#kristen stewart is now my new major crush

[amorchai]

would ANYONE read for sabina wilson from charlie’s angels or is that too niche a character and fandom for people to want fanfics for?

[tabloidtoc]

National Enquirer, October 12

You can buy a copy of this issue for your very own at my eBay store: https://www.ebay.com/str/bradentonbooks

Cover: Queen Elizabeth’s 73-year sham marriage to Prince Philip��collapses

Page 2: Kanye West is in top-secret talks to launch his own TV network and is crowing it will be bigger than the Kardashians -- he wants it to reflect his lofty vision of what the world should be and to provide a spiritual awakening for the masses but he doesn’t realize there aren’t a lot of people who want to spend hours a day listening to him rant about how the world would be a better place if he was in charge -- meanwhile Kim Kardashian is at the end of her rope again 

Page 3: Furious Angelina Jolie is tearing into Brad Pitt’s new girlfriend Nicole Poturalski blasting her as a scheming psycho and as a borderline stalker who is dating Brad just to get famous and it’s going to end in disaster for the whole family not just him so she’s already told Brad to keep Nicole away from their kids and she’s looking to make this part of their ongoing legal case 

Page 4: Newly single Kelly Clarkson has enlisted fellow country star Maren Morris to help her find a new man -- Maren advised Kelly to use her talk show to connect with men she admires but Kelly may have taken her advice a little too literally when she had her crush Keanu Reeves on the show and was drooling all over him though she knows it’s probably wishful thinking 

Page 5: Ellen DeGeneres kicked off her new season by publicly apologizing for allegations of misconduct on her talk show but body language experts blasted her remarks as tone deaf and missing the mark totally 

Page 6: Jimmy Fallon’s wife Nancy Juvonen is furious over the time he spends nurturing his bond with close pal Kathie Lee Gifford -- Jimmy loves to reminisce about the old days at NBC with the former Today yakker especially during today’s challenging times and he worships her and he’s the only late-night host who treats Kathie Lee like an A-lister but Nancy can’t stand Kathie Lee’s constant self-obsessed talk and considers her a squeaky third wheel 

Page 7: Cher keeps trying to turn back time with plastic surgery but the results have been disastrous and although she insists her most recent work is a facelift her kisser is frozen and packed with Botox and fillers and lip injections -- she also appears to have had a nose job and a face and neck lift to achieve a smooth jawline and neck and the results have left Cher barely able to move her face and even made it difficult for her to speak let alone sing, disgraced chef Paula Deen had emergency eye surgery this summer in a desperate bid to save her sight -- Paula had been suffering from declining vision for months and was shocked when doctors told her the cornea was dying and going under the knife was necessary to save her sight 

Page 10: Hot Shots -- Tiger Woods took a brief break during practice, Leighton Meester caught some waves in Malibu, Kristen Taekman in a New York Jets bikini, Dolph Lundgren doffed his mask after leaving a lunch date in Beverly Hills, Dominic Cooper took his electric bike for a spin in London 

Page 11: Cash-strapped Tori Spelling and husband Dean McDermott are back in couples therapy and on the verge of filing for bankruptcy -- they’re in counseling for the same old stuff which is their constant fighting and spending money and work that isn’t happening -- the parents of five were hit with tax liens totaling nearly $1 million and were also sued by American Express over an unpaid credit card bill of almost $90,000 which Tori asked her mother Candy Spelling who is worth about $600 million to pay but Candy refused and after Candy revealed her plans to leave her fortune to animal charities Tori and Dean may file for bankruptcy because they both love to spend, Bravo bigwigs are hoping hotel heiress Kathy Hilton will fill the vacancy left by Denise Richards and Teddi Mellencamp on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills and producers are trying to keep ratings high by getting veteran Kyle Richards to recruit sister and former castmate Kim Richards and half sister Kathy -- Kathy is said to be high on producers’ wish list because of her wit and humor and is also considered old-school Beverly Hills and show brass want her to bring a certain glamour and sophistication to the show 

Page 12: Straight Shuter -- Demi Lovato at a NYC screening party (picture), when the ball drops on New Year’s Eve in Times Square Anderson Cooper won’t be there because he would rather be at home with his baby boy, The Bachelor has cut all ties with Colton Underwood after his ex Cassie Randolph got a temporary restraining order against him, Teresa Giudice plans to move to NYC after listing her New Jersey mansion but she still wants to keep her job on The Real Housewives of New Jersey and to get around that Teresa hopes to pretend she’s moved into her brother Joe Gorga’s home in Jersey 

Page 13: John Legend revealed couples therapy helps strengthen his marriage to Chrissy Teigen and said they keep their romance going strong by communicating and being considerate and listening, Jackie Stallone was more than just Sylvester Stallone’s mom -- she was also one of the world top astrologers and psychics who predicted the fall of the Berlin Wall and Kanye West’s presidential run 

Page 14: Crime -- convicted Melrose Place killer Amy Locane is in lockup again for a fatal 2010 drunk-driving smashup that took one life and nearly took another after a New Jersey Superior Court Judge said she got off too easy by serving two years behind bars and sentenced Amy to eight more years in state prison 

Page 15: The gruesome house of horrors where Drew Carey’s ex-fiancee Amie Harwick brutally met her untimely end is on the market for $1.5 million and her family can’t wait to get rid of it, Shannen Doherty is in pretty good spirits amid her ongoing battle with stage 4 breast cancer according to her former Beverly Hills 90210 co-star Jason Priestley

Page 16: Cover Story -- After decades of turning a blind eye to her husband’s cheating Queen Elizabeth’s 72-year marriage has shockingly collapsed and Prince Philip is now banished to a remote cottage far away from the monarch -- despite royal courtiers painting a rosy picture of the couple quarantining together at Windsor Castle since March the truth is their marriage has been a sham for decades and they’ve been living separate lives for over 50 years and all this forced togetherness was simply too much for them -- Philip has been cheating on Elizabeth since before they were married and has several love children; he has rumored to have had flings with actress Helene Cordet and Daphne du Maurier and Pat Kirkwood and Jane Russell and Merle Oberon and Zsa Zsa Gabor and Princess Alexandria and Sacha Duchess of Abercorn and most recently Lady Penny Romsey -- there will be no divorce and they will just quietly continue their separate lives to the end of their days but the queen never wants to see Philip again 

Page 18: Larry King’s estranged wife Shawn Southwick is demanding $33,000 a month in spousal support because she claims she gave up her music and TV career to marry the frail talk show host and then raise their sons Chance and Cannon, Hollywood Hookups -- Halle Berry and Van Hunt dating, 90 Day Fiance stars Ashley Martson and Jay Smith split for good, Justin Duggar dating Claire Spivey 

Page 19: Tom Cruise is set to shoot the first major movie in outer space and he’s headed to the International Space Station in October 2021 with director Doug Liman -- the two and possibly one additional actor will hitch a ride aboard Elon Musk’s SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule to film the unnamed project, the IV needle allegedly used to administer the fatal dose of propofol to Michael Jackson on June 25 of 2009 is up for auction by the estate of the late singer’s father Joe and the chilling item used by Michael’s physician Dr. Conrad Murray is reportedly still stained with Michael’s blood -- it was submitted to the auction by Michael’s cousin Marsha Stewart who says she took it from Michael’s bedroom days after he died, Sharon Stone has pressed her lips on a long list of Hollywood hunks but picked Robert De Niro as far and away the best kisser but rated her other leading men as kind of like meh 

Page 20: Stars Playing Stars -- how they did it -- Muhammad Ali and Will Smith, Frida Kahlo and Salma Hayek, Ray Charles and Jamie Foxx 

Page 21: Marilyn Monroe and Michelle Williams, Queen Elizabeth and Helen Mirren, Billie Holiday and Diana Ross, Bob Dylan and Cate Blanchett 

Page 22: An adopted son of Mia Farrow and Woody Allen has charged it was his mother not his father who was the monster in the family -- Moses Farrow says Woody did not molest adopted daughter Dylan Farrow in 1992 and that he can no longer stay silent as Woody continues to be condemned for a crime he did not commit 

Page 26: Less than nine months after Kobe Bryant and daughter Gianna died in a helicopter crash a vicious feud has ripped the family apart -- the row erupted between his widow Vanessa Bryant and her mother Sofia Laine after Sofia went on TV to publicly accuse her daughter of tossing her out of the family home -- Vanessa feels she’s already given her mom so much and then she heard through the grapevine that Sofia complained she should have more -- it does seem cold that Vanessa would take such action against her mother but she’s ready to take on anyone using her husband and child’s deaths as a selfish cash grab and that includes Sofia 

Page 27: Danny Masterson’s rape trial is looming and the Church of Scientology is doing everything in its power to back the scandal-scarred actor -- the church’s leaders have assigned their top lawyers to aid Danny who is a prominent member of the religion and the lawyers are scouring every law on the books to get the case thrown out or get him acquitted -- the church has previously been accused of trying to get the other side’s defenses dismissed or judges thrown off cases and using all manner of tactics to delay due process 

Page 28: American Life -- Bighearted ex-billionaire Chuck Feeney has spent 38 years giving away nearly all of his vast fortune and the generous do-gooder said he wouldn’t have had it any other way 

Page 29: Famed stoner Willie Nelson can’t stop sampling his own marijuana products and now friends fear the 87-year-old music legend is smoking himself to death -- Willie’s a believer in the powers of cannabis and promotes it passionately but years of smoking has done a number on his lungs and he can barely breathe at times, Julia Duffy has been keeping close a tragic heartache for more than a year -- her only son Danny Lacy committed suicide at age 29 after years of suffering from mental health issues 

Page 34: Comic Kathy Griffin has seen her popularity plummet in recent years and it’s played a role in her plans to sell her sprawling Bel Air estate -- Kathy has burned a lot of bridges and concerts and TV appearances have dried up because of her many industry conflicts so she’s trying to unload her massive manor with wine cellar and movie theater and eight bedrooms for $16 million -- she didn’t want to sell it but the cost and size have become too much for her to handle 

Page 36: Health Watch 

Page 38: CIA bigwigs once hired a psychic to determine if there was life on Mars -- the misguided mission was said to be part of Project Stargate which was launched in 1978 and somehow cost an astronomical $20 million after the CIA hired a man who claimed he could see the surface of the planet in his mind -- the unnamed man claimed he could see huge pyramids and an obelisk structure and road networks on the Red Planet as well as living creatures, John Lennon’s killer Mark David Chapman shocked the parole board when he admitted he deserved the death penalty even as he begged for his freedom at his last hearing -- his murderous motive was seeking self-glory -- the board denied his parole saying they found his statement infamy brings you glory disturbing 

Page 42: Red Carpet -- London Fashion Week 

Page 45: Spot the Differences -- Luke Bryan and his dog Choc 

Page 47: Odd List -- doctors remove granny’s football-sized tumor 

[zinecuntroll]

3 decades of Queer Women making Herstory through Music

Written for Pink Washed Zine issue #3

by Raquel Silva aka Raquel Smith-Cave

             I turned 30 this year, more precisely last August and it’s also been 12 years since I had my first girlfriend. When I started thinking about my queerness more seriously back in 2005/2006 I quickly realized how it wasn’t that usual for girls to be fascinated by Linda Perry in boxer shorts and combat boots like I was at 5 years old. My mom says 4 Non Blondes “What’s up” was my favorite song back then and she even bought the CD so I could listen to it on repeat and not just wait for the video to magically appear on the TV. Thanks Ma!

              Through my teenage years I had “Baby Can I Hold You” by Tracy Chapman constantly playing in my head. Mind you, I always have a song in my mind and I burst into singing at the most unexpected times, it’s mostly an unconscious act which can be embarrassing in front of people who don’t know me well. Honestly I  don’t care much, it’s just a part of my nature and if I’m not murmuring or humming some melody it usually means there’s something wrong. So at around 15/16 I remember starting to sing the chorus for “But you can say baby…” out of nowhere in school breaks or while walking home. This happened constantly and exactly why my brain was stuck with this melody was a complete mystery to me. Maybe I heard it in passing or on the radio…? I could never find the answer but I did buy Tracy’s self-titled vinyl this year during Record Store Day and discovered it was released exactly 30 years ago. It’s a precious record, her voice is warm and familiar and her guitar is so soothing to the soul. I think I finally answered my teenage self on all that musical haunting.

             Cássia Eller is a Brazilian artist who made the 90s a really wholesome, magical, golden time for every lesbian in love with husky voices. Her hit song “Malandragem” was part of this series called Malhação but I only found out she was the mystical singer behind that iconic childhood tune years after listening to it on the show. She tragically died in 2001 and even after that she still created major impact in society, when her longtime girlfriend won custody of their son, after battling against Cássia’s father who had never cared about his daughter until money was involved. Cássia was a shy person who became a complete lion on stage. Humble and almost too pure to handle the hype. She just wanted to sing to people and exorcise her demons while making others happy. Which she did and so much more. Her legacy is tremendous, as it still resonates with so many of us today and the world hasn’t really witnessed anyone quite as ingenious as her ever since.

               It’s 2007 and I’m watching a live concert in a Portuguese music festival on TV featuring a wild ass singer with the screaming voice of my wildest grrrl dreams. It’s The Gossip! And Beth Ditto is rolling around the stage, singing her lungs out in front of a pretty chill crowd. I wanted to BE THERE. I probably discovered Gossip’s music through CSS who I was obsessed with at the time or probably from watching The L Word. The truth is: the more intrigued I was by the words of this fat, dyke, goddess the more comfortable I felt about my own identity. I was fat for most of my childhood and got bullied for it on a regular basis, just part of being in an all-girls catholic school life I guess. At 13 someone called me “Fufa” which is basically “Dyke�� in Portuguese and it was the most traumatic experience ever. Years later I wish I could have thanked the girl who bullied me out of a closet I wasn’t even aware I was in. I don’t believe I was ever in the closet though. Honestly, falling in love with a girl was just as natural as having crushes on boys. It was just another question I had finally found an answer for. Beth Ditto’s pride in her queerness and blatant attraction to butch people while being a proud femme, fat, dyke made me feel represented in a way I hadn’t seen myself before and ok with my own desires. Ditto!

                The first glance of The L Word I watched I didn’t really enjoyed. The image was dark and the plot seemed so tragic. It was Jenny somewhere in the first season. After one year I finally watched the whole 2 or 3 seasons that were out by then. Tegan and Sara play in one episode and are featured in the soundtrack, which I still go back to sometimes to remember really great tunes. What a blessing to have Tegan and Sara guide you through your first acid trip and “coming out of that closet” am I right Dana? (RIP) My love affair with Canadian people started right there with Tegan’s goofiness and Sara’s witty remarks. By 2007 “The Con” came out and became a staple to the LBGTQ+ community. So much so that the band released a special covers album last year, with many queer artists recreating those magnificent songs. In the records that followed their sound was purposefully re directed to more pop melodies which I couldn’t relate to anymore. They did make good use of their huge platform by launching the Tegan and Sara foundation, which fights for LGBTQ girls and women all over the world with the help of some amazing queer people.

