Geeks on Film: 5 Gay Men Discuss Their 10 Favorite Gay Movies

One of my favorite things to do is talk movies with friends. For whatever reason, I am really adverse to using the term BEST. There is no such thing as a best or worst movie. It's all so entirely subjective. So, instead, I invited four pals, all well versed in movies, but all from entirely different backgrounds, to share with us their ten favorite gay movies and why the movie means something to them. Hopefully, between the five of us, there will be a movie or two that might be worth checking out! Please tell us if we left something off that is really worth mentioning!

Matthew Rettenmund

Acclaimed novelist and pop-culture historian. Among his many accomplishments, Matthew was the founder of Popstar! Magazine back in 1998 and was Editor in Chief of the publication until 2012. He wrote the novel turned movie Boy Culture. And, he is well known for his books such as Encyclopedia Madonnica and Hillary Duff: All Access. www.BoyCulture.com

1) Parting Glances
A heart-breaking romance, but not the one you think, set in '80s NYC that perfectly captures the place and time, using AIDS in the telling of a larger story in an unaffected way that suggested empathy instead of sympathy. Steve Buscemi's break-out role, and he's never been better.

2) My Beautiful Laundrette
Madly romantic and quaintly humorous British love story that tackles race, class and sexual identity all at once.

3) Paris Is Burning
A deceptively slight documentary that presents gay and trans people as they struggle to self-actualize and even to survive. Painfully honest piece with real flashes of black humor.

4) The Boys in the Band
Often derided for being dated, I think the only truly dated aspect is the use of credit as a character flaw.
Face it—everyone knows or has been one of these guys: a vicious queen, an even more vicious queen, a non confrontational good-time guy, a slut, a jealous hubby, a flamboyant cut-up, a closet case. Their interaction is brilliantly compelling.

5) My Own Private Idaho
An emotionally raw performance from River Phoenix uplifts a sad, sweeping story of unrequited love and unrealized potential.

6) A Single Man
An exquisite-looking period piece as thoughtful as it is stylish that presents one gay man's life a few decades before it would have been a lot easier.

7) Head On
I'm not a fan of grotesquely anti-gay gay films (Cruising comes to mind), nor do I dismiss out of hand gay films with negative portrayals. This shocking film about a sex addict and his relentless desire to self-destruct blew me away.

8) Victim
Inarguably important in the gay canon, a very early film on gay issues (the first English film to use the word "homosexual") that portrays the utter fear and paranoia rampant in gay circles pre-Stonewall. Dirk Bogarde was fearless to star in this

9) Bound
A hilarious and sexy lesbian drama that surprises at every turn, with great chemistry between Gina Gershon and Jennifer Tilly.

10) Maurice
A guilty pleasure, this lush period romance would have thrilled its author, who labored over it and then could never publish it in his lifetime. The scene where Scudder comes up that ladder is a boner for the ages.

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Greg Fox
Creator of long running, syndicated LGBT comic Kyle's Bed & Breakfast. Greg Fox began making comics at 12 years old, publishing his first strip at age 14 and continuing to illustrate and write comic strips through high school and college. He received a B.A. from Geneseo College in upstate New York. His illustration work has appeared in comic books for such companies as Revolutionary Comics, Triumphant Comics, and Marvel Comics.

**In no particular order...**

1) Torch Song Trilogy

This was probably the first "gay movie" I ever saw, and it was kind of earthshaking for me, at the time, to see all of that "gay life" going on onscreen. Sharply written and well-acted. The scenes of Harvey Fierstein going up against his mother, (Anne Bancroft), are truly remarkable.

2) Love! Valour! Compassion! 

Spectacular cast makes this Broadway play-turned movie come to life. John Glover, especially, (Lex Luthor's father from Smallville), plays a double role here, (as very different twin brothers), and really steals the show. And it's wonderful seeing Jason Alexander, (Seinfeld), breaking the boundaries of George Costanza.

3) Make the Yuletide Gay

Finally a gay Christmas movie! So cute and funny and warm.... and the mother in this, (Kelly Keaton), owns the screen in every scene she's in!

4) Redwoods 

A quiet, romantic film that's just kind of heart wrenching & sweet. The two male leads have amazing chemistry, and it's beautifully filmed in California redwood country.

5) Yossi & Jagger 

Another heart wrenching drama, this one set in wartime between 2 Israeli soldiers. It all feels very real and edgy and important, somehow. A sequel has been made, but I haven't seen it yet.

