10.
- Get in line: True Blood's Stephen Moyer wants gay sex scene with Alexander Skarsgård.
- Ewan McGregor to play son to Christopher Plummer's gay dad in Beginners.


Glee:
- In what may be a first, the first half of Glee's debut season will be released on DVD while the season is still in progress. Glee, Volume One: Road to Sectionals goes on sale December 29 (click here to pre-orderfrom Amazon.com).
- A germaphobe guidance counselor's worst enemy: Jessalyn Gilsig on playing Terri Schuester.
- Watch This: Kurt/Puck slash.

Videodrone:
- Trailer Park: You'll laugh, you'll cry ... the Toy Story 3 trailer!
- Lin-Manuel Miranda goes viral for the tour of his Tony winning musical In the Heights.

Awards Watch:
- The eight documentary short subjects short-listed for the 2009 Oscars includes Tell Them Anything You Want: A Portrait of Maurice Sendak, author of Where the Wild Things Are.

Coming to TV:
- A Fantasy Island reality show and a Hawaii 5-0 remake. (Go on say it ... "Book 'em, Danno!")


Kish:
- One Life to Live diva Robin Strasser (a.k.a. the devious Dr. Dorian Lord) talks to The Advocate about her lesbian wedding storyline and her own support of GLBT rights.

In the News:
- California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed the bill to approve "Harvey Milk Day". GayPolitics.com reports that the Oscar-winning movie Milk helped.

The Latest on TV:
- George Takei and Brad Altman make game show history as the first gay couple to ever appear on The Newlywed Game. The episode airs tomorrow night on the Game Show Network.


Out in Film:
- The Los Angeles Times chats with T.R. Knight about his Grey's Anatomy exit and the "complex musical" Parade.
- Tab Hunter's "tell-all autobiography" to become a "tell-all documentary".
- Upon the release of his new cover album, Colton Ford talks about the "virtues of the flesh and the joys of song".
- Bryan Singer hints he may return to the X-Men universe.
- Here's a tease of Adam Lambert's "Time for Miracles", a.k.a. "The Love Theme from 2012".

RIP:
- Irish pop star Stephen Gately, of Boyzone fame, passed away suddenly Saturday while on vacation in Mallorca. He was only 33 years old. Here's a video of Boyzone performing "No Matter What" (from the musical version of Whistle Down the Wind) during the Andrew Lloyd Webber Celebration at Royal Albert Hall.

Potent Quotables:
- Actor Said Mohamed on his new film Colonial Gods: "I was aware of the gay content in the film but this did not bother me. I am a Muslim but I approached the project in a professional manner, as I hope most actors would."

MD News Desk: Tooth & Nails

Keep up to date with all the latest from the entertainment world with the MD News Desk:

Videodrone:
- Trailer Park: The new A Nightmare on Elm Street (starring Watchmen's Jackie Earle Haley as Freddy Krueger), Duane Johnson is the Tooth Fairy and Bradley Cooper and Eric "McSteamy" Dane go gay in Valentine's Day.
- Dancing with the Stars Watch: Debi Mazar and Maksim Chmerkovskiy do the "El Tango de Roxanne" from Moulin Rouge!, Kathy Ireland and Tony Dovolani perform to "Shall We Dance" from The King and I and Aaron Carter and Karina Smirnoff (with special guests) take on ... "The Muppet Show Theme"?

Tune in to TCM:
This week's star spotlights on Turner Classic Movies: Leslie Caron (Monday), Esther Williams (Tuesday), Goldie Hawn (Wednesday) and Paul Muni (Saturday).

Cinematic Crushes:
- Casting About: Leonardo DiCaprio in the mystery The Deep Blue Goodbye, Josh Brolin replaces Sean Penn in the drama Cartel and Hugh Jackman in the futuristic boxing flick Real Steel.
- Speaking of Jackman, here he is with Daniel Craig in Broadway's A Steady Rain. And if you're planning to see it, remember to turn off your cel phones ... our he'll go Wolverine on your ass.
- Surprise of the Week: James Franco will be visiting Port Charles for an extended guest stint on the daytime soap General Hospital starting next month.

Coming Soon:
- Sequel Watch: The Dark Crystal 2, Kill Bill 3, Transformers 3 and, following all the recent headlines, the documentary Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired.
- And in Remake News, Oscar nominee Richard Jenkins joins the cast of the Americanized Let the Right One In.
- Sex and the City 2 Watch: Liza to perform Beyoncé’s "Single Ladies" at the gay wedding.


From Screen to Stage:
- Priscilla Queen of the Desert will strut to Broadway in early 2011.
- David Ogden Stiers is among the new cast of the Broadway return of Irving Berlin's White Christmas.
- Shrek the Musical adds "I'm a Believer" to its score.
- Hairspray Tony winners Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman to pen the score for a new stage version of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
- Prior to Broadway, Douglas Hodge will reprise his Olivier Award-winning performance of Albin/Zaza in London's La Cage aux Folles.
- Tony winner Ann Reinking will choreograph the Time After Time musical.

Hands Off the Merchandise:
- Hello, gorgeous! Mattel releasing a Barbra Streisand Barbie. The "little plastic diva is ready to sing on The Ed Sullivan Show, direct The Prince of Tides or blog furiously about her political beliefs". Pre-order now from EntertainmentEarth.com.

GLBT Entertainment:
- Thanks to such shows as Brothers & Sisters, Glee, Modern Family and Ugly Betty (whose season premiere, by the by, has been delayed a week), GLAAD reports that broadcast television now boasts the highest number of GLBT characters ever.
- Glenn Close to host a special pre-show for the world premieres of The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later.
- Stritchie herself, Nicol Paone, talks about the upcoming season of The Big Gay Sketch Show.
- Project Runway winner Christian Siriano set to star in his own reality series.
- The Real L Word is looking for lesbians while Bravo's Kept is looking for, well, kept boys (or those who really want to be).

Kish:
- Rumor Watch: Is One Life to Live on the verge of cancellation? And if so, is "Kish" moving to All My Children? The Advocate's Soapside tells you what you can do to help save it.

Out in Film:
- The Power of Two, the new duets CD featuring Cheyenne Jackson and Michael Feinstein, will hit stores November 3. (Click hereto pre-order from Amazon.com.)
- In more Cheyenne news: is the Broadway hunk joining 30 Rock?
- David Greenspan, currently starring in the Broadway revival of The Royal Family, fills out Playbill.com's Cue & A.
- Riot grrrl Carrie Brownstein turns to acting in the indie drama Some Days Are Better Than Others.
- Rufus Wainwright on his new concert movie, Milwaukee at Last!!!
- AfterElton.com interviews Sam and Dan McMillen, the gay brothers on the run on this season's Amazing Race.
- Carol Leifer is working on two upcoming sitcoms, one starring Marlee Matlin and Mario Cantone, the other about a pregnant woman, her ex-husband and her new girlfriend.
- Boy George to return to the Taboo stage for an Up Close and Personal concert.


Women We Love:
- Madonna raises her arms across the ages.
- Guest Star Watch: Kathy Najimy on Desperate Housewives and Shakira on Ugly Betty.
- Barbara Cook and Vanessa Williams will star in yet another Stephen Sondheim revue, Sondheim on Sondheim.
- Character actress supreme Holland Taylor chats about her lesbian past with AfterEllen.com.