                 The other tiny Canadian who owns my heart is Ellen Page. Ever since Juno, my gaydar was just screaming out loud in every direction possible and I’m so happy that she is now able to be herself freely. Just like Juno, my musical top 3 included Patti Smith and Iggy Pop… but not The Runaways. For me it’s actually Nick Cave. I never gave too much attention to The Runaways, though I knew about Joan Jett and her extremely queer badass persona from being a teenager obsessed with punk rock and riot grrrl herstory. Until Kristen Stewart got cast to play Joan for The Runaways movie and I finally listened to their 70s records. I fell in love with Kristen and Dakota’s version of “Dead End Justice” as well as the original. Gaystew was born to play that part. Just last week I saw Bad Reputation, a documentary about Joan’s life with lots of awesome people speaking about how incredible she is, as both a pioneer for women in rock’n roll and an advocate for human and animal rights. At 60 she’s still rocking the fuck out of leather pants, inspiring kids to start bands, making everyone smitten by her confidence and flipping the finger to the all the hypocritical social definitions of gender, sex and music.

                It’s really difficult to write about Janelle Monáe. Not because I don’t have words but mostly because I have too many. Janelle caught my eye and ears with “Tightrope” where she’s prancing around wearing her uniform, as she proudly used to talk about her suit, an homage to her working class parents and Kansas City upbringing. I saw her live at the end of 2010, at a winter festival, where all my other friends went on to watch Sting’s daughter I Blame Coco and I stood front row waiting for Janelle. It was life changing. She danced, jumped, screamed and even painted something into a blank canvas throughout the whole set. Her band was impeccably orchestrated and the show was extremely cinematic, since many of Janelle’s inspirations are from sci-fi movies. Her music is layered and complex just like her personality. Over the years she has been extremely mysterious, one of the things I appreciated the most about her. This year that changed. After much speculation in the media, she said in an interview she’s pansexual, as someone who has had relationships with men and women, that’s how she identifies more comfortably. Above all she’s an artist with a very specific vision and talent, carving the path for Afrofuturism; to create space for black people but especially queer POC to conquer over the systematic racism, lack of opportunities and prejudice in our society. Her new record “Dirty Computer” is the materialization of that evolution, the most “Janelle” album ever. Covering everything from sexual freedom to political issues while using a pop funky beat. Reminiscing one of her heroes, Prince, who became a friend and mentor before passing away in 2016. And all I want for 2019 is to be in the same room as Janelle and take on another voyage dans la lune with all the other androids.

                 Annie Clark has also played around with the idea of being an alien or a cyborg, especially on her self-titled album from 2014. That’s when I saw her live for the time and I had to give into my friend’s obsession with her music. Last year St. Vincent released “Masseduction”, an almost perfect record, in my opinion. The song with the same title is most definitely an anthem for our generation “I can’t turn off what turns me on…” and after a long relationship with model/actress Cara Delevingne or that summer fling with Kristen Stewart, it was clear, Annie is queer. (Pun so intended) While songs like “New York” or “Los Ageless” can be associated to both of those relationships, Annie’s talent as an exquisite guitar player, fearless innovative sounds and unique live shows, have made her the intergalactic rock Goddess of our queer dreams.

                 Widely inspired by Annie Clark is my next musical Queeroe. Mackenzie Scott aka Torres. There’s something about debut albums that I really love and Torres self-titled LP from 2013 is definitely in my top favorites list. It’s really fucking sad music with raw emotion, as you can hear in “Honey”, “Jealousy and I” or “When Winter’s over”. Her second album “Sprinter” showed a very exciting evolution in her sound but it’s “Three Futures” from 2017 that encapsulates Mackenzie’s desire towards experimenting with her sexuality in a more explicit way. As seen in the video for the first single where she takes on gender roles as both feminine and masculine characters who are living the dreadful “American Dream”. Plus the cover picture for that record is her staring at a semi naked woman on a pole, marking 2017 as very gay year for music.      

                Laura Jane Grace’s voice first made waves through my ears because of the collab Against Me! did with Tegan Quin back in 2007 for the single “Borne On The FM Waves Of The Heart”. The song didn’t stick to me that long and although I had heard Against Me! was my kind of band I never took the time to really listen to them. Until 2014, when “Transgender Dysphoria Blues” was released and it rapidly became one of the most important records of my life. I started watching many interviews with Laura Jane about the struggles of coming out as a trans woman in this fucked up world, specifically while being part of the punk scene, where there’s not much space for anything other than toxic masculinity. I related to Laura’s journey and with every single lyrics on “True trans soul rebel” since it felt like the most authentic punk anthem I had heard in a while. I went to their first ever gig in Portugal in 2015 and screamed as much as I could surrounded by my family of misfits, all wearing black and their heart tattoos on their sleeves. I dug into Against Me! discography but other than the single “I was a teenage anarchist” which I already knew, nothing got me hooked as much as “Transgender Dysphoria Blues” did. Laura Jane’s name is very much appropriate, for her Grace is felt through her screams as much as her written words, something I found fascinating while reading her auto biography: “Tranny: Confessions of Punk Rock's Most Infamous Anarchist Sellout”. I loved every page of it, with original diary pieces, she takes us on a wild precious ride from her childhood and family issues to all the drama in the music industry or the tribulations of managing a band in this time and age. There’s really nothing more punk rock than being yourself and Laura Jane does it with so much effortless coolness and Grace.

            I tried not to listen to Courtney Barnett for months. I had seen the hype around her but didn’t feel quite ready to embark in that journey and my queers did I regret it… She played at Primavera Sound Porto in 2015 and I started listening to her on loop only weeks after that. The heartbreaking part is that I was also at that festival. The good part is that she came back in 2016 to another festival in Lisbon and I was there just for her (and Father John Misty). Which felt like the stars had aligned with my musical desires. She’s unapologetically herself but not in the way that you would say so about Cardi B for example. She’s wickedly smart with her words and unexpectedly brutal with her chords, right before she opens her mouth she looks like the sweetest person you will ever meet and after you are transported to her own island, full of genius puns, sarcastic inputs about daily life or the state of the world. My favorite verse is from “Pedestrian at best” and I almost got it tattooed… “Give me all your money and I’ll make some origami honey”. Which to me roughly translates to: Fuck Capitalism! She’s also very open about her long term relationship with her wife and fellow musician Jen Cloher, making them the ultimate indie rock’s queer power couple.

                 2016 was the darkest year of my life. I stopped listening to music for months, stopped sleeping and my panic attacks would strike me even if I was in the middle of a busy street. It was scary to lose myself in such dark thoughts but then one day I listened to Shura’s song “Too shy” and felt like a little bit of me was alive again. Her debut album “Nothing’s real” came out around that time and her lyrics for the title song were exactly what I felt through my depression. In this song she is writing about her own experience with a panic attack that makes you feel like dying. And they do. “Too Shy” is a beautiful tune about unrequited love because you are simply too fucking shy to ever go for it and ask your crush on a date. Being shy and anxious almost always go hand in hand, as an awkward, quiet, weird introvert myself, discovering Shura’s songs and story gave me hope and made me gather the lost pieces of my own identity, leaving all the pain, shame and constant anxiety behind. Music really is medicine for the soul.

                 Julien Baker also has one of the best debut albums I’ve ever heard. Personally, it’s very special because it marks the beginning of my current relationship, as my girlfriend surprised me with Julien’s “Sprained Ankle” vinyl just weeks after we started dating. That vinyl did not leave my record player for the last months of 2016 and whenever I listen to it now, I am instantly transported to that moment in time. I was finally getting back on my feet and everything was falling into place, Julien’s gigantic voice echoed my natural melancholy, embracing my demons with a new found strength.  I’ve seen her twice, both times a very out of body experience and had the pleasure to let her know how much her music has helped me. We hugged, talked and she even has the zine I make (CuntRoll) in her living room table because she likes it so much. She is someone I could definitely see myself hanging out in my group of friends and that’s what I love the most about this new generation of artists, who aren’t trying to be something they’re not for the sake of money or exposure. They embrace who they are and let the world decide if they wanna take it or leave it. And that’s exactly what we need right now, to accept and embrace people for who they are and the art they make. So we can all to the same in our own lives.

                 “Yeah I’ve got it I’m a man now…” are the verses that got stuck with me for weeks after listening to Christine and The Queens single “iT”. Yes, the capital T is on purpose as it represents testosterone, the hormone used by many Trans AFAB people to start the process of becoming more themselves. This androgynous handsome French creature original name is Heloise and since her worldwide success with her first record “Chaleur Humaine” she has shredded so many stereotypes through her music, her dancing and her style. I hate comparing artists but some people call her “ the French Michael Jackson” for a reason. My chin dropped while watching her cover for Beyonce’s “Sorry” which she transformed into her own song like it’s nobody’s business (please go watch it asap). This year she blessed as with her second LP just called “Chris” inviting the world to be a little bit closer to her. Chris is her nickname and presents us with a new image for Heloise, embracing her masculine vibe more than ever before, with short hair, loose clothing and talking proudly about queer issues in many interviews. The video for the single “5 dollars” is the epitome of gender fucking and the reason why I am even gayer now tbh.  (You should watch that also!) The future is genderqueer.

                 I stayed away from the hype of “Girls like Girls” back in 2015 because I’m mostly suspicious of pop artists using gay stories to go with the trend of pink washing, ie Katy Perry “I kissed a girl” is a fucking jam but also really fucking problematic, coming from a cis het white female who has no idea the struggles of being queer. Hayley Kiyoko is most definitely not one of those artists though, as she has slowly but certainly become the Lesbian Jesus we’ve all been praying for. With “Curious” she let us know there’s a new fucking boss in town and she’s so fucking gay. What a time to be alive, 20gayteen is real and we are here to witness it all. Hayley’s not the greatest singer in the world, but she uses the best of her skills to give voice to all the kids who struggled with feeling alienated because they couldn’t fit in anywhere. She creates videos which are more like short stories, where she not only acts, but also writes and directs with her own team, never compromising her vision to tell the stories she wants to tell. Stories that resonate with so many queer people and we all know how important representation is, especially coming from an authentic source. To have such a person in the mainstream is what Tegan and Sara were thriving for a few years ago but the result wasn’t very genuine, something that doesn’t happen with Hayley’s songs. Her album “Expectations” doesn’t have big hits, other than “Feelings and “Curious” but it’s the debut album of someone with a huge potential and vision to take up the space for ourselves to tell our own stories and no one else.

                Linn Da Quebrada is the musical Goddess of the moment. Eloquent, inspiring, caustic, no one is left indifferent after listening to her. And that's exactly what she wants, to leave us on our tiptoes waiting to be carried away by words of pleasure, empowerment, trans feminism and especially so much self-love. Each verse is a lyrical genius clapback in the face of this transphobic, sexist and racist society. Prejudices that kill so many queer people of color in Brazil every year. Her existence is transforming, rewriting the HERSTORY of the world and of her country, through the re-appropriation of funk, where SHE finally gets to be the protagonist of her own story and that courage surpasses linguistic or cultural barriers. In 2017 she released her first album “Pajubá” after a very successful crowdfunding campaign and also has her own documentary called “Bixa Travesty” which has gathered accolades through many film festivals around the world. The song “Bixa Preta” is a fucking iconic anthem for 20gayteen and for all of my maricones family out in the world fighting everyday for our existence to be respected.

We will NEVER be erased.

[samanthathedisneyprincess]

put a number in my ask - all

i’m impatient but @soldierofthenight

1. Who was the last person you held hands with?

@soldierofthenight

2. Are you outgoing or shy?

shy

3. Who are you looking forward to seeing?

@soldierofthenight duh

4. Are you easy to get along with?

yeah i think so

5. If you were drunk would the person you like take care of you?

probably but i’d be the sober one 

6. What kind of people are you attracted to?

people that are honest and that care about me and are understanding and gentle

7. Do you think you’ll be in a relationship two months from now?

yep

8. Who from the opposite gender is on your mind?

honestly i’ve spent a good majority of my day watching drake and josh so we’re gonna go with them

9. Does talking about sex make you uncomfortable?

yep

10. Who was the last person you had a deep conversation with?

literally bri

11. What does the most recent text that you sent say?

i don’t really text

12. What are your 5 favorite songs right now?

i’ve been listening to the mamma mia sequel’s soundtrack as background music, otherwise i usually have on one of my two playlists

13. Do you like it when people play with your hair?

yes

14. Do you believe in luck and miracles?

yep

15. What good thing happened this summer?

i found bri lol

16. Would you kiss the last person you kissed again?

i would

17. Do you think there is life on other planets?

yep

18. Do you still talk to your first crush?

no

19. Do you like bubble baths?

yes

20. Do you like your neighbors?

i have no opinion

21. What are you bad habits?

typically negative and a bunch of other things people don’t need to know about

22. Where would you like to travel?

new york city or disney world

23. Do you have trust issues?

haha

24. Favorite part of your daily routine?

going to bed. jk idk

25. What part of your body are you most uncomfortable with?

lmao is this a thing 

26. What do you do when you wake up?

i check my notifications

27. Do you wish your skin was lighter or darker?

i just wish i could go outside without getting a sunburn

28. Who are you most comfortable around?

my mom 

29. Have any of your ex’s told you they regret breaking up?

i’ve been told that before, but guys are shit tbh

30. Do you ever want to get married?

yeah 

31. If your hair long enough for a pony tail?

yes

32. Which celebrities would you have a threesome with?

this is completely hypothetical because the idea of a threesome really doesn’t appeal to me very much at all, but i guess kristen stewart and ally hills. or joan jett and courteney cox? is this question weird yes 

33. Spell your name with your chin.

zxaa ngnz

34. Do you play sports? What sports?

no

35. Would you rather live without TV or music?

i’m trash and i love tv, but without tv

36. Have you ever liked someone and never told them?

of course

37. What do you say during awkward silences?

nothing

38. Describe your dream girl/guy?

hi @soldierofthenight

39. What are your favorite stores to shop in?

the disney store, walmart, fye, hot topic (i’m trash)

40. What do you want to do after high school?

i want to be gay 

41. Do you believe everyone deserves a second chance?

no

42. If your being extremely quiet what does it mean?

i’m either insanely anxious, sick, or upset

43. Do you smile at strangers?

sometimes

44. Trip to outer space or bottom of the ocean?

ocean

45. What makes you get out of bed in the morning?

food

46. What are you paranoid about?

everything lol

47. Have you ever been high?

nope

48. Have you ever been drunk?

nope

49. Have you done anything recently that you hope nobody finds out about?

i don’t think so. 