6) Big Eden 

Lovely film set in gorgeous western mountain country. The cinematography alone is so breathtaking.... certainly one of the most beautifully filmed, high-budget looking LGBT films I have ever seen. Thankfully, it's also got a great, romantic story and wonderful, wacky cast of characters to really make this a stellar film.

7) Parting Glances 

I did not see this when it first was released in the 1980s, but apparently it was one of the first quality, authentic LGBT films to ever be made. It still holds up today... a smart script and tight story about a gay couple on the edge of breaking up, led by two great actors, (disclaimer: I may have a bit of a bias here, being that I know one of the lead actors, John Bolger, who happens to live here in my town!). And Steve Buscemi does a terrific job in one of his first film roles.

8) The Sum of Us 

Part of the thrill of this Australian film is seeing a very young Russell Crowe in one of his first film roles playing a gay character. The dynamic between him & his father, (Jack Thompson), is nicely played. The film takes a bit of an unexpected dark turn towards the end, making it not quite the feel-good comedy it starts out as. 

Nick Scotti in Kiss Me Guido

9) In & Out 

This felt important to me at the time, as I believe it was one of the first mainstream gay romantic comedy dramas, featuring big-time actors, (Kevin Kline, Tom Selleck), playing gay roles. Mainstream it may be, but it is genuinely funny and sharply written, with great performances, (Joan Cusack is hysterical). throughout. (Another disclaimer: I have a special connection with this film as it was shot on location here in my hometown of Northport, so I may be a bit biased about this one, too!).

10) Kiss Me, Guido  

Maybe it's the fact that I'm part Italian-American, (my mother's family, obviously not the Fox family!), and I'm from New York, that this film really hit home for me. Yes, it's a bit silly and broadly played.... but it's also wildly funny and has some sharp, incisive moments throughout. Sadly, this movie is STILL not available on DVD, making it a hard one to see if you haven't already seen it. But I think it's worth the effort, if you can find a VHS copy, (and it you happen to have a VCR!).

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Bryan Pittard

Bryan Pittard is the creator and host of Flame ON!, a gay and geeky podcast that comes out every other Friday, available on iTunes, SoundCloud, and www.flameonshow.com. When he’s not podcasting, he’s helping his partner Pat with Bears in the City events around Orlando, or practicing his theremin.

1) The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert
What is now a classic gay movie and stage musical was once, to me, just a fabulous gay indie film starring Superman’s General Zod (Terrance Stamp), The Matrix’s Agent Smith (Hugo Weaving), and a hot Alex from The Time Machine (Guy Pearce). Take these awesome Aussies, mix in some killer drag, a touch of Abba, and a poignant plot and you’ve got a timeless classic that stands head over heals above the rest!

2) Angels in America
To this day, I get chills hearing Thomas Newman’s lush oboe part of the opening theme to the movie adaptation of Angels in America, Tony Kushner’s fantasy on gay life in the 80’s around the advent of AIDS in the United States. While the rest of the score is equally lovely, they are exceeded by the brilliant acting from Meryl Streep, Emma Thompson, Justin Kirk, and Al Pacino.

3) Another Gay Movie
Inspired heavily by the raunchy American Pie movies, Another Gay Movie sought to lampoon previous queer movies and archetypes with its own irreverent brand of sex romp. Featuring ridiculous performances by Scott Thompson from The Kids in the Hall and the elfish, British talk show host Graham Norton, this movie is a gloriously inappropriate way to celebrate gay youth and all of its misadventures.

4) But I’m a Cheerleader
If you like Ru Paul but haven’t seen But I’m a Cheerleader, you’re missing out on this darkly satirical look at gay conversion therapy. Mama Ru is featured in her boy drag as one of the camp’s chief counselors, shepherding young Natasha Lyonne (Orange is the New Black), Clea DuVall (American Horror Story), and Michelle Williams (Dawson’s Creek) through the hilarious and twisted camp program.

5) Pageant
Thanks in no small part to the documentary Pageant and watching countless hours of Ru Paul’s Drag Race, I have come to greatly appreciate the craft of being a drag queen. This documentary features the road for 3 up-and-coming pageant queens to claim the title of Miss Gay America, and pulls few punches depicting the agony and the ecstasy of being a drag queen in the cut-throat pageant world.

