News

In an age of mass shootings when the debate over gun control rages on, some recent films, such as Jessica Chastain’s new film “Miss Sloane” tackle the subject head on. Another new film “Sins of Our Youth” also explores this topic, capturing the intersection of gun culture and foolish adolescence. The film follows four teenagers who accidentally murder a younger boy while shooting off assault weapons recreationally, and the perilous decisions they make in the aftermath of the murder. In a moment of desperation and fear, the four teenagers drunkenly construct a plan reminiscent of a video-game plot, but it’s only a catalyst for more confusion and pain. Watch an exclusive clip from the film below.

Read More: Film Acquisition Rundown: IFC Picks Up ‘Queen of the Desert,’ The Orchard Grabs ‘Carrie Pilby’ and More

The film is directed by Gary Entin and written by his twin brother Edmund Entin,...

Lousy Smarch is almost here and the debut schedules for all the movies and series that will be hitting Netflix in March have arrived. We also have the Amazon Prime folks covered as well! The second season of Marvel’s Daredevil and the premieres of the fourth season of House of Cards and the first season of the new comedy Flaked, with Will Arnett hit the small screen. Did you forget about the premiere of the Judd Apatow-produced Pee-wee’s Big Holiday? We didn’t.

On the Amazon Prime front, check out below to see what you’ll be able to stream for free and what’s going to have a cost. Let’s watch!

All Title Dates are Subject to Change

Netflix U.S. Release Dates Only

Available 3/1

Adult Beginners (2015)

Ahora o Nunca (2015)

Aldnoah.Zero: Season 2

American Pie Presents: Beta House (2007)

American Pie Presents: The Naked Mile...

March 2016 is a sad month for some Netflix subscribers.

Say goodbye to '90s films "American Pie" (1999), "Hackers" (1995), Mel Gibson's "Hamlet" (1990), "Indecent Proposal" (1993) and "Jumanji" (1995) in March. Also disappearing: Will Smith movies "Hitch" (2005) and "Men in Black II" (2002), as well as oodles of TEDTalks that are all expiring next month.

Here's the complete list of what's leaving Netflix streaming in March.

Leaving March 1, 2016

"Alvin and the Chipmunks Meet the Wolfman" (2000)

"American Pie" (1999)

"American Wedding" (2003)

"Atlantis: The Lost Empire" (2001)

"The Babysitters" (2007)

"The Chosen One" (2010)

"Down and Out in Beverly Hills" (1986)

"Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights" (1992)

"Gone in 60 Seconds" (2000)

"Hackers" (1995)

"Hamlet" (1990)

"Hannie Caulder" (1971)

"Hardball" (2001)

"Hart's War" (2002)

"Hitch" (2005)

"Indecent Proposal" (1993)

"Johnny Dangerously" (1984)

"Jumanji" (1995)

"Masters of the Universe" (1987)

"Men in Black II" (2002)

"The Monster Squad" (1987)

"Not Another Teen Movie" (2001)

"Paycheck" (2003)

"Switchmas" (2013)

"The United States of Leland" (2003)

"Wings" (1927)

Leaving March 2, 2016

"Stevie Nicks: In Your Dreams" (2013)

Leaving March 3, 2016

"Night Catches Us" (2010)

Leaving March 4, 2016

"Getting...

To celebrate today's 10th anniversary of "Mean Girls," everyone should do what I did last night and rewatch the hilarious high-school flick (it's currently available to stream just about everywhere, but I admit to owning it on DVD). There's a reason we're making a big deal about the biting comedy's decade mark. In the 10 years since "Mean Girls" was released, no other realistic teen comedy (meaning not the ones about magical orphans, sparkling vampires, or dystopian warriors) has come close to becoming as much a cultural touchstone as the Tina Fey-penned, Mark Waters-directed classic.

Waters, who in the ensuing decade has directed or produced seven films, including "500 Days of Summer," "Ghosts of Girlfriends Past," and "Vampire Academy," told Moviefone that he thinks the reason "Mean Girls" still resonates with audiences is that essentially the high-school experience is the same one generation to the next. "The big theme of...

What’s new, what’s hot, and what you may have missed, now available to stream.

streaming now, before it’s in theaters

Firefox: magnificent drama about a girl gang in 1950s New York, astonishing in its peek into the hidden traumas of girls’ everyday lives [at Amazon Instant Video]

streaming now, while it’s still in theaters

The Past: remarkably grounded French drama about a broken family trying to mend; unexpectedly riveting, with one of the year’s best ensembles [my review] [at Amazon Instant Video] Blood Ties: some excellent performances — by Clive Owen and Billy Crudup — can’t disguise the fact that there’s absolutely nothing here we haven’t seen too many times before [my review] [at Amazon Instant Video]

streaming now, before it’s on dvd

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug: Smaug is a magnificent cinematic creation… but there’s no good reason it takes so damn long to get to him [my review] [at Amazon Instant Video]

new to Prime

Flyboys: old-fashioned adventure...