50. What was the colour of the last hoodie you wore?

black

51. Ever wished you were someone else?

of course

52. One thing you wish you could change about yourself?

my entire body lol

53. Favourite makeup brand?

i don’t spend money on expensive stuff so it doesn’t matter

54. Favourite store?

hot topic or fye

55. Favourite blog?

@shitmygaywifesays

56. Favourite colour?

purple, pink, black

57. Favourite food?

mexican followed by italian

58. Last thing you ate?

macaroni and cheese

59. First thing you ate this morning?

soup

60. Ever won a competition? For what?

writing

61. Been suspended/expelled? For what?

nope

62. Been arrested? For what?

no

63. Ever been in love?

yes

64. Tell us the story of your first kiss?

it was in the parking lot of my old apartment complex with a boy i’ve known forever.

65. Are you hungry right now?

no

66. Do you like your tumblr friends more than your real friends?

my friends are all my real friends

67. Facebook or Twitter?

twitter

68. Twitter or Tumblr?

umm depends

69. Are you watching tv right now?

no

70. Names of your bestfriends?

sabrina, kelly, and megan are my closest friends.

71. Craving something? What?

like every food i can’t eat right now lol

72. What colour are your towels?

i don’t know

72. How many pillows do you sleep with?

2-4

73. Do you sleep with stuffed animals?

1

74. How many stuffed animals do you think you have?

several

75. Favourite animal?

cats and pigs

76. What colour is your underwear?

blue

77. Chocolate or Vanilla?

chocolate

78. Favourite ice cream flavour?

coconut

79. What colour shirt are you wearing?

blue

80. What colour pants?

no pants

81. Favourite tv show?

friends

82. Favourite movie?

scream or beauty and the beast

83. Mean Girls or Mean Girls 2?

the original of course

84. Mean Girls or 21 Jump Street?

mean girls

85. Favourite character from Mean Girls?

it’s been a long time since i’ve watched it

86. Favourite character from Finding Nemo?

dory

87. First person you talked to today?

bri

88. Last person you talked to today?

bri

89. Name a person you hate?

i don’t want to answer this lol

90. Name a person you love?

hi @soldierofthenight

91. Is there anyone you want to punch in the face right now?

no

92. In a fight with someone?

not exactly

93. How many sweatpants do you have?

like 2 or 3

94. How many sweaters/hoodies do you have?

too many

95. Last movie you watched?

this is so embarrassing. it was drake and josh go hollywood

96. Favourite actress?

courteney cox or kristen stewart

97. Favourite actor?

leonardo dicaprio or zac efron

98. Do you tan a lot?

nope

99. Have any pets?

two cats

100. How are you feeling?

sick lol

101. Do you type fast?

yes

102. Do you regret anything from your past?

don’t regret anything or it’d change where you are now

103. Can you spell well?

yep

104. Do you miss anyone from your past?

we always do

105. Ever been to a bonfire party?

yes

106. Ever broken someone’s heart?

yeah probably

107. Have you ever been on a horse?

yes

108. What should you be doing?

nothing productive

109. Is something irritating you right now?

no

110. Have you ever liked someone so much it hurt?

of course

111. Do you have trust issues?

lol

112. Who was the last person you cried in front of?

my mom actually

113. What was your childhood nickname?

pumpkin

114. Have you ever been out of your province/state?

yes

115. Do you play the Wii?

not recently

116. Are you listening to music right now?

yes

117. Do you like chicken noodle soup?

only when i’m sick

118. Do you like Chinese food?

sometimes

119. Favourite book?

it used to be sweethearts by sara zarr but i also loved gamer girl by mari mancusi so much that i own a copy.

120. Are you afraid of the dark?

no

121. Are you mean?

no

122. Is cheating ever okay?

don’t cheat on your significant other. 

alternatively, if your spouse is cheating on you and you know this (think sam smith’s i’m not the only one) do what you gotta do or wanna do.

123. Can you keep white shoes clean?

no

124. Do you believe in love at first sight?

no

125. Do you believe in true love?

i didn’t before, but i do now.

126. Are you currently bored?

no

127. What makes you happy?

music, food, my significant other, games, tv shows

128. Would you change your name?

no

129. What your zodiac sign?

gemini

130. Do you like subway?

yes i do

131. Your bestfriend of the opposite sex likes you, what do you do?

i’m gay sorry

132. Who’s the last person you had a deep conversation with?

probably bri

133. Favourite lyrics right now?

i have nothing good to write here unless you want every catchy abba lyric

134. Can you count to one million?

if i tried but who would want to?

135. Dumbest lie you ever told?

i can think of one

136. Do you sleep with your doors open or closed?

half closed

137. How tall are you?

5′6

138. Curly or Straight hair?

curly

139. Brunette or Blonde?

brunette

140. Summer or Winter?

summer

141. Night or Day?

night

142. Favourite month?

june or december

143. Are you a vegetarian?

no

144. Dark, milk or white chocolate?

milk

145. Tea or Coffee?

tea

146. Was today a good day?

it went ok

147. Mars or Snickers?

snickers

148. What’s your favourite quote?

"music is probably the only real magic I have encountered in my life… It’s pure and it’s real. It moves, it heals…" - tom petty

"there's nothing wrong with you, there's a lot wrong with the world you live in" - chris colfer

149. Do you believe in ghosts?

yes

150. Get the closest book next to you, open it to page 42, what’s the first line on that page?

no book near me

[noahsflynn-archive]

i was tagged by @jeffreycombs bc she’s the bestest egg of them all and is v good to me. tag 20 peeps.

last

1. drink - irn bru

2. phone call -  it was from my mum’s phone but i spoke to her and my dad

3. text message - my dad

4. song you listened to - stupid for you by waterparks, and my god i’m obsessed???? i’d never heard it before... i’m listening to the ‘pure pop punk’ playlist on spotify and this song just happened to be on it.

5. time you cried - today bc of one day at a time

ever

6. dated someone twice? - nope

7. kissed someone and regretted it - nope

8. been cheated on - no

9. lost someone special - a couple of people

10. been depressed - ...

11. gotten drunk and thrown up - never been drunk, and i don’t think i’d want to get that drunk

fave colours

12. blue

13. purple

14. pink

in the last year have you…

15. made new friends - yeah

16. fallen out of love - nope

17. laughed until you cried - yes, i literally did that a couple of nights ago while watching the slow mo guys videos

18. found out someone was talking about you - no? i’m assuming this means in a negative way, so idk i hope people wouldn’t waste their time lmao

19. met someone who changed you - it’s hard to remember what happened in the last year, so i’m going to say yes, just in case dfghjk

20. found out who your friends are - i have the same friends i had a year ago so

21. kissed someone on your facebook friends list - yes

general

22. how many of your facebook friends do you know irl - majority.

23. do you have any pets - no *whispers* one day

24. do you want to change your name - thought about it. i have phases of not liking my name, but i could never settle on another if i did so yeah

25. what did you do for your last birthday - on my actual birthday, nothing. things were happening with my family so there wasn’t really a chance. i remember i went out with my mum to buy my present the day after? i really forget what else happened

26. what time did you wake up today - sometime between 10am and 11am

27. what were you doing at midnight last night - watching one day at a time

28. what is something you cant wait for - just bc it crossed my dash just now: love, simon.

30. what are you listening to right now - that ‘pure pop punk’ playlist on spotify (blink-182 is on atm <333)

31. have you ever talked to a person named tom - there were a couple in my year at school so probably

32. something thats getting on your nerves - hahaha listen, pal, that’s a long list

33. most visited website - tumblr and youtube probably, but i use facebook to talk to my friends and twitter to talk to my boyfriend

34. hair colour - brown, but there are bits that are a different shade near the tips because i dyed some of my hair red like 2 years ago and despite my hair growing quickly (and several haircuts) my hair still isn’t one shade dfghjk

35. long or short hair - my hair touches my shoulders (shortish)

36. do you have a crush on someone - i mean, my boyfriend, is that an obvious answer?

37. what do you like about yourself - let’s not open that can of worms. tbh i could have a killer fashion sense if i just... tried lmao

38. want any piercings? - my fucking helix and i got it done, but the piercing kept getting knocked and bleeding and it was too much pain to put up with so i had to take it out

39. blood type - idk wish i did though

40. nicknames - most common one is dani but i have nicknames that are specific to one or two people... e.g. bones, hamy, doodles, i’ve even been called ‘little d’ a lot by someone dfghjk people also referred to me as luna a lot bc of an old username

41. relationship status - in one

42. zodiac - capricorn

43. pronouns - she / her

44. fave tv shows - don’t ask such harsh questions but bones is a pretty safe option

45. tattoos - i wish

46. right or left handed - right but i use my left hand more often than you’d expect

47. ever had surgery - nope

48. piercings - ear lobes, twice technically but i only ever wear one set

49. sport - does watching them count?

50. vacation - no current plans

51. trainers - when i’m not working (or being lazy at home) i basically live in converse

more general

52. eating - nothing, but i told myself like 2 hours ago i’d make myself a tuna and cheese wrap and i still want it

53. drinking - irn bru (it’s a bit 2 litre bottle)

54. i’m about to watch - unless someone has uploaded a new video on youtube, nothing right now

55. waiting for - the food i’m going to make after i finish making this gifset 

56. want - food

57. get married - at some point, yeah, probably

58. career - TO BE PAID MONEY EVERY TIME SOMEONE ASKS ME THIS GOD DAMN QUESTION. i just want to create. perhaps work in film and television. i. don’t. know.

which is better

59. hugs or kisses - hugs... sometimes.

60. lips or eyes - eyes

61. shorter or taller - taller

62. older or younger - older

63. nice arms or stomach - both? but arms i guess

64. hookup or relationship - well, i’ve never had a hookup and i’ve been in a relationship for a long ass time so i guess relationship

65. troublemaker or hesitant - well i’m personally hesitant as shit but i think it’s good to be a mixture of the two

have you ever

66. kissed a stranger - no

67. drank hard liquor - yes, kind of? i mean i’ve had a couple in jelly form or mixed with coke? but not very much at once

68. lost glasses - like the ones you see with? no, i would cry if i lost my glasses. unless my eyes are closed i can’t handle not having my glasses on.

69. turned someone down - possibly?????? it would have been a long time ago dfghjk

70. sex on first date - never had sex so i really don’t think i’m the best person to have an opinion but honestly, you do you. i probably wouldn’t but who knows

71. broken someones heart - no...?

72. had your heart broken - nope

73. been arrested - hahhaa no

74. cried when someone died - like a baby

75. fallen for a friend - yes

do you believe in

76. yourself - not a bit

77. miracles - a little

78. love at first sight - attraction at first sight, a “wow you seem cool and it looks like we might have shared interests and perhaps this could go somewhere” at first sight fghjkl

79. santa clause - do i get an extra christmas present if i say yes?

80. kiss on a first date - i really couldn’t care

81. angels - uh huh

other

82. best friend’s name - i hate this question, so i’m going to go with my oldest friend... sophie

83. eye colour - brown

84. fave movie - so many but i have a massive soft spot for the fast and furious franchise for many reasons that are hard to explain

85. fave actor - a lot.. kristen stewart, paul walker, vin diesel, michelle rodriguez, heath ledger, james mcavoy, etc, etc.

tagging 20: 90% of the people i could tag have been or they won’t answer this so i’m not going to, but if you see this and want to do it, please do, and feel free to tag me in it <3

[feysandfeels]

11 Questions Tag

I was tagged by the lovely @lady-of-books-and-pages!

1. Skill or talent most people don’t know?

I can rap pretty f*cking well

2. Country you are from? 

I was born in Liverpool, England, but literally grew up in Bogotá, Colombia. 

3. Favourite movie? 

4. Do you play an instrument? 

No.. not really.. I used to play the violin, piano and the flute when I was younger but it’s been easily 12 years since that. 

5. Beach or Rainforest? 

RIght now I have an obsession with the sea, so I’m going to go with the Beach.

6. Do you have any siblings? 

YEES! My beautiful, slightly annoying, but always charming baby sister. She’s 18 going on 19, so technically she’s not a baby, but to my eyes she’s still mah baby sis (which is why I spoil her to death).

7. Favourite colour? 

Purple! purple!

8. Book character you relate to the most? 

Elizabeth Bennet and Feyre... I will never get tired of saying/arguing that Feyre and I are basically the same person. 

9. OTP?

Just one? Will Turner and Elizabeth Swann...Feysand, 

10. Coke or Pepsi?

I really try not to drink sodas or sugary drinks.. so neither. #ImAllAboutThatHealthyLifeStyle #JustKidding #TheThingIsThatTheyAreWayTooSweetForMyTaste

11. Book series you will never finish?

I think Divergent.. boi was that boring!

The wonderful Helena from, @readinglikewildfire, also tagged me!

1. Do you have any piercings or tattoos, what are they?

I have three tattoos: a phrase in latin right below my left book that goes alongm ribs that says “astra inclinant sed non obligant” which translates to “the stars incline is they do not bind us”, an anchor on my right forearm, and my newest one (one month old my baby) a lotus flower above my ankle-lower left calf.

Besides the normal pierced lobes, I have the helix one on my right ear.

2. Who is your style icon?

I really like Keira Knihtley, Saoirse Ronan, Emma Watson, Emma Stone, Kristen Stewart.. I’m pretty sure I have more.

3. Are you a night shower or a morning shower person?

Morning shower person always... even when I do shower at night to relax I always shower in the morning

4. What do you study at school if you are at school? If you’re not at school what do you do instead?

I’m majoring in Literary Studies.. which is English in most universities or Literature.

5. Do you speak multiple languages? What are they?

I speak spanish, english and french.. and a little bit but when I say little is little bit of italian.

6. What do you like most about where you live?

It has something for everybody! What a crap answer but it’s true hahaha that and the night life.

7. Favorite piece of jewellery, why?

My simple “congratulations on surviving 2016″ ring. It’s a simple golden band with a blue stone at the center. That an ex/one of my closest friends gave me because he knew I was obsessed with all the things that reminded me of the Night Court. 

8.  Whats one random fact about yourself?

I don’t read as much books in spanish as people would assume.

9. TOG or ACOTAR?

Right now it’s ACOTAR but not for much.. and they vary depending on which series I have just read. 

10. Do you like fantasy books with a lot of romance or does it not really matter to you?

I like me romance! My life is lacking genuine romance at the moment so I would very much like to live my romantic life through my characters.

11. Favorite color!

Purple! which is why the purple heart emoji is like the main proof of love for me hahahah

The cutie that is @tibcrias also included me in her post!

1. Which book did you cry the hardest at?

I rarely cry with books, okay? like it’s happened three times in my life.. and the worst one was with ACOWAR, when Rhys “died”. Not only in the moment Feyre realizes he’s dead.. but when she looses her shit and starts screaming at everybody, that’s where it hit me. And I was a fucking sobbing mess! Ugly crying and all. 