6) Jeffrey
We all know how fabulous Patrick Stewart is as Captain Picard, Professor Xavier, and palling around with his heterosexual life partner Ian McKellen, but did you know he was also fabulous playing an older gay man in 1995’s Jeffrey? This movie was one of the more successful early attempts at a mainstream gay romantic comedy starring Wing’s Steven Weber as the eponymous main character and tells a lovely if just a little idealized tale of finding love as a gay man.

7) Bear City

After years of watching queer movies about twinks, drag queens, and silver foxes, we finally got a movie for the bears! Bear City is a delightful romp through the bear community of New York City, with an honest yet endearing story of bears, chasers, and otters as they live and love and yes, cause a bit of drama with each other.

8) Beautiful Thing
One of the first queer movies I ever saw was the British drama Beautiful Thing, a story of two gay teens falling in love in working class London in the 90’s. Featuring music from Mama Cass Elliot, this is the coming-of-age, queer love story that all adolescents should watch to learn that life can not only get better, but also it can also be beautiful.

9) Love! Valour! Compassion!
Love! Valour! Compassion! by Terrence McNally is a hilarious and powerful play about gay men and their relationships, and the film adaptation with Jason Alexander (Seinfeld) and John Glover (Smallville), among many others, captures the joy of the show perfectly.

10) Shortbus
John Cameron Mitchell’s unique and controversial follow-up to Hedwig and the Angry Inch was the movie Shortbus, an anthology of stories about sex and sexuality in and around the bohemian club of the same name. With the actors in this film all actually having sex with each other on film, what starts out as titillation quickly turns into sentiment, exploring the boundaries between love and sex and all points in between. Also, after watching this movie, you’ll never be able to hear “The Star Spangled Banner” again without thinking dirty thoughts.

Shortbus

Robert Patterson

An avid film lover, Robert enjoys the very best of movies by going to the Sundance Film Festival every year, to the worst of movies – who doesn’t like a double feature of Baby Geniuses and Showgirls? While his day-job has him overseeing a nonprofit organization focusing on children and families, he loves to travel and you will likely find him following Madonna around on tour. He’s a devoted set-jetter - finding and visiting locations and documenting for the world to see in his blog at movielocationsandmore.blogspot.com.

1) Longtime Companion 

The first film to come to mind when I was coming up with this list, Longtime Companion came at a turning point for me personally as well as the time for AIDS awareness in the nation. Add a gay “Jake Ryan” and you can do no wrong! The final image of the film captured for the posters and marketing is heartbreakingly memorable.

2) Parting Glances 

One of the first gay-themed movies I rented on VHS (!) back in the day, I felt like I caught a glimpse of what life was like for a NYC gay. Irresistibly cute Adam Nathan and an early appearance by Steve Buscemi made this one a keeper.

3) Brokeback Mountain 

As I’ve included this one not because it was personally meaningful to me, although who couldn’t forget the first tent scene, but for its resonance through our culture at the time. They don’t call it the Brokeback Effect for nothing.

4) The Celluloid Closet 

As an avid film-lover, I was absolutely smitten with this Lily Tomlin-narrated journey of gays hiding in plain sight in the cinema. At times it is hilarious to hear how they got around the censors, other times it is sickening and a reminder that many films still tiptoe carefully around the subject.

5) Mysterious Skin

Picking up Scott Heim’s masterpiece of a book on a whim, I was infatuated with this story of two boys’ journey in a small Kansas town. I thought it would be unfilmable, but Gregg Araki created his best work yet and made me a Joseph Gordon-Levitt lover for life. I actually visited locations for this movie for my blog!


6) Doing Time on Maple Drive

This one is likely forgotten by many, but I vividly remember watching this in my college dorm room knowing my parents were watching it at home as I had recently came out to them. It was all too easy to see myself in this story, a rarity for me.

7) Far From Heaven

Oh how Julianne Moore shines in this movie! Todd Haynes creates a mesmerizing world of the downlow life in the 1950s where Dennis Quaid just can’t say no to men and Julianne can’t say no to Dennis Haysbert.

8) Cruising

Another early VHS-rental, this dark film showed the seedier side of gay underground culture in 1980 New York City. This would push any self-respecting preppy kid back in the closet. My naïveté kept me from knowing what was even happening screen some of the time, but there some things you just can’t unsee!

9) Jeffrey

Perpetuating that all men in New York are gay, Jeffrey was a reminder that we are here for each other, fun and love. Sigourney Weaver commands the screen in her short scene as a new age self-help guru, I could rewatch it all day.

10) Common Threads 

Stories From The Quilt: Another benchmark for the gay community, I remembering seeing this film in my documentary class and being flabbergasted by Bryant Gumbel’s change in tone in two different news clips. In the first clip he is almost smiling as he introduced a story on a disease affecting gay men. A few years later, he takes an opposite and somber tone when he relays that AIDS is affecting women and straight men at alarming rates.

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Lee's Picks!
As the head writer for AdamMaleBlog, I get to chime in, too!

1) Get Real
Wow. This UK based movie is really touching to me as it is perhaps the most realistic depiction of growing up gay in middle class society. There is no major drama happening in this movie. No one dies. No rampant drug use or personal tragedy to overcome. Just a tale of two young men coming to terms with their homosexuality and making mistakes along the way.

2) Beautiful Thing 

Another great UK movie about growing up gay. Jamie and Ste are lower income working class teens coping with family problems and their burgeoning relationship. This movie does a great job showing how parenting can really affect the lives of children and how children can affect the lives of their parents. This is a must watch.

3) Longtime Companion 

My favorite of all the 80s movies made about the AIDS epidemic, back before there were effective treatments. This movie hits you like a kick in the guts as you watch all of the characters you have come to love slowly die off. 

4) The Sum of Us 

Aussie film staring a young Russel Crowe as a gay man whose charming father is ardently trying to help him date. Dad suffers and unfortunate stroke and the movie takes a sad turn. But, overall, one of the most sweet and well made movies about gay dating as an adult.

5) My Beautiful Laundrette

Way back when Daniel Day Lewis was a smokin' hot young man. This movie tackles a boat load of important social issues all while being wonderfully entertaining. 

6) Bad Education

I was kind of expecting Pedro Almodovar movies to be all over this list. The incredible Gael Garcia Bernal is at his very best in this film as he plays an out of work actor hoping to land the role of a lifetime. The plot of this movie gets quite complex as it deals with murder, sexual abuse, and betrayal, but I do not want to accidentally give any spoilers. You must watch this film.

7) C.R.A.Z.Y.

Why more people aren't hip to this amazing movie is beyond me. It follows the life of Zac, a young gay man dealing with homophobia while growing up with four brothers and a conservative father in Quebec during the 1960s and 1970s. It's brilliant!

C.R.A.Z.Y.

8) Hedwig and the Angry Inch

What John Cameron Mitchell and Stephen Trask accomplished with Hedwig is astonishing. You really feel for Hedwig as she completes her journey from gullible young man, to angry, control freak rocker, and finally to becoming a complete human being in the end. This movie allows you to despise the protagonists behavior while still wanting to love them. 

9) Maurice

One of my favorite Merchant Ivory adaptations of an EM Forrester novel. Being homosexual in England in the early 1900s can get you sent to jail. So, we watch the lives of two young men who clearly are in love, but one is entirely too scared to act on it as it might ruin his station in life. Meanwhile, he is forced to look on in jealousy as the other finds a meaningful relationship. It's great acting all the way around.

10) A Single Man 

I had trouble deciding whether or not to include this movie because the ending seemed like such a Hollywood cop-out to me. When you watch, you will see what I mean. But the acting job by Nicholas Hoult and Colin Firth are so transcendent, you can get over the annoying contrivances and forced plot line.

A Single Man

Encyclopedia Madonnica 20th Anniversary Update: An Interview w/ Author Matthew Rettenmund

In 1995, Matthew Rettenmund's Encyclopedia Madonnica made its debut thanks to publishing house St. Martin’s Press. For those unaware, Encyclopedia Madonnica is a humorous, irreverently reverent, exhaustive, unofficial A-to-Z on the life and career of Madonna.  Well, up until that point in time. Twenty years has passed, so Matthew Rettenmund has decided to update the book to include the happenings, both good and bad, of the last two decades.

To help raise funds, and keep creative control over the project, Matthew launched a Kickstarter campaign full of all sorts of amazing perks. Donors can walk away with tons of awesome incentives such as signed and numbered copies of EM20 when it comes out in 2015 or perhaps some exceedingly rare Madonna memorabilia from Rettenmund's personal collection. You can read more about it HERE!