2. An awkward moment?

Well.. yesterday I was with my sister walking to our faculty when she saw my ex with his new gf (the girl he told me he would never hook up with... ugh) having lunch in a restaurant that is literally in front of my faculty (MY FACULTY = MY ZONE) and he saw us, and we both panicked and she waved her hand... you know to say hi and I, in the most obvious way conceivable, turned my head to the other side... but then when we were already past them I turned around to see them and his gf (who I’m also pretty sure hates me) was watching me. 

3. What was last text or message you sent?

To one of my best friends from school... we’re suddenly planning a trip to Thailand and Cambodia.

4. Favourite movie from when you were little?

The Lion King... I used to “roar” with the lions and I wanted to be a Lioness when I grew up.

5. If you could take any url you want on tumblr, what would it be?

tbh, I’m pretty happy with my url... It’s catchy and Iike the alliteration. 

6. What fandom have you had the best time in so far?

THIS ONE! The sjm fandom and the YA-Literature community in general has been amazing. You guys are so sweet and talented and give such honest support. Like I hadn’t been properly in a fandom since the Twilight days and being back in this dynamic has been amazing. I am so grateful for all of this.

7. Do you tend to like heroes or villains more?

I’m a “antihero” kind of girl... Imagine Deadpool or Kaz Brekker, but also Villains.. I swear to god I’m one chemical experiment away of becoming a Super-villain

8. What’s the most haunting experience you’ve ever experienced?

Okay so one time I was with my friends and we were shooting a school project and well we did it and when we were checking the footage, the painting that was hanging behind us didn’t appear, but instead it was a mirror showing the reflection of an eight year old boy. 

9. Last song you listened to?

“MY YOUTH, MY YOUTH IS YOURS, TRIPPIN’ ON SKIES, SIPPNG WATERFALLS, MY YOUTH, MY YOUTH IS YOURS RUNAWAY NOW AND FOREVERMORE”

10. Which ship you just can’t stand?

Elriel mwahahaahahahha they are too similar and I am way to deep in the Elucien, Moriel trashcan

11. Which magical creature would you make real? 

Okay so I tag, @cassianandfenrysaremyboyos @feysandsmut @dorianthekinkymf @ladynesta @nestasbucket @feysandlover @cassiancalore​ and anyone who wants to do this *BAM* YOU’VE BEEN TAGGED BY MOI.

and my questions are the following: 

1.Which historical figure would you bring back from the death

2. Paris, New York, Rome or London? (which one would you choose to live in)

3. Who is your celebrity crush?

4. If you could only read one book forever which one would it be?

5. Favourite clothing item?

6. You have three wishes, what would you wish for? (no wishing for more wishes though)

7. If you had to live in an ancient civilization which one would it be and why?

8. Do you believe in life after death?

9. Favourite disney princess/heroine and why?

10. In case that you get chosen to participate in the Hunger Games which weapon would you choose?

11. Which reality show would you love to participate in?

[meganews77-blog]

Celebrities Who Identify as Bisexual, Pansexual, or Label-Free

1. Aubrey Plaza Queer women everywhere rejoiced when the quirky Parks and Recreation star told The Advocate she will “fall in love with girls and guys” and she has “a major crush” on fellow Addicted to Fresno actor Natasha Lyonne.

2. Amandla Stenberg The Hunger Games star identified as “a black, bisexual woman” during a Teen Vogue Snapchat takeover last January. Later, in a video they made for Rookiemagazine, Stenberg said they would use the identifier “pansexual” instead of “bisexual” if more people understood what it meant. “The thing is, I use the word bisexual just because I feel like for people who don’t necessarily know that vocabulary…it’s easier to say I’m bi,” they explained. “So, I understand that erasure piece.” Earlier this year, Stenberg also shared that they identify as non-binary.

3. Kristen Stewart Kristen Stewart is "like so gay, dude." Having dated both men and women (including Twilight co-star Robert Pattinson and visual effects specialist Alicia Cargile), Stewart told The Guardian in March, "You’re not confused if you’re bisexual. It’s not confusing at all. For me, it’s quite the opposite she is bisexual.

4. Ezra Miller The Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them actor may have played a gay high school student in The Perks of Being A Wallflower, but he told Outmagazine he identifies as queer. “I’m just trying to make sure my lack of responsibility no longer hurts people,” he said. “That’s where I’m at in the boyfriend/girlfriend/zefriend type of question.”

5. Rowan Blanchard The 15-year-old star of Girl Meets World tweeted about her sexuality in January 2016, stating that she doesn’t want to label herself “as straight gay or whateva” and that she identifies as queer.

6. Michelle Rodriguez Whether she was canoodling with Cara Delevingne or featured on the cover of lesbian magazine Curve (without her consent), Rodriguez has often experienced scrutiny focused on her sexuality. She addressed the rumors in 2013, when she told Entertainment Weekly, “I’ve gone both ways. I do as I please. I am too fucking curious to sit here and not try when I can. Men are intriguing. So are chicks.”

7. Alan Cumming Scottish-American actor and activist Alan Cumming has been vocal about his bisexuality for many years. "I still define myself as a bisexual even though I have chosen to be with [my husband] Grant [Shaffer]," he told Instinct in 2013. "I’m sexually attracted to the female form even though I am with a man and I just feel that bisexuals have a bad rap."

8. Lauren Jauregui The Fifth Harmony singer came out as bisexual during the most recent election, in an open letter on Billboard addressed to Trump supporters. She wrote, “I am a bisexual Cuban-American woman, and I am so proud of it."

9. Halsey This rising star has spoken openly about her bisexuality and has challenged society's biphobia and bi-erasure. When BuzzFeed News analyzed her sexuality in a judgmental way, she responded with a series of (since-deleted) tweets, beginning with "Well @buzzfeed sorry I'm not gay enough for you."

10. Miley Cyrus Cyrus, who is now engaged to actor Liam Hemsworth, has spoken openly about her gender fluidity and identified herself as pansexual in the October 2015 issueof Elle U.K.

#lgbt #lesbian #gaycelebrities #bisexual #celebrities #gay #celebs #neilpatrickharris #celebrity #famous #homosexual #outofthecloset #evanrachelwood #gayblackcelebrities #blackgaycelebrities #blacklesbiancelebrities #equality #list #top10 #top5 #comingout #kristenstewart #ellendegeneres #cameout #gayactors #famouspeople #blackgaycouples #blackgayactors #blacklesbiancouples #gayblackactors #gayblackcouples #Celebritieslgbt

https://youtu.be/QlLELkqy5l4

[roseisread]

Top 25 Movies of 2016

I saw 51 of the many more films released in 2016, so naturally this list suffers from the usual incompleteness. But of those 51, the movies listed below are the ones that really stuck with me, entertained me, moved me, or made me see the world through a different lens after the credits rolled. Some of them are deeply personal and hold great meaning; others are just a great excuse to laugh or shudder or sob about something that doesn’t matter so you don’t have to think about the things in real life that might evoke that reaction for a couple hours. 

If you saw something amazing that didn’t make the list, be sure to let me know so I can add it to my watchlist (or defend my choice to leave it off the list of faves). 

25. Zootopia (Netflix) At a time when the world was finding reasons to divide itself into fractious subgroups, along came a winsome little animated film about tolerance and eschewing stereotypes. The animation is top notch, the story is funny and action-packed, and any scene featuring the sloth from the DMV threatened my ability to breathe because I was laughing so hard. If you missed it in theaters, be sure to catch up with it on Netflix. It’s a real gem. 

24. The Conjuring 2 (Amazon/iTunes rental) The first Conjuring got a ton of acclaim but I wasn’t that enamored with it. This one, on the other hand, totally delivers. Once again, Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson star as paranormal investigators who are plagued by dark forces. This time, the action centers on a family in England (inspired by the somewhat infamous Enfield Poltergeist) with an unwanted apparition who interacts with them in all kinds of upsetting ways. Rather than relying solely on jump scares, there’s a lot of great suspenseful sequences and practical effects that use the atmosphere and physical space to masterful effect. Plus, the characters are likable and we are rooting for them which goes a long way toward making this a better than average horror movie. 

23. The Edge of Seventeen (Theaters) Hailee Steinfeld plus Woody Harrelson equals brilliance. Add to the mix the savvy direction of first timer Kelly Fremon Craig and the charming supporting cast (particularly Hayden Szeto) and you have a winning combo that leaves other teen dramedies in the dust. The story is relatable for anyone who experienced high school: Nadine feels alienated at school and at home, partly because high school sucks and parents just don’t understand but also partly because she sees herself as just a little bit superior to her peers and family members. She’s a classic Holden Caulfield type, really. When her best friend starts dating Nadine’s brother and mortal enemy, she takes it as a personal betrayal. Between this, her crush on a bad boy type, and her tentative steps toward romance with a nerdy but sweet classmate, she’s got a lot on her plate. Naturally, she takes solace by venting to her favorite teacher, the bemused Harrelson who takes all of her abuse and whining with stoic aplomb. 

22. Jackie (Theaters) I was born in 1981, which means I don’t have any personal connection to Jackie O. the way people of my parents generation did. I don’t have recollections of seeing her on TV or experiencing the Kennedy assassination, but I’ve been hearing about it all my life and thus feel like I know the story. This movie took me by surprise by showing me something new, something I’d never considered: The personal grief of a tremendously public loss. Natalie Portman embodies the carefully manicured public persona as well as the private devastation of Jackie Kennedy in the days surrounding JFK’s death. It’s not a traditional biopic, and not a traditional historical drama. That makes sense coming from Chilean director Pablo Larrain, who also gave us the excellent political thriller/comedy No a few years ago. He captures pivotal moments and edits them together into a kind of fractured consciousness befitting the recently bereft Jackie. 

21. 10 Cloverfield Lane (Amazon/GooglePlay rental) I’ve still never seen the original Cloverfield (I know, I know), but I do love me some John Goodman being a possible creeper so I had to see this movie. The title really was an afterthought; the story was written independent of the horror franchise and marketing decided a built-in audience and some name recognition would boost ticket sales. All of this to say, you don’t need to know or love Cloverfield to know and love 10 Cloverfield Lane. Essentially it’s a chamber piece, modeled on some of Hitchcock’s techniques (Lifeboat/Rope/Dial M for Murder).  Oh and also the original script got a once-over by a certain Damien Chazelle, who was once slated to direct it as well until Whiplash got greenlit and then he got a little busy making a movie called La La Land which may or may not be definitely coming up later in this list so... yeah. But anyways. It’s got that breathlessness and intensity Chazelle brought to life in his other movies, but this time in an actual horror/suspense setting. Mary Elizabeth Winstead and John Gallagher, Jr. play Goodman’s reluctant houseguests in his underground bunker. Goodman claims to be protecting them from something horrible outside; they’re not sure whether to believe him or to trust their instinct that the something horrible is Goodman himself. All three performances are excellent, and your nerves will be frayed little bundles by the time 103 minutes is up. 

20. Certain Women (Theaters) Just watching this movie made me feel physically cold. It takes place in Montana, and is essentially a triptych that follows three different women in the same small town. The first, played by Laura Dern, is an attorney with a particularly high maintenance client (Jared Harris). The second is a woman (Michelle Williams) who feels alienated from her husband and their teenage daughter, even as the family is working on building a house together. The final story, and by far my favorite, focuses on a farmhand (the glorious Lily Gladstone in a breakout role) who chances upon a night class taught by Kristen Stewart and becomes transfixed. This is a quiet film, about women who yearn for more than their lives so far have given them. Each one deals with the small injustices and tiny victories that ordinary events bestow, but one senses beneath the surface a lingering question of “Is this all there is?” In that way, it’s totally relatable. There aren’t a lot of major plot arcs here, but that’s exactly the point of the film. In watching this movie, you realize that Henry David Thoreau’s quote about the masses leading lives of quiet desperation might well be answered by Simone de Beauvoir: “I think that where you go wrong is that you imagine that your reasons for living ought to fall on you, ready-made from heaven, whereas we have to find them for ourselves.” 

19. Don’t Think Twice (YouTube/GooglePlay rental) If you listen to podcasts at all (especially This American Life, WTF, or You Made It Weird), you should know the name Mike Birbiglia by now. He’s a comic turned actor/writer/director and this is his latest original work. This time, he enlisted fellow talented comics to join him onscreen: Chris Gethard, Gillian Jacobs, Keegan Michael Key, Kate Micucci, and Tami Sagher play his friends and fellow members of an improv troupe. They’re all people you know or have been--starving artist types who are holding onto a dream that comedy will one day pay the bills and take them to the next level. When that actually happens to one of them, the group dynamic shifts considerably. As Morrissey so accurately sings, “We hate it when our friends become successful.” But really, the truth is we hate ourselves when our friends become successful. It makes us question whether it’s a matter of deserving it or working hard or random chance.  The great thing about this movie is the blend of truly hilarious comedic moments and stirring emotional honesty. It’s about friendship, it’s about surviving your thirties, it’s about figuring out if the dreams you’ve had your whole life are the dreams you still actually want to come true. If you can get through Gillian Jacobs’ incredible solo improv performance toward the end of this movie without tears, you get to be the new Clear Eyes spokesperson instead of Ben Stein. 

18. Love and Friendship (Amazon Prime) This movie features one of the funniest characters of the year, an immensely clueless rich dolt named Sir James Martin (Tom Bennett), who marvels at the existence of peas and struggles to arrive at the correct number of commandments. Who could be responsible for such a creation? Well, who else but the writer whose best work pokes fun at social climbers and wealthy nitwits: Jane Austen. Whit Stillman adapted her little known work Lady Susan into this charming and hilarious period piece starring Kate Beckinsale, Chloe Sevigny, Stephen Fry, and Xavier Samuel. Beckinsale does her absolute greatest work in this movie--I had no idea she was capable of this kind of performance, and she absolutely slays. As far as Austen adaptations go, this one is my favorite since Clueless--and that’s about the highest praise I could offer. 

17. Don’t Breathe (YouTube/Amazon/Vudu Rental) The premise of Fede Alvarez’s sophomore thriller is simple: A trio of young Detroit opportunists break into the home of a blind veteran (Stephen Lang) after hearing he’s got a lot of cash in the house, figuring it’ll be an easy score. But they underestimate this particular blind man and his ability to protect his home and property. The result is a fast-paced cat and mouse game that will definitely have you holding your breath for long chunks of time. I had a blast watching this movie, even if it should have ended a few scenes earlier than it did. 

16. Hell or High Water (Amazon/iTunes/GooglePlay Rental) One of my favorite pieces of music, classical or otherwise, is Aaron Copeland’s Fanfare for the Common Man. This composition was directly inspired by a speech delivered by Henry Wallace in 1942, which outlined the cause of freedom and the stakes of World War II while also setting a tone for the whole century as one in which ordinary people--the common man--would share the same standard of living, of educational and economic opportunity, of scientific discovery.  An excerpt of this speech reads thusly: “When the freedom-loving people march; when the farmers have an opportunity to buy land at reasonable prices and to sell the produce of their land through their own organizations, when workers have the opportunity to form unions and bargain through them collectively, and when the children of all the people have an opportunity to attend schools which teach them truths of the real world in which they live — when these opportunities are open to everyone, then the world moves straight ahead.” Well, the world has continued moving since those words were spoken, but those opportunities are certainly not yet open to everyone despite promises all around that anyone in America should be able to succeed on grit and good will alone. When grit and good will fail to deliver, some people give up and some people become outlaws. That’s where we find our protagonists in this movie, Toby and Tanner Howard (Chris Pine and Ben Foster, respectively), as it opens. They’re robbing banks out of perceived necessity, and also out of a sense of Karma not acting quite fast enough for their liking. Meanwhile, a pair of Texas Rangers (Jeff Bridges and Gil Birmingham) get assigned to the case and aim to catch up with whoever’s responsible and give ‘em hell.  The film is beautifully shot by cinematographer Giles Nuttgens, and the screenplay contains scintillating dialogue and the kind of characters you might find in a classic Western, plus a final showdown for the ages. On the performance side, there’s not a weak one in the bunch. Chris Pine proves he’s more than just a pretty face and Jeff Bridges sheds his Dude persona to give an even better performance here than in his Oscar-winning turn in Crazy Heart. If you need a movie to watch with your Dad that you can both enjoy, this is that movie. 

15. De Palma (Amazon Prime) Sisters. Carrie. Dressed to Kill. Blow Out. Mission Impossible. Body Double. Scarface. The Untouchables. Casualties of War. About 20 other films--all directed by Brian De Palma, the subject of this documentary. For some, he’s alienating. For me, this guy is legendary. His films pick up where Hitchcock left off and go running off in their own bonkers directions, oozing style and excess and delivering tawdry and thrilling twists along the way. I’m convinced that one day he’ll be revered by film students and not just genre lovers, and at that point this doc will serve as a Hitchcock/Truffaut type text.  The doc is really just De Palma going through his filmography chronologically, shots of him talking edited together with clips from every one of his movies and archival behind the scenes footage. That might sound boring but I promise you it is not. He tells lots of stories, does not shy away from pointing out the flaws and issues in his movies, and reflects on the reception his movies have received from critics and cultural scholars over the years. He also tells some fascinating stories from his youth that shed light on the types of movies he grew up to make. He also talks a lot about his techniques and the way his shooting style developed. If you are interested in filmmaking or De Palma or both, this movie will have you riveted from start to finish.

14. Manchester by the Sea (Theaters) For a meditation on grief and loss, this movie made me laugh a lot. That might sound inappropriate, but if you’ve ever experienced loss yourself, you know it’s not linear and doesn’t follow rules or codes of conduct. Sometimes you laugh at inopportune times. Sometimes you want to cry and can’t. Sometimes you melt down at the sight of frozen food (see what I did there? Melt/frozen! Ahh I kill me sometimes).  Casey Affleck and Lucas Hedges make a great onscreen team, with Affleck playing Lee Chandler and Hedges playing Patrick, Lee’s teenage nephew. They’ve both lost someone important to them, but neither is great at opening up on the subject. Lee does his best to take care of his nephew, but he feels ill-equipped to be the stable parental figure Patrick needs. For his part, Patrick would prefer to keep things the way they are. “I have two girlfriends and I’m in a band!” he points out, and who is Lee to argue with that kind of logic? 

Of course I can’t finish discussing this movie without highlighting the luminous presence of Michelle Williams, who owns every second she’s onscreen (which isn’t very long). Her final scene with Affleck broke me right in two. 

13. Born to be Blue (Digital Purchase) Every year springs new musical biopics upon us, to varying degrees of creativity and critical acclaim or derision. My favorite one from 2016 was Robert Budreau’s nonlinear narrative inspired by incidents from the life of Chet Baker as portrayed by Ethan Hawke, who gives his best performance outside a movie with “Before” in the title. For the unfamiliar, Chet Baker is best known as the singer of “My Funny Valentine” today, but he was also a prominent jazz trumpet player and part of the West Coast jazz scene in the 1950s and 60s. As so many artist types, his genius was often threatened by his dalliances with substances and people whose momentary glamor gave way to decay and destruction. 

Hawke captures Baker’s charming qualities as well as his tendencies toward self-sabotage, and the movie does not feel like a typical biopic as it incorporates a more meditative approach than a chronological one. There’s also a movie-within-the-movie which adds to the novel feel and keeps this from just hitting all the major events in Baker’s life in order. Carmen Ejogo is excellent as Baker’s primary love interest, a complex and well-drawn foil for the troubled musician. Her character is an amalgam of real life people, but she stands out as more than just your typical long-suffering wife/lover trope. 

12. Fences (Theaters) August Wilson’s intimate play gets the cinematic treatment at the hands of Denzel Washington, who both directed and stars here. Troy (Washington) is a garbage man who drinks a lot and talks a lot more to his wife Rose (Viola Davis), his friend Bono (Stephen Henderson), his son Cory (Jovan Adeppo), and others who show up at his doorstep.  The story is simple, but the characters are anything but. This may be my favorite ever Denzel performance, and certainly my pick for Best Actor in a Leading Role of 2016. Davis is phenomenal too, in a quiet but steady way. And not as many people are talking about Stephen Henderson, who played Bono in the play as well as the movie, but he’s excellent.  If you want to hear beautifully written dialogue (and monologues), see some of the year’s best performances, and be moved by a family drama that feels relevant even though it was written and set in a bygone era, go see Fences. 

11. Midnight Special (On Demand) In the first of two Jeff Nichols-directed movies that came out in 2016, Michael Shannon (a frequent Nichols collaborator) is a father trying to protect his son. The boy has some unique abilities, to say the least, and everyone from cult leaders to government agencies wants to exploit those abilities. It’s part superhero origin story, part Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and all about the joy, terror, and unbridled love that come with being a parent.  The movie features memorable visuals as well as supporting performances from Joel Edgerton, Kirsten Dunst, and Adam Driver. The ending may leave you with more questions than answers, but the emotions it evokes are unmistakable.

10. Tower (iTunes) In 1966, a lone gunman stood atop a tower on the University of Texas campus and opened fire on the unsuspecting people below. For the next 96 minutes, chaos and carnage took over the scene as law enforcement and campus officials tried to devise a way to stop the shooter without endangering more lives. This documentary tells the story of that day from the perspective of people who were there, using interviews and re-staging events using rotoscoping animation.  The result is one of the most powerful documentaries in recent memory (outside of Joshua Oppenheimer’s The Act of Killing and The Look of Silence). Hearing from victims, bystanders, police officers, journalists, and students who experienced this firsthand reveals so much about the nature of trauma, the way we react in extreme circumstances, and the contrast between what was then a first-of-its kind incident and what is now an all too frequent occurrence: The campus shooting spree. It’s never preachy, just lets each person tell their own story. Always, the focus is on the people on the ground rather than the person behind the violence. It’s a must-see film.

9. Arrival (Theaters) Denis Villeneuve has become one of my favorite directors of recent years, and it’s great to see a film of his get embraced so widely by audiences as well as critics. In case you haven’t yet seen it, this movie features Amy Adams as a linguist and Jeremy Renner as a scientist. Both of them have been recruited to help the government communicate with the aliens who have recently parked giant pods all over the world.  The movie opens with a much more human story, and if you cried at the beginning of Up you will certainly shed tears here too. I won’t give more away than that, but what happens informs the emotions and decisions made throughout the film in interesting ways.  I love the visuals of this film, and the emotional arc of the story. I also adored all the technical linguistic things that were going on, and I don’t know enough about science or language to know whether they were plausible so I’m just going to assume ignorance is bliss and aids in suspension of disbelief. There is one scene that seems to create a divide in audiences between loving and hating this movie. I won’t explain beyond saying it involves a phone call, so if you’ve seen it you know what I’m talking about. I can understand the criticism, but for me it was not enough to derail all that came before and after.  If you haven’t seen this yet and you like your science fiction with a few tugs on the heartstrings, this is definitely worth your time. 

8. The Lobster (Amazon/iTunes/GooglePlay Rental) I adore this movie, but that does not mean you will. I have to put that caveat right up front. In fact, at least one person I recommended this movie to absolutely hated it. So, take my opinion with a grain of salt but I will try to convey truth in advertising.  Yorgos Lanthimos, whose previous films were Dogtooth and Alps, makes his English language debut with this dystopian romantic comedy. Colin Farrell, John C. Reilly, Rachel Weisz, Ben Wishaw, Lea Seydoux, and Olivia Colman are the human subjects who populate the story. In their world, if you find yourself without a partner, you go to a hotel where you have 45 days to pair up with someone. If you do not find a suitable match, then at the end of 45 days you get turned into the animal of your choice. You can extend the time of your matchmaking opportunities by going out to the forest and hunting “loners,” people who have escaped from the hotel in the past and choose to live lives of solitude.  It’s a wacky premise, but leads to numerous laugh out loud scenarios in addition to the more plaintive moments. I should warn you that there is a scene or two of violence involving an animal, which may be tough to watch for some. That may be one of the reasons people hate it. But as a critique of human behavior and society’s obsessions, it’s quite an effective parable. 

The latter half of the film takes a different turn, and while I don’t want to give away what happens, that’s why I called this a “romantic” comedy. You may not want to watch it with your date on Valentine’s Day, but if you do it should certainly give you much to discuss afterward.

7. April and the Extraordinary World (YouTube/Vudu/GooglePlay/Amazon Rental) This animated steampunk French film features a talking cat and a whipsmart girl and an underground lair and a bunch of other wondrous things that I don’t dare attempt to describe. It’s an alternative history film, it features the voice of the marvelous Marion Cotillard, and it should’ve been nominated for Best Animated Feature at the Oscars. Alas, it was not. But if you want to watch a gorgeous, funny, charming film that might inspire a generation of girls to go into STEM careers, watch this. 

6. The Neon Demon (Amazon Prime) I feel intoxicated every time I even recall this sumptuous film. If you missed my review of it earlier this year, go check it out and then go watch this film... if you dare.

5. Sing Street (Netflix) This is, hands down, the feel good movie of the year. Written and directed by John Carney, who gave us Once and Begin Again, this film is set in Ireland in the early 1980s. The premise is simple, really: A boy starts a band to impress a girl that’s out of reach. Not only does he hope to impress her with the music, but he convinces her to star in their music videos since she’s seeking a career as a model. Then he has to actually form the band, and learn how to play instruments and write songs. Along the way, his older and cooler brother educates him on the cool musicians of the day: The Smiths, Duran Duran, The Clash, The Jam, Hall & Oates, The Cure, Spandau Ballet.  The original songs in this film are super catchy and fun, and serve as homages to the great bands referenced above. If you’re a sucker for the films of John Hughes, the music of the 80s, and stories about brothers and coming of age and following your dreams, this is the movie for you. 

4. The Handmaiden (Theaters) Take a novel  set in Victorian England about pickpockets, conmen, and insane asylums that’s been referred to as “lesbian Dickens” (Sarah Waters’ Fingersmith), and set it in colonial South Korea, and make sure it’s directed by the guy who made Oldboy. This is a recipe for the most gorgeously photographed, erotically charged, bonkers in the best way movie of the year.  I don’t want to get too far into the story which has so many delicious surprises, but the quick version is that an orphan pickpocket goes to live with a rich but possibly mentally ill young woman to serve as her handmaiden. This is all in an attempt to con said rich young woman into a marriage plot with a smooth talking ne’er do well man. And there’s also the added wrinkle of the rich girl’s creepy uncle, who collects banned erotic books and holds readings in his library for men who pass through. It’s a very unsettling atmosphere for two young ladies, and they form a bond with one another in spite of themselves.  There are moments of horror, laughter, and blush-inducing romance in this unrated film (don’t watch it with Grandma unless she has a very open mind and you have a very comfortable relationship). Its runtime is 145 minutes but I wanted to stay in this world forever. 

3. Green Room (Amazon/iTunes/GooglePlay Rental) We lost too many good people last year, and Anton Yelchin was one of the losses that hurt the most. In this movie, he gives arguably his best performance as a member of a punk band that gets in way over its head when they take a gig for gas money that takes place in a remote area where most of the audience is neo-Nazi skinheads. They get through the performance, uncomfortable as it is, but the real trouble happens later when one of them witnesses something their hosts really don’t want them to see. From there, it’s a tense stalemate as the band members have to improvise and evaluate who can be trusted. The movie is directed by Jeremy Saulnier, who gave us the excellent and underrated Blue Ruin a few years ago. This one has a similar blend of regular people in irregular situations, with plenty of blood and gore but also a fair bit of humor and a whole lot of real raw punk rock, both on the soundtrack and in the aesthetic. It helps that Saulnier was in a band himself back in the day, so he brings a real authenticity to the characters in the movie.  This stayed atop my “best of the year” list all the way into December, when I finally saw the last two films on my list. I’ve watched it multiple times and would watch it many more. If you took delight in a video of a Nazi getting punched a few weeks back, you should definitely watch this movie. And if you didn’t, well, you should still watch this movie. 