Matthew was the founder of Popstar! Magazine back in 1998 and was Editor in Chief of the publication until 2012. Popstar! was the very first teen entertainment title to be published in full color on glossy paper. It is credited as being the blueprint for the teen celebrity magazine market as we currently know it. All the other magazines started imitating Popstar's look and feel. And as they say, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Matthew was the first to cover future teen idols Zac Efron, Hilary Duff, Jessica Simpson, the Jonas Brothers and more.

But, we are just getting started. Rettenmund is also an acclaimed novelist and pop-culture historian. His books include the novel Blind Items: A (Love) Story (1998) and pop-culture non-fiction books Totally Awesome '80s (1996) and Hilary Duff: All Access (2005). And let's not forget the hilarious, politically incorrect spoof Queer Baby Names: A Completely Irreverent Guide to Naming Your Lesbian/Gay Tot, which he co-wrote with Jaye Zimet.

But, perhaps most popular of all is Matthew Rettnemund's 1995 clever, insightful debut novel Boy Culture, which was made into a highly entertaining movie in 2006 by Q. Allan Brocka. The film played at Tribeca, Outfest, NewFest and tons of other film festivals around the world. Author Nick Hornby (High Fidelity, About a Boy) praised Boy Culture, "...Mr. Rettenmund's little throw-away deconstructions of Madonna...and his run-through of current gay 'types' are genuinely new. We need an observer like this, someone capable of analysis and interpretation, simply because what he is observing is constantly reinventing itself... Matthew Rettenmund, with his sharp eye and his careful, knowing prose, sounds like one of the freshest voices on the block." The Boy Culture movie is on Netflix right now. Go watch it!

Matthew was kind enough to sit down with us for an interview about the update to Encyclopedia Madonnica and what the future holds for his already amazing career. Be sure to visit Matthew's incredible BoyCulture Blog! Follow him on Twitter, too!



Q: For me, one of the most impressive things about Madonna in the last 20 years is that she actually took guitar lessons and began playing live. How shocking was it to hear her bust out Pantera riffs on the song “Hung Up” during the 2008 Sticky and Sweet Tour?
Matt: I think that while some purists rolled their eyes at Madonna's guitar-playing exploits, I always thought it was a great example of the fact that Madonna is not creatively stagnant, she is not a nostalgia act. After (at that point) 20 years in the business, she was still (and is still) bored and looking for new ways to express herself and just to mix it up. It was also a good reminder of why Madonna would later be inducted into the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame the first year she was eligible—she's dabbled in many types of music, but she rocks.

Q: In your interview on Good Day NY (1995) you confidently stated, “She (Madonna) is not over and she’s not going to be over anytime soon.” You were clearly 100% on the money. What is the secret behind her staying power?
Matt: Madonna is, inarguably, the "It" girl of her generation; she's the one everyone who was a teenager in the '80s would recognize as the female in charge of pop culture. (Later followed by Britney Spears and, I would argue, Beyoncé.) By virtue of the fact that she is imprinted in our pop cultural DNA, anything and everything she does going forward is relevant and interesting, whether charming or infuriating. On top of that, Madonna has aggressively continued to push boundaries and release music on a regular basis. She is seen as highly manipulative, as if any time she is in the news it's due to her own machinations, but on top of being cunning in that way, Madonna often seems to luck into notoriety. Anyone who dislikes Madonna/her work enough to pretend she is irrelevant has Madonna Derangement Syndrome, because this chick could Instagram a dump and it would be on every blog ever. Even discontinued blogs.

Q: While looking back at the news reports from your Kickstarter video, it made me cringe to hear people make lewd, judgmental sexual references about Madonna. Why was it so popular to hate her back then?
Matt: I don't think the gender-based hate and slut-shaming against Madonna has ever completely vanished.
Back then, "Rolling Stone" helped that along by publishing its first cover story on Madonna, in which the writer implied she was a user who'd slept her way to a record deal and, therefore, all her success. Women are either/or in pop culture—either a legit artist or a sexual plaything. Madonna got the brunt of the tension by presenting herself as an unapologetically sexual woman who was also interested in having something to say. In some ways, Madonna self-sabotages in this area, because just when she gets to a place where it's unfashionable to look down on her for being a slut, she exposes herself in some way that brings the condemnation back. I think she thinks she's doing something right if she's pissing off people who are misogynistic, sexually conservative and, as time goes by, ageist.