2. Moonlight (Theaters/Digital Purchase) Barry Jenkins (director/co-writer) and Tarell Alvin McCraney (co-writer) have created a moving, timeless piece of visual poetry in this film that captures three significant chapters in the life of a young man named Chiron. When we first meet him, he’s maybe six or seven years old and people call him “Little.” He hides out in an abandoned house to escape from neighborhood bullies, and is discovered by Juan (Mahershala Ali), a local drug dealer with a complicated moral compass. Juan and his wife Teresa (Janelle Monae) become de facto surrogate parents to Little, whose mom (Naomie Harris) works late and brings random men home and sells their belongings off piece by piece to afford the drugs she craves.  In the second chapter, Little is now “Chiron,” in high school and life hasn’t gotten easier. He’s still quiet, still has a troubled relationship with his mom, and feels pretty alone in his peer group with the exception of his friend Kevin. He and Kevin share an unexpected but life-changing evening on the beach that is intimate and believable and raw. The next day at school, however, another life-changing exchange takes place between the two young men and this one is even more visceral in its immediate and long lasting impact on Chiron’s future. Finally, we see him as “Black,” a little older and transformed from the skinny vulnerable teen into a muscular, physically intimidating presence. He’s clearly fighting against his past by embracing everything he can to seem larger than life and untouchable, in both his physical appearance and his lifestyle. He gets a phone call one night that reconnects him with a part of his past he could never quite shake. I won’t spoil what happens next, but the final twenty minutes of this movie are a perfect encapsulation of long-suppressed feelings finally forcing their way out into the open. It’s such a personal story, but the specifics make it so relatable that it feels universal in its specificity.  The performances in this movie are wonderful, the cinematography is gorgeous, the score is amazing--I could go on for years. To me, this movie showed a story I’ve never seen on screen before, from a perspective that’s completely underrepresented in pop culture. It never feels manipulative or stereotypical or preachy--just real and achingly human. Some moments in this movie have replayed themselves over and over in my mind hundreds of times, and even having seen it twice in the theater I can’t wait to study every frame of it on multiple viewings once it’s available on Blu-Ray. I want it to seep into my bones the way it seeped into my heart. 1. La La Land (Theaters) “This is the kind of movie that just fills your heart up,” I texted a friend the second I exited the theater after seeing La La Land the first of three times (and counting). And every time I watch it, my heart overflows a little more. Here’s a film that will resonate differently depending on your frame of mind when you watch it, the same way Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind can feel funny or sweet or tragic or dark or romantic depending on your current relationship status.  At first glance, Damien Chazelle may seem to be showing off in his follow up to Whiplash, tapping into an easy sentimentality that short circuits our center of reason by throwing in references to Singin’ in the Rain, Casablanca, West Side Story, and an LA that probably only ever existed in the imaginations of the people who never actually visited the City of Stars but fell in love with its many portrayals on the silver screen. And yes, Hollywood does love stories about itself and yes, the novelty of an original movie musical does scream “anachronistic film school prodigy.” So I get the skepticism, I truly do. I can’t promise this movie will live up to the hype of a record-tying number of Oscar nominations for you, but I can tell you that it means so much more than that to me. It’s not just another charming but forgettable throwback (I’m looking at you, The Artist).  In case you haven’t yet experienced this movie, a quick breakdown: Sebastian and Mia, portrayed by Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone, are both in LA chasing their dreams of artistic success. He’s a jazz pianist; she’s an actress. Neither has quite made it, and “making it” to them means doing something authentic on their own terms which makes success even more elusive. Compromise may be part of real life but neither of them is quite ready to give up the fantasy yet. Their relationship starts off adversarial, then tentative, then before you know it they’re literally floating into space so carried away are they with love and visions of a future together. The stages of their lives and the story are divided up by seasons, and sure as summer follows spring, you can’t get through the year without the fall. Fall in this movie has a double meaning, and the cute flirty interludes give way to frustrated sighs and changing priorities. Other seasons follow, which I will not spoil, but I will say that the final five or ten minutes of this movie could stand on their own and still be my favorite film of 2016. People compared Whiplash to The Red Shoes, and I would make the same comparison to this film although for different reasons. The ballet sequence of The Red Shoes and the final sequence of La La Land share an artistic splendor the can induce wonder and catharsis in equal measure. I’m prone to quoting Charles Bukowski, so I’m going to close by quoting him again. I think the following poems explain the core of this film, and why it resonates so much with me: “the area dividing the brain and the soul is affected in many ways by experience – some lose all mind and become soul: insane. some lose all soul and become mind: intellectual. some lose both and become: accepted.” --You Get So Alone at Times That it Just Makes Sense “if it doesn't come bursting out of you in spite of everything, don't do it. unless it comes unasked out of your heart and your mind and your mouth and your gut, don't do it. if you're doing it for money or fame, don't do it. if you're doing it because you want women in your bed, don't do it. unless it comes out of your soul like a rocket, unless being still would drive you to madness or suicide or murder, don't do it. unless the sun inside you is burning your gut, don't do it. when it is truly time, and if you have been chosen, it will do it by itself and it will keep on doing it until you die or it dies in you. there is no other way. and there never was.” --So You Want To Be a Writer?

[i-like-your-genitalia]

I want to know as much as I can about you, could you please answer all of the questions from the pride month questionnaire?

1. what is your sexuality?

I identity as bisexual at the moment ♥️

2. what do you identify as?

I identify as female (my designated/biological gender)

3. how long have you been aware of your sexuality/identity?

I realised, or identified myself as bisexual when I was 15, so that 3-4 years ago!

4. do you have any preferences?

I would say generally I go for guys, but it changes all the time sometimes I feel more attracted to women and other times to men. I would say on average 60% to men 40% to women.

5. share a positive memory about coming out!

I think all my friends were just chill, one of my good friends came out as bisexual and then transgender. And I’m not sure if they still identify as bi or if they identify as gay. But that was kinda the first of my friends to come out, and it wasn’t a big deal. So when others in the group came out. It was kinda just “oh cool, join the club!”

6. how do you feel about pride month?

It’s awesome, I think having a month where sexuality’s and identities can celebrated in the open and appreciated in awesome! For so long those in the LGBT++ community have been taught to ashamed of who they are. And having a month were it’s celebrated is fantastic!

7. do you participate in pride related events? any other events?

Unfortunately no, I’m not out with a lot of family, my sister and a few cousins know. But it’s not something I want to risk at the moment! So I as much I want to involve myself in pride. I can’t at the moment

8. how do you feel about lgbtqa roles in media?

We need more, it’s amazing how far we have come, but it would be awesome to see more and a bigger variety. And I think accurately depicted by the media as well!

9. do you feel pride in who you are?

Yes, it’s amazing to feel comfortable and have a support group who can help you through some of the crisis of coming out, or changing your identity or sexuality!

10. who has been your supportive idols in your self discovery?

Not gonna lie, when I first came out I had no idols. Just my friends in real life and on tumblr. There have been a couple of people who’ve helped by reblogging or posting informative writing and learning now to help with coming out and such. But I don’t have anyone specific

11. tell us about your first crush?

Girl Crush or Boy crush???

My first guy crush that I remember was in year 10, and he was the one where you stare from afar. I had an art class with him and I sat facing him and his friends. And it was awkward because everyone knew I liked him but I didn’t like speaking to him or interacting with him.

My first girl crush was on a friend I had, she was one of the first girls I was aware I was attracted too! But she was straight so there was no desire to take things further than a crush and it faded after a while! So I went from being friends….crush……back to being friends! And they wasn’t any romantic feelings lingering!

12. what sort of advice to have you lgbtqa teens?

Don’t be afraid to change your mind, labels aren’t everything! Yes they’ve helped with explaining who you are, but don’t feel obligated to stick to it. Just because at 16 you feel as tho you identify as bisexual or lesbian or gay, doesn’t mean that at 27 you’ll identify the same.

Also with coming out, especially during pride month! There is a huge pressure to come out, don’t ever feel like you “need” to come out. Especially if you are in a household that could potentially become unsafe if you did!

13. have you come out to friends and family?

I came out to my sister, and a few cousins. And the majority or my friends know I’m bisexual! So I’m not necessarily closeted, but I don’t put it out for every single person to know!

14. how do you feel about the term “coming out” ?

I have no feelings about it really, it’s a convenient saying for finding the ideal sexuality, or identity for yourself. I know some feel negatively towards the saying. But for me it’s a simple, well know phrase that is easy to use when talking about my bisexuality and discovery.

15. do you believe there is a “closet” to come out of?any tips on coming out?

For so long, the LGBTQIA community has been forced to hide who they are, because of the prejudice and hate of others towards them and their “lifestyle” and the closet is that place. I feel like there are better terms with less negative connotations than “closet” and “coming out” to do with the identifying of your sexuality and gender. However it’s part of our history as a community and maybe we should take control and take away the negativity that comes with the word closet and closeted. But I mean our whole community is based on unashamed of who you are. And I don’t think it’s shameful to be in the “closet” as long as you aren’t being homophobic or transphobic or all the other sexuality and identity phobias while your aren’t able to come out yourself..

I think first of all no pressure, for some being in the closet can do more harm than good, whereas it’s the opposite for some being out would cause more trouble than they are equipped to deal with. So I think do it when you are ready, don’t feel pushed or pressured to either remain in he closet or to come out! And I think start with the safest person, maybe a close friend or sibling or a parent. Don’t feel like you have to leap out and let every person know! It’s an anxiety inducing process! So start off with those who are low risk and then build up to those who are high risk. Because then you’ll have that group of being who love and support you. And it’s what you need when you get rejected for being who you are!

16. what’s your biggest pet peeve when it comes to lgbtqa characterization in media?

1. They die2. Portrayed as stereotypes, that don’t show that the lgbtqa as a diverse group of people3. There aren’t enough healthy and accurate portrayals of the community

17. what’s your favorite parts of lgbtqa characterization in media?

I think that they are proud of who they are, even when they aren’t particularly proud of themselves as individuals but as a community.

18. what did your teachers say about the lgbtqa community in school?

Well my health and P.E teacher was lesbian so we probably got a bit more of a lesson on sexuality then most. But it wasn’t a big throng yet when I took it as a compulsory class, it was very briefly covered but not in depth.

19. do you practice safe sex with the same sex?

I haven’t had sex, but yes, safe sex is key to any sort of relationship, straight or gay.

20. what’s an absolute turn off for you in people?

Racism, misogyny, all the phobias related the sexuality, identity and genders. And I think the lack of a desire to change ones opinion, and stay stuck in a imbedded and wrong way of thinking!

21. what’s an absolute turn on for you in people?

People who are inclusive, happy, always keen to learn and change and grow! Definitely those who are confident but not arrogant!

22. how do you feel about lgbtqa clubs/apps/websites?

I think they can be awesome places to get support, information and get to know people like you! In a “safe environment”

23. how do you feel about the term “queer” ?

I personally don’t mind it, it’s a good blanket term for those in the community or don’t come under strictly one label! Or who aren’t quite sure where they fit in the community just yet!

24. how does you country view the lgbtqa community?

Well New Zealand was definitely open and okay with it and it’s similar in Spain! I think you still find people who are against it whether or not you live in a LGBTQIA friendly country

25. favorite lgbtqa actor/actress?

Kristen Stewart ♥️

26. any tips for heterosexual people on how to handle lgbtqa events/news?

Don’t make it about you, if it’s something bad (like the pulse shooting) things like “my heart goes out to the families and friends who lost someone” “what a tragic loss of life” “this is such a horrible crime/incident” and if it’s a positive thing (gay marriage becoming possible) “congratulations” “it’s exciting to see progress” “I’m glad they achieved what they wanted” and most of all if you have the desire to make it about yourself or say something homophobic then keep your mouth shut!

27. what’s the most annoying question you have ever gotten?

“If you are with a girl, doesn’t that make you lesbian?” Or “if you had to pick one would you chose girls or guys?”

28. how do you feel about receiving questions about your sexuality/idenity?I don’t mind, I’m happy to talk about it!

29. what is your romantic affiliation?

I’m romantically attracted to both females and males!

[weekendwarriorblog]

WHAT TO WATCH THIS WEEKEND April 26, 2019  - AVENGERS: ENDGAME!!!

This is the big one, the start of the summer movie season – like last year, one week early – but also a singularly movie that is likely to crush pretty much everything still playing in theaters, and that is…

AVENGERS: ENDGAME!!

What’s being promoted as the finale of storylines that have been set-up over ten years of Marvel movies finally hits theaters one year after the fateful ending of Infinity War. Sadly, I won’t be seeing this until early next week, since I’ll be busy attending the Tribeca Film Festival over the weekend. (See more details about that below.)

Still, it’s hard to deny the draw of a sequel to last year’s Avengers: Endgame, which had such an astounding cliffhanger ending that few will want to wait to see this one, mainly to see how the surviving heroes deal with Thanos and get their friends and colleagues back.

I guess that’s all I have to say about the movie (other than my box office analysis at The Beat), until I see it so let’s get straight to the…

LIMITED RELEASES

If you live in New York, I beseech you to go see Pamela Green’s doc BE NATURAL: THE UNTOLD STORY OF ALICE GUY-BLACHÉ  (Zeitgeist Films), narrated by Jodi Foster, when it opens in New York on Friday. It will open at the IFC Center in New York plus a few other cities as it slowly expands to other cities. It’s an amazing story about the first-ever female filmmaker who was around during the earliest days of cinema in France.

Ralph Fiennes’ directs and co-stars in THE WHITE CROW (Sony Pictures Classics), an amazing film starring Oleg Ivenko as ballet dancer Rudolf Nureyev, who travelled to Paris with his ballet company, ended up meeting and falling in love with Clara Saint (Adèle Exarchopoulos) and defecting. Fiennes plays Nureyev’s early teacher, but it’s a fairly small role as he allows his younger cast to shine in a terrific story that covers much of Nureyev’s early life before defecting. It’s a fantastic film, regardless of whether you’re into ballet or not. The White Crowopens in New York and L.A. on Friday.

Not quite as amazing (but a movie I had been looking forward to seeing since Toronto last year) is Justin Kelly’s  JT LEROY (Universal Home Entertainment), which stars Kristen Stewart as Savannah Knoop, the young woman who pretended to be author J.T. Leroy, an abused transgender young man, who was duped by actual author Laura Albert (played by Laura Dern) to help fulfill the ruse for the press and other celebrities. Jim Sturgess plays Geoffrey Knoop, Laura’s boyfriend and Savannah’s brother while Diane Kruger plays Eva, a character clearly meant to be Asia Argento, who made The Heart is Deceitful Above All Things based on “Leroy’s” novel. I was very interested in this film, partially because I interviewed Argento for that film without knowing the story until seeing Jeff Feurzeig’s doc Author: The JT Leroy Story. The movie, co-written by Knoop and Kelly from her own book documenting events, is okay, but I feel that the screenplay could have been a lot more interesting if adapted by a better writer, and I’ve generally been mixed about Kelly’s work as a director, as well.  I guess if you’re interested in this story, you can check this out in select cities or On Demand.

Josh Lobo’s thriller I TRAPPED THE DEVIL (IFC Midnight) stars Scott Poythress as Steve, a man who is holding a man hostage in his basement who he believes is the Devil himself. When his brother (AJ Bowen) and wife (Susan Burke) arrive for the Christmas season, they discover Steve’s secret and begin wondering if the man is in fact the Devil.  I liked the movie’s premise more than the execution, as I didn’t think too much about the cast.

Roxanne Benjamin made her directorial debut as part of the horror anthology Southbound. She also had a segment in the XX anthology, and she now makes her feature film debut with BODY AT BRIGHTON ROCK (Magnet Releasing). It follows a young woman who is working as a summer employee at a state park, but who takes a wrong turn and ends up in a crime scene with no communication to the outside world. Bravely, she must spend the night in the wilderness protecting the crime scene on her own.


Opening on Wednesday at Film Forum is Carmine Street Guitars (Abramorama), Ron Mann’s documentary about Rick Kelly’s West Village guitar shop that’s been where he and his apprentice Cindy Hulej design and build custom guitars for the musical superstars. Some of the guitarists who pop in and are captured on camera include Charlie Sexton, Marc Ribot, Lenny Kaye and Bill Frisell with a special appearance by Jim Jarmusch. If you’re into music or are a guitar player, you’ll want to check this out.

Maia Wechsler’s doc If the Dancer Dances (Monument Releasing) goes into the dance studio of Stephen Petronio as they try to breathe new life into Merce Cunningham’s 1968 piece “RainForest.” The movie is being released in conjunction with Cunningham’s centennial, opening Friday in New York at the Quadand in L.A. at the Laemmle Music Hall.

A Thousand Thoughts

LOCAL FESTIVALS

The big festival starting on Wednesday is the17thAnnual TRIBECA FILM FESTIVAL, which kicks off on Wednesday with Life, Animated director Roger Ross Williams’ new documentary The Apollo, which is having it World premiere AT the Apollo Theater in Harlem. Other special events held at the Beacon Theater, also far north of Tribeca, include the 35thAnniversary of This is Spinal Tap and 40th Anniversary of Francis Ford Coppola’s Apocalypse Now, a special talk between Tribeca co-founder Robert De Niro and his longtime director Martin Scorsese, as well as special concerts/talks following docs about the Wu Tang Clan (Wu Tang Clan: Of Mics and Men) and Phish frontman Trey Anastasio (Between Me and My Mind).  

I’m not sure why, but I tend to gravitate more to the docs at Tribeca than the narratives, maybe because there have been maybe a dozen narratives at the festival that I truly loved. On the other hand, the festival has become renowned for so many amazing docs, and this year, there are goods ones about Stones bassist Bill Wyman (The Quiet One), Woodstock: Three Days That Defined a Generation, Maiden (about the first all-woman around-the-world sailing team), another one about movie sound (Making Waves) and one about a Ohio factory that shuts down but then is resuscitated by a Chinese company that offers the community new hope (American Factory). I’m also looking forward to seeing the doc Other Music, about New York’s indie record store which recently shut its doors. Add to that other music docs like Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice and Mystify: Michael Hutchence, and there’s quite a bit that I’m going to want to check out. 

Some of the narratives that I’m interested include The Kill Team, starring Nat Wolff and Alexander Skarsgard, and Kevin McMullin’s Low Tide, which has its World Premiere. Also, soon-to-be-released movies like Mary (American Psycho) Harron’s Charlie Says, starring Mat Smith as Charles Manson, and Joe Berlinger’s Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile, starring Zac Efron as Ted Bundy, will screen at Tribeca before their respective releases on May 10.

Hopefully, I’ll find some more hidden gems as the festival progresses.

Up in Toronto, Canada, one of my favorite cities, this year’s Hot Docs begins on Thursday. As the name might imply, this is a documentary film festival with an amazing array of docs, many getting their world premieres. I’m a little busy with Tribeca to go through all that is being offered, but if you live in Toronto, then you should be able to find some interesting subjects covered.

REPERTORY

METROGRAPH (NYC):

Metrograph Pictures’ second release is a restored rerelease of Djibril Diop Mambety’s Hyenas (1992), a comic adaptation of Friedrich Dürrenmatt’s play “The Visit” about a rich woman who is visiting a small African village with enough money to back the man running for mayor of the town. Instead, she reveals that he got her pregnant and abandoned her with child, leading her to a life of misery before coming into money. She offers a bounty to kill the man who did this to her, and the village needs to decide whether they like the mayoral candidate, a popular shopkeeper, as much as they need the money being offered. It’s a pretty fascinating film, beautifully shot, and it’s nice to see the Metrograph reviving it through their distribution arm. On top of that, the retrospective of Brazilian filmmaker Nelson Pereira Dos Santos continues through Sunday, including a few repeat showings. Late Nites at Metrograph  offers Gaspar Noe’s recent Climax, as well as Evangelion 1.0 and Evangelion 2.0for the Anime fans.  Playtime: Family Matinees ends the month with a classic Kurt Russell Disney movie, The Barefoot Executive  (1971).

THE NEW BEVERLY (L.A.):

Weds. afternoon is a screening of Melville’s 1956 film Bob Le Flambeur, while a double feature of Sydney Pollack’s The Yakuza  (1974) and John Woo’s A Better Tomorrow II  (1987) runs Weds. and Thursday. The Extended Version of Sam Peckinpah’s Major Dundee  (1965), starring Charlton Heston, screens on Friday and Saturday, followed by the double feature of Peter Sellers’ 1966 film After the Fox and Elaine May’s The Hearbreak Kid on Sunday and Monday. Tarantino’s The Hateful Eight and the 1983 comedy Doctor Detroit are the Friday and Saturday midnight movies, respectably. This weekend’s KIDEE MATINEE is Lord and Miller’s animated Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, while Monday’s matinee is David Fincher’s Fight Club.

FILM FORUM (NYC):

The “Trilogies” series continues this weekend with Andrzej Wajda’s “War Trilogy” (A Generation, Kanal, Ashes and Diamonds) on Wednesday, Jean Cocteau’s “Orphic Trilogy” (Blood of a Poet, Orpheus and Testament of Orpheus) on Thursday. Ingmar Bergman’s “God and Man Trilogy” (Through a Glass Darkly, Winter Light and The Silence) screens on Friday, and then Nicolas Winding Refn’s Pusher trilogy begins on Friday then continues on Saturday, April 27, and the third part on May 4. (Trust me, this is not an easy series to watch in one sitting.) Also, Marcel Pagnol’s “Marseilles Trilogy” will screen on Sunday. Film Forum Jr. shows Satyajit Ray’s Pather Panchali (1955), which is also part of Ray’s “Apu Trilogy” for the “Trilogies” series. See how that works?

BAM CINEMATEK (NYC):

BAM is killing it this week with a number of releases including a restored rerelease of Nina Menkes’ 1991 film Queen of Diamond with Menkes present for a QnA on Friday night and a panel on Saturday night. Set in Vegas, it deals with a disaffected blackjack dealer who drifts through a series of encounters. On Wednesday, BAM’s “Screen Epiphanies” series continues with Vanity Faircritic K. Austin Collins presenting Brian De Palma’s thriller Femme Fatale, starring Rebecca Romjin. Lastly, on Sunday, the “Beyond the Canon” series continues with a double feature of Charles Lane’s Sidewalk Stories  (1989) with Charlie Chaplin’s The Kid (1921).

EGYPTIAN THEATRE (LA):

The Egyptian gets in on Aero’s Classic Movie ClownsThursday with a Marx Brothers double feature of A Night at the Opera (1935) and A Day at the Races  (1937) with authors Robert Bader and Josh Frank signing their book. Friday sees a Stanley Donen tribute with a screening of Singin’ in the Rain  (1952), plus there will be an encore screening of the 7-hour War and Peace  (1967) on Sunday and Disney’s Mary Poppins (1964) on Sunday with a panel in conjunction with the Art Directors Guild Film Society.

AERO  (LA):

A new series called “Cowboys and Samurai” begins this week, and it’s little surprise that most of the samurai movies are from Akira Kurosawa. It begins on Thursday with a double feature of Rashomon (1950)and High Noon, then continues Friday with The Searchers (1956) and The Hidden Fortress (1958) and Seven Samurai (1954) and The Wild Bunch  (1969) on Saturday. Sunday’s double feature is Clint Eastwood’s Unforgiven (1992) and the 1962 film Harakiri (1962) (not directed by Kurosawa!). Sunday is also a rescheduled screening of the musical Annie (1982), as part of the Albert Finney remembrance.

IFC CENTER (NYC)

Waverly Midnights: Parental Guidance  continues with Poltergeist  (1982), Weekend Classics: Love Mom and Dad screens Charlie Chaplin’s The Kid  (1921), while Late Night Favorites: Spring shows Jodorowsky’s El Topo (1970).

MOMA (NYC):

Modern Matinees: B is for Bacall will show 1956’s Written on the Windon Weds, How to Marry a Millionaire  (1953) Thursday and then end the series on Friday with a reshowing of Vincent Minelli’s Designing Woman  (1957).

MUSEUM OF THE MOVING IMAGE (NYC):

The museum’s See it Big! Action series continues with two screenings of William Friedkin’s The French Connection 1971) on Friday and Saturday, Bullitt  (1968) on Saturday and George Miller’s Mad Max: Fury Road on Sunday. There will also be a showing of William Lustig’s 1980 horror film Maniacwith Lustig in attendance as part of its Disreputable Cinema series. This weekend is the first I’ve ever wished I lived out in Astoria, Queens.

QUAD CINEMA (NYC):

Wild Things: The Ferocious Films of Nelly Kaplan ends Thursday, but I don’t have any information for the weekend as of yet.

LANDMARK THEATRES NUART  (LA):

This Friday’s midnight movie is John Carpenter’s The Thing (1982), also starring Kurt Russell.

That’s it for this week. Next week: Four new wide releases that aren’t Avengers: Endgame!

[tabloidtoc]

In Touch, May 18

Cover: Meghan Markle’s Privacy Lawsuit Backfires 

Page 1: Contents

Page 2: Who Wore It Better? Joy Corrigan ✅ vs. Kendall Jenner, Kaia Gerber vs. Mia Goth ✅

Page 4: Rob Lowe can’t stop dishing about Tom Cruise even though they haven’t worked together since 1983′s The Outsiders 

Page 5: Makeover of the Week -- Kristen Stewart goes cosmic rust, The Bachelorette Clare Crawley on red flags for her potential suitors, Drew Scott says brother Jonathan Scott’s girlfriend Zooey Deschanel sent him weird stalker-y Twitter posts before she met them, Number of the Week -- 3 times a day Victoria Beckham works out, Breakout Star of the Week -- 5 things you don’t know about Ozark’s Julia Garner 

Page 6: Crib of the Week -- Kylie Jenner’s incredible new mansion on one of the most exclusive streets in the Holmby Hills area of L.A. 

Page 8: Locked Down with Their Exes -- And you think you’re ready to throttle your partner? These couples broke up but are still quarantining together -- Khloe Kardashian and Tristan Thompson, Bruce Willis and Demi Moore, Odette and Dave Annable, Jesse Metcalfe and Cara Santana, La La and Carmelo Anthony, Ramona and Mario Singer 

Page 9: Kate Hudson had a crush on Jimmy Fallon when they were making 2000′s Almost Famous, pregnant mom of four Hilaria Baldwin vented on Instagram about her nonstop day of cooking and cleaning and more but she didn’t get much sympathy, Man Candy of the Week -- David Gandy, Winner of the Week -- Mariah Carey’s album E=MC2 finally reaches the top of the iTunes chart 12 years after its release, Loser of the Week -- Kristen Bell’s daughter slams her for her bad reactions and lack of patience and stern voice in a first grade opinion essay 

Page 10: Up Close -- Princess Charlotte turns 5

Page 14: Pregnant Pause -- Brie Bella and Nikki Bella, Ashlee Simpson and Evan Ross, Lea Michele 

Page 16: Anderson Cooper and his son Wyatt 

Page 17: Cameron Diaz and a parakeet and budgie, Mariah Carey and twins Moroccan and Monroe who turned 9 

Page 18: Let’s Get Physical -- Heidi Montag jumps rope, Adam Sandler rides a bike, Sam Asghari goes for a shirtless run 

Page 20: Rihanna models her Savage X Fenty lingerie line 

Page 22: Reese Witherspoon and dog Lou, Mark Wahlberg surprises Melissa McCarthy and Ben Falcone on Ellen after Melissa described a dream in which Mark was doing household chores in her home 

Page 24: Masked lovers Ben Affleck and Ana de Armas sparked engagement rumors after she sported a $200,000 red ruby ring 

Page 26: Kourtney Kardashian and daughter Penelope 

Page 27: Mindy Kaling dressed up as Jared Leto at the 2019 Met Gala, Kaia Gerber and her foster puppy 

Page 28: Cover Story -- Courtroom Showdown -- Meghan Markle may be forced to testify against her dad and spill royal secrets 

Page 32: Katie Couric’s Tell-All -- Katie had a front-row seat to all the drama at Today and now she’s ready to spill her side of the story 

Page 34: Angelina Jolie to Brad Pitt: Stay Away From Our Kids -- after years of custody drama Angie finds a new reason to restrict Brad’s parenting time 

Page 36: Kristin Cavallari vs. Jay Culter -- who’s telling the truth? Kristin and Jay hurl shocking accusations in nasty divorce 

Page 38: Matthew Perry’s spiraling again after he got dumped 

Page 39: Mariah Carey’s diva demands drive her boyfriend Bryan Tanaka crazy and they’ve been worse than ever since they’ve been in quarantine, Felicity Huffman spent 11 days behind bars after admitting she paid someone to help her daughter Sophia get a good SAT score but seven months later the 19-year-old has been accepted to Pennsylvania’s Carnegie Mellon University on her own merits, Star Sightings -- Florida Georgia Line, Alysia Reiner, Billie Eilish and her brother Finneas Baird threw a virtual concert to highlight vegan restaurants like Beyond Sushi and Pura Vita that participate in the Support & Feed charity, Emma Roberts, Whitney Port, Victoria Justice 

Page 40: John Cena spending $5 million on his upcoming wedding to Shay Shariatzadeh and he’s planning it himself 

Page 41: The Bachelor Peter Weber is now dating Kelley Flanagan the contestant he knew before filming even started, Gigi Hadid and Zayn Malik are having a baby girl, Robert Pattinson and Suki Waterhouse are having a baby and she got pregnant during lockdown but they’re in no rush to get married

Page 44: The Big Interview -- Kenya Moore of RHOA throws major shade at her onetime frenemy Nene Leakes 

Page 46: Style -- workout clothes -- Kate Hudson 

Page 50: Beauty -- spa day at home -- Gwyneth Paltrow 

Page 52: Did I Really Do That? Prince George is their style icon -- Pharrell Williams, Lucy Hale, Ben Affleck, David Beckham 

Page 54: Animal Overload -- My dog looks like Jack Nicholson 

Page 56: Entertainment 

Page 58: My Night at Home -- Kron Moore, Guess Whose Motorcycle Helmet -- Ben Affleck, Orlando Bloom, Jon Hamm, Keanu Reeves, Bradley Cooper, Justin Bieber 

Page 62: Horoscope -- Taurus Stephen Colbert 

Page 64: Last Laughs 

[njawaidofficial]

'Awards Chatter' Podcast — Stephen Colbert ('The Late Show With Stephen Colbert')

http://styleveryday.com/2017/08/20/awards-chatter-podcast-stephen-colbert-the-late-show-with-stephen-colbert/

'Awards Chatter' Podcast — Stephen Colbert ('The Late Show With Stephen Colbert')

“I wanted to change as a performer,” Stephen Colbert says as we sit down in the offices of CBS’ The Late Show, high above the Ed Sullivan Theater in Midtown Manhattan, on a “Pizza Tuesday” — a Tuesday when Colbert’s staff is treated to pizza because The Late Show topped the previous week’s ratings — and begin discussing why he agreed to say goodbye to “Stephen Colbert,” a character he perfected over 20 years on Comedy Central’s The Daily Show and The Colbert Report, in order to succeed David Letterman as the host of the Tiffany Network’s late-night centerpiece. “I wanted to change what my responsibilities were on a daily basis,” he continues in an intervew with The Hollywood Reporter‘s Awards Chatter podcast. “I just wanted to go out there and do jokes for people.”