Q: What part of Madonna’s life are you most excited go into detail about in the 20th Anniversary update?
Matt: This is a hard one...keep in mind, when I wrote the first edition, she wasn't doing "Evita" and there was no "Ray of Light," let alone non-career stuff like motherhood, her marriage to Guy Ritchie and her recent social-media antics. I think I'll plunge into the "MDNA" era first, just because it's so reminiscent of early, sexual-terrorist Madonna.

Q: Is anything about Madonna’s life that is too personal or off limits?
Matt: My goal with the book, as last time, is not necessarily to ferret out new bits of highly personal info. Rather, the book catalogues what is known and in some ways is a commentary on how ridiculous it is that we know it! For example, in the last edition, "abortions" was one of the first entries, not because I was digging up rumors on how many she's had (quite a few, apparently), but because it was pretty amazing to me that while promoting "Bedtime Stories" she had been asked to confirm or deny whether she had had "several" abortions. She confirmed. That was radical then and isn't much less radical now—there are so many so-called "pro-life" people, especially in the U.S., that many women who are public figures would never admit to having had the perfectly legal procedure. That said, I do plan on making "EM20" different from its predecessor by conducting more original interviews and getting quotes and input from various players in the Madonna story. I believe most of them will be contributing factoids about Madonna's work and process more than what is going on up in her legendary uterus.

Q: Do you have a favorite Madonna era? Or is that one of those completely impossible questions to answer?
Matt: I love Madonna when she's very good and very bad, but I think my favorite periods are 1985 and especially 1989-1991. The earlier choice is because that's when she was new but had had a couple of years to perfect her act. But I think the perfect storm for Madonna was 1989-1991. Every artist has periods when they are on their game and off, and I can't think of many who were just as inspired when they were older as they were when they were younger. Unfortunately, people love the concept of "oh, I only like their EARLY stuff." For me, I like it all, and pointing to a time 20+ years ago when I think Madonna was fuh-law-less doesn't mean she isn't also fantastic today. Madonna has remained more vibrant creatively than any other artist of her era. Hell, just by still being alive she's outdone some of her most famous peers.

Rare prints available as a perk from the Kickstarter Campaign! 

Q: In your Kickstarter campaign, you are offering up some really rare Madonna memorabilia from your personal collection. What are some of the items you own that you would never part with?
Matt: That's a hard question because I did put up for sale some things I thought I wouldn't sell (some have sold, some might stay with me depending on pledges!). Things I would be reluctant to part with: "Island" Magazine 1983, the first magazine for which she specifically posed for the cover—it's hard, though not impossible, to find, plus I own the original test Polaroids and several of the rubber bracelets she wore; I'm wild about Polaroids in general and have some crazy-great ones it would really hurt to part with (vogueing into the camera during her "Glamour" Magazine cover shoot in 1990, sidled up to Rosanna Arquette during her Herb Ritts "Desperately Seeking Susan" session); an incredibly rare, die-cut, 6-month calendar made in Japan at the very beginning, featuring the photography of Curtis Knapp. Some of the things I cherish the most are magazine covers because back in the day, they were extremely challenging to find (pre-Internet, pre-eBay), so I still have that charge of MISSION: ACCOMPLISHED when I see them. I'm big on ephemera: Magazines, ads, promotional stand ups, photography. I'm less attached to things like items Madonna wore and CDs/vinyl (though the music on them is #1).

Q: Your life has changed dramatically in the last 20 years as well. You have helped break the careers of numerous young stars such as Zac Efron, Hilary Duff, Jessica Simpson, the Jonas Brothers and more. You’ve had hit books, a movie, etc…what is on the horizon for you?
Matt: Working at the teen magazine I created was very rewarding and fun, and was yet another example of how fame has touched me and molded my life. First up, I need to finish a "funny memoir" (let's hope!) that I'm doing called "Starf*cker" for Lethe Press (spring 2015). It's a series of vignettes that I hope will make people laugh and will make people think about celebrity's light and dark sides. Plus it's a good chance to gossip about all the about-to-be-famous people I encountered when I was in magazine publishing, including my previous career at a porn-magazine publisher and all my encounters with stars at these incredible autograph shows I love attending and dissecting. After that, also sometime in the spring, will be when "EM20" will come out. Beyond that, I'm just looking for the next career re-invention. Unlike Madonna, I'm not doing it to make a statement, I'm doing it to make rent!