It’s been almost two years since Colbert’s debut as The Late Show‘s host. And it’s been almost one year since disappointing ratings, an Emmys snub and a general lack of buzz prompted some to begin writing off a man who had shared in two Peabody Awards and three writing Emmys during his tenure at The Daily Show (which won five Emmys for best variety series while he was there) and who subsequently had picked up another two Peabodys, four writing Emmys and two Emmys for best variety series at The Colbert Report. There even were suggestions that he would be asked to swap time slots with James Corden’s The Late Late Show — or be replaced altogether.

What a difference a year — and a presidential election — can make! This year, The Late Show, rather than NBC’s The Tonight Show, finished the season atop late-night ratings for the first time in 22 years; The Late Show, and not The Tonight Show, garnered a nom for best variety talk series (plus two others); Colbert’s election-night special for CBS’ sister cable network, Showtime, Stephen Colbert’s Live Election Night Democracy’s Series Finale: Who’s Going to Clean Up This Shit? received a nom for best variety special (plus two others); and Colbert himself is set to host the 69th Emmy Awards on Sept. 17. As “Stephen Colbert” might have asked, were he still around: great comeback, or greatest comeback?

(Click above to listen to this episode or here to access all of our 170 episodes via iTunes. Past guests include Oprah Winfrey, Steven Spielberg, Meryl Streep, Eddie Murphy, Lady Gaga, Robert De Niro, Amy Schumer, Will Smith, Jennifer Lopez, Louis C.K., Emma Stone, Harvey Weinstein, Natalie Portman, Jerry Seinfeld, Jane Fonda, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Nicole Kidman, Aziz Ansari, Taraji P. Henson, J.J. Abrams, Helen Mirren, Justin Timberlake, Brie Larson, Ryan Reynolds, Alicia Vikander, Warren Beatty, Jessica Chastain, Samuel L. Jackson, Kate Winslet, Sting, Isabelle Huppert, Tyler Perry, Sally Field, Michael Moore, Lily Collins, Denzel Washington, Mandy Moore, Ricky Gervais, Kristen Stewart, James Corden, Sarah Silverman, Michael B. Jordan, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Bill Maher, Lily Tomlin, Ryan Murphy, Allison Janney, Eddie Redmayne, Reese Witherspoon, Trevor Noah, Elisabeth Moss, Jay Leno, Kris Jenner, Rami Malek, Jill Soloway, Robert Pattinson, Kate Beckinsale and Jimmy Kimmel.)

Colbert, who is 53, was born in Washington, D.C., and raised in South Carolina, the youngest of 11 kids in a deeply observant Catholic family. At the age of 10, his life was rocked when his father and his two brothers closest in age to him were killed in the crash of Eastern Air Lines Flight 212. “I have said to myself more than once, ‘Gosh, I hope I live long enough to figure out what that did to me,’ ” he solemnly reflects. “It’s almost like that event created a labyrinth in my mind in which I could hide when I was younger — no one could find me if I went into the labyrinth of that experience — but I was also lost in there.” By that time, Colbert’s surviving siblings were out of the home, meaning that he and his mother largely were left to take care of each other. During his ensuing adolescent years, Colbert’s spirits were lifted by comedy albums that he listened to every night (“Comedy saved my life,” he says) and it was out of a desire to brighten his mother’s spirits that he increasingly gravitated toward performing comedy himself (“I wanted to make her laugh and feel better”).

After “barely” graduating from high school as a result of having neglected his studies in favor of reading for pleasure and playing Dungeons & Dragons, Colbert studied for two years at Hampden-Sydney College in Virginia, before transferring to Northwestern University in order to pursue a theater major. There, a drama teacher insisted that students drop their facades and open up about their innermost feelings, and, Colbert says decades later, “I think it was the first time in my life I started to reflect on what had happened to me and my family as a child.” While in Chicago, Colbert also met Del Close, one of the legendary gurus of improvisation, and began studying improv on the side, ultimately at fabled Second City, where he was hired to join the national touring company in 1988. (There, he understudied Steve Carell, whom he would later recommend for a job at The Daily Show, and became particularly close with Paul Dinello and Amy Sedaris, with whom he would later co-create, with Mitch Rouse, Strangers With Candy for Comedy Central.)

In 1994, Colbert left Second City and headed to New York, where he had been offered a job writing for the Comedy Central sketch-comedy series Exit 57 — which promptly was canceled. Following a brief return to Chicago, he, his wife and their newborn child moved to New York for good when he was hired to write for ABC’s The Dana Carvey Show (on which he and Carell also voiced the characters of Ace and Gary, respectively, in Robert Smigel‘s The Ambiguously Gay Duo cartoons, which they later reprised on Saturday Night Live). That show was canceled after only eight episodes had aired. Thus began for Colbert a “dark period” of “soul-crushing work,” stints on the unemployment rolls and general uncertainty about his future. Interestingly, it had been at The Dana Carvey Show that he first was asked to play a newsman (the episodes in which he did so never aired), and it was after its cancellation that he was hired, as one of many short-term gigs, to do the same in humorous segments for ABC’s Good Morning America (just two of those segments aired). That, in turn, brought him to the attention of The Daily Show, which he reluctantly joined as a field correspondent in 1997, when Craig Kilborn was still the anchor. He recalls, “I was like, ‘Oh, my God, I’m an actor, why am I going to be a correspondent?’ “

Two years later, Jon Stewart succeeded Kilborn, and Colbert — who had been splitting his time between The Daily Show and launching Strangers With Candy — couldn’t have been happier. “We hit it off immediately,” he says, explaining, “He was injecting the show with purpose and an editorial position, and when I came back, he invited us to put our own thoughts, our own feelings, our own editorial position in what we were doing. We weren’t widgets to him; we were creative partners.” One of the things that Colbert took upon himself to do was create “Stephen Colbert,” a self-important newsman “persona,” initially modeled after a local TV news reporter; then after an all-business pro like Stone Phillips; and ultimately after a selection of the talking-head pundits who were beginning to proliferate across TV at the time, but one, in particular: Bill O’Reilly. “I really do think that he’s a well-intentioned, poorly informed, high-status idiot,” Colbert says of the now-disgraced Fox News alum, “which was my model.”

By 2005, having become immensely popular over his years on The Daily Show, Colbert was ready to move on to his next adventure. “I really liked working with Jon, but I wanted to leave because there was only so much I could do,” he recalls. “Jon was always going to be the guy with the ball, as well he should be — there’s no greater runner, he’s the master — but I knew I could only do so much for him. It was a beautiful note, but it was only one note that I could do for him in his chorus of correspondents.” Colbert and Stewart pitched a sitcom to NBC, but the network passed, and then Comedy Central asked if they might like to create a Daily Show spinoff, starring “Stephen Colbert,” which would follow The Daily Show each evening. They bit, and for the next decade, The Daily Show and The Colbert Report arguably were television’s best — and certainly its funniest — one-two punch.

In April 2014, when it was announced that David Letterman would be vacating his job as host of The Late Show, few imagined that Colbert, who had been Letterman’s guest 10 times over the years, might replace him. But, Colbert says, “I had already decided I wasn’t gonna do the [Colbert Report] show anymore,” and when CBS approached him about the position, he began seriously considering it — largely because he thought his mother, who had died less than a year earlier, would have liked him to. “In some ways, all of this was for her,” he says. “She would absolutely have been so tickled.” Colbert realized that he would be trading in cable for broadcast, giving up four half-hour shows a week for five hourlong shows and, most significantly, retiring “Stephen Colbert” for Stephen Colbert even though, as he puts it, “No one ever knew that guy” — and he took the plunge. His first Late Show aired on Sept. 8, 2015.

Did Colbert make the right move? “I was an actor, and this is not acting,” he says. “This is a harder job. There’s a challenge to driving a car straight, as opposed to swerving all over the road.” Even though Colbert brought almost all of his Colbert Report staff — some 80 people — with him to the new job, and even though he had not had a showrunner before, it quickly became apparent that without one, he, “a control freak” who was hands-on with every detail of the show, from its set to its greenrooms to its comedy, was in trouble. “I lost my mind,” he acknowledges in hindsight. “I couldn’t sleep at night because clearly, aesthetically or in terms of having an editorial intention, the show was not coalescing. People didn’t know what they were gonna get — they didn’t know what it was about — because neither did I. I had thrown out the baby with the bathwater: In trying to not be my character, I also threw out my interests which led to the character.”

The first of two major turning points for the show came on April 2, 2016, after it already had been on the air for eight lackluster months, when CBS chief Les Moonves arranged a meeting between Colbert and Chris Licht, a producer who had helped a number of other shows on the network find their footing. Colbert recalls Licht’s proposal for a collaboration: “He said, ‘Any moment you’re not thinking about comedy, I’ve failed.’ And I said, ‘Let’s shake on it. Do you want the job?’ ” Ever since, Colbert asserts, he has gotten better about “letting go and just enjoying being onstage with the audience,” and he also has arrived at an understanding that “what works in one of these shows, at least in my experience, is, I’m gonna talk to you about the thing that you’ve already been talking about today, and we’re gonna give you our take on this thing that everybody’s talking about, to give you some context — and maybe calm you down about it.”

The second turning point came on Nov. 8, 2016, the night of the U.S. presidential election, when Colbert was hosting his live Showtime special, for which he and his team had planned all sorts of comedic material. But as it became apparent, to everyone’s disbelief, that Donald Trump actually was going to win, Licht approached Colbert with a piece of advice that the host says he took to heart. “He said, ‘No more bits. All the things we have planned, let’s just throw [them] out the window. Just go over there and talk to people.’ So that’s what the show became [that night], and we’ve tried to not let go of that.” Colbert continues, “That show changed us because it showed me the value of not pretending to feel some way you’re not.” In other words, rather than avoiding politics simply because it had been the bread and butter of “Stephen Colbert,” Colbert would tackle politics head-on because it was precisely what was on his mind — and therefore, in all likelihood, others’ minds, too. Two weeks after the election, Colbert’s Late Show topped the ratings for the first time, and it hasn’t looked back since.

“There’s a lot of things that have changed,” Colbert muses. “I have an even deeper respect for [ABC late-night host Jimmy] Kimmel and [NBC late-night host Jimmy] Fallon and [TBS’ current/NBC’s former late-night host] Conan [O’Brien] and the people who came before us. I always respected their comedy, but I really respect them professionally because I didn’t know what they were doing until I got here.” He hastens to add, “I’ve learned to trust my staff,” noting that he could not have done 17 live shows over the past year if he hadn’t. And, above all, at long last, he’s having fun. “I love this job,” he says with a big smile. “I couldn’t love it more. This feels, right now, like the first year of the old gig. There’s a sense of excitement, and I hope that is throughout the whole building — that people feel like they’ve created something new that wasn’t here a year ago.”

Stephen Colbert Primetime Emmy Awards The Daily Show

#Awards #Chatter #Colbert #Late #Podcast #Show #Stephen

[coffeenews9-blog]

Celebrities Who Came Out As Bisexual, Pansexual, or Label-Free

1. Aubrey Plaza Queer women everywhere rejoiced when the quirky Parks and Recreation star told The Advocate she will “fall in love with girls and guys” and she has “a major crush” on fellow Addicted to Fresno actor Natasha Lyonne.

2. Amandla Stenberg The Hunger Games star identified as “a black, bisexual woman” during a Teen Vogue Snapchat takeover last January. Later, in a video they made for Rookiemagazine, Stenberg said they would use the identifier “pansexual” instead of “bisexual” if more people understood what it meant. “The thing is, I use the word bisexual just because I feel like for people who don’t necessarily know that vocabulary…it’s easier to say I’m bi,” they explained. “So, I understand that erasure piece.” Earlier this year, Stenberg also shared that they identify as non-binary.

3. Kristen Stewart Kristen Stewart is "like so gay, dude." Having dated both men and women (including Twilight co-star Robert Pattinson and visual effects specialist Alicia Cargile), Stewart told The Guardian in March, "You’re not confused if you’re bisexual. It’s not confusing at all. For me, it’s quite the opposite she is bisexual.

4. Ezra Miller The Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them actor may have played a gay high school student in The Perks of Being A Wallflower, but he told Outmagazine he identifies as queer. “I’m just trying to make sure my lack of responsibility no longer hurts people,” he said. “That’s where I’m at in the boyfriend/girlfriend/zefriend type of question.”

5. Rowan Blanchard The 15-year-old star of Girl Meets World tweeted about her sexuality in January 2016, stating that she doesn’t want to label herself “as straight gay or whateva” and that she identifies as queer.

6. Michelle Rodriguez Whether she was canoodling with Cara Delevingne or featured on the cover of lesbian magazine Curve (without her consent), Rodriguez has often experienced scrutiny focused on her sexuality. She addressed the rumors in 2013, when she told Entertainment Weekly, “I’ve gone both ways. I do as I please. I am too fucking curious to sit here and not try when I can. Men are intriguing. So are chicks.”

7. Alan Cumming Scottish-American actor and activist Alan Cumming has been vocal about his bisexuality for many years. "I still define myself as a bisexual even though I have chosen to be with [my husband] Grant [Shaffer]," he told Instinct in 2013. "I’m sexually attracted to the female form even though I am with a man and I just feel that bisexuals have a bad rap."

8. Lauren Jauregui The Fifth Harmony singer came out as bisexual during the most recent election, in an open letter on Billboard addressed to Trump supporters. She wrote, “I am a bisexual Cuban-American woman, and I am so proud of it."

9. Halsey This rising star has spoken openly about her bisexuality and has challenged society's biphobia and bi-erasure. When BuzzFeed News analyzed her sexuality in a judgmental way, she responded with a series of (since-deleted) tweets, beginning with "Well @buzzfeed sorry I'm not gay enough for you."

10. Miley Cyrus Cyrus, who is now engaged to actor Liam Hemsworth, has spoken openly about her gender fluidity and identified herself as pansexual in the October 2015 issueof Elle U.K.

#lgbt #lesbian #gaycelebrities #bisexual #celebrities #gay #celebs #neilpatrickharris #celebrity #famous #homosexual #outofthecloset #evanrachelwood #gayblackcelebrities #blackgaycelebrities #blacklesbiancelebrities #equality #list #top10 #top5 #comingout #kristenstewart #ellendegeneres #cameout #gayactors #famouspeople #blackgaycouples #blackgayactors #blacklesbiancouples #gayblackactors #gayblackcouples #Celebritieslgbt

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