A gentle, positive high-school drama about how little courage it actually takes to break through adolescent panicky silence and embrace everyone’s differences. I’m “biast” (pro): nothing

I’m “biast” (con): nothing

I have not read the source material

(what is this about? see my critic’s minifesto)

High school is hard enough even if you don’t have any secrets. So when brainy Russell (Cameron Deane Stewart: Pitch Perfect) and star football player Kevin (Justin Deeley: Couples Retreat) — both of them just as adorable as is possible — are accidentally discovered in their first kiss by their classmate Min (Ally Maki: Step Up 3D), they’re mortified. And when she leaves notes in their lockers telling them to come to a classroom after school, they’re terrified: Is she going to blackmail them? Turns out she is starting a private support group for the school’s gay and lesbian students…...

Julianna Guill (Crazy, Stupid, Love) has been cast as a regular in CBS pilot The Mistake, a multi-camera comedy written by Friends alumni Shana Goldberg-Meehan and Scott Silveri and former Seinfeld writer-producer David Mandel. Produced by Wbtv, the story centers around a couple who had just “finished” raising their kids when they discover they’re pregnant. Guill, repped by Apa, Luber Roklin Management and Neil Meyer, will play oldest child Gretchen who has just landed a high-paying job as a consultant and is particularly embarrassed by her parents’ pregnancy. Related: 2014 CBS Pilots Ally Maki has booked a regular role on Fox‘s comedy pilot Sober Companion from CBS TV Studios and writers/exec producers David S. Rosenthal and Jennie Snyder Urman. It centers on Robert, a charming, but self-destructive attorney who finds his world turned upside down when a court-appointed, and highly unconventional, sober companion takes control of his life.

While the Academy Awards is the ceremony sure to earn the most ink over the coming weeks, the GLAAD Media Awards are an honor held more closely to the hearts of some. Seeking to celebrate films, TV shows, mini-series and websites that represent the Lgbt community, GLAAD's ceremony shines a spotlight on a part of the artistic community that has been forced into the shadows for too long. You can see the full list of nominations at THR, but we're sharing the film nominations below: Outstanding Film - Wide Release Blue Is the Warmest Color (Sundance Selects) Dallas Buyers Club (Focus Features) Kill Your Darlings (Sony Pictures Classics) The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones (Sony Pictures Releasing) Philomena (The Weinstein Company) Outstanding Film - Limited Release Concussion (RADiUS-The Weinstein Company) Geography Club (Breaking Glass Pictures) Out in the Dark (Breaking Glass Pictures) Reaching for the Moon (Wolfe Releasing) Yossi (Strand...

With two big ceremonies coming up (April 12th in Los Angeles and May 3rd in New York City), the 2014 GLAAD Media Awards has a ton of great nominees all vying for a trophy.

On the film end of things, “Dallas Buyers Club” and “Blue is the Warmest Color” both received nods, and “Orange is the New Black” and “Pretty Little Liars” lead the way for television.

The GLAAD Media Awards honors the biggest and brightest stars in entertainment, journalism and real-life Lgbt movements.

The nominees for the 2014 GLAAD Media Awards are:

Outstanding Film – Wide Release

Blue Is the Warmest Color (Sundance Selects)

Dallas Buyers Club (Focus Features)

Kill Your Darlings (Sony Pictures Classics)

The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones (Sony Pictures Releasing)

Philomena (The Weinstein Company)

Outstanding Film – Limited Release

Concussion (RADiUS-The Weinstein Company)

Geography Club (Breaking Glass Pictures)

Out in the Dark (Breaking Glass Pictures)

Reaching for the Moon...

This morning the national Lgbt media advocacy organization GLAAD announced nominees for the 25th Annual GLAAD Media Awards. According to GLAAD President Sarah Kate Ellis, the year “has brought momentous progress for Lgbt people and families – and our nominees have created images and stories that continue to challenge misconceptions, shatter stereotypes, and change hearts and minds of millions all across the globe.”

There are 130 nominees in 29 categories but a few notable honorees include wide release films Dallas Buyers Club, Philomena and Kill Your Darlings, all of which were previously reviewed here on TheBacklot.

In the limited release category, Geography Club scored a nod. (The film is based on the classic Ya novel by AfterElton alum Brent Hartinger.)

In the outstanding TV drama category, ABC Family scored 2 nominees: The Fosters and Pretty Little Liars.

In the TV comedy category, perennial nominees Modern Family and Glee were joined by Brooklyn Nine-Nine and...

The nation’s Lgbt media advocacy group has revealed the nominees for its 25th annual GLAAD Media Awards. In the Outstanding Film – Wide Release category, Sundance Selects’ Blue Is The Warmest Color will go up against Focus Features’ Dallas Buyers Club, Sony Pictures Classics Kill Your Darlings, Sony Pictures’ The Mortal Instruments: City Of Bones and The Weinstein Company’s Philomena. On the TV side, nominees for Outstanding Drama Series are The Fosters (ABC Family), Grey’s Anatomy (ABC), Orphan Black (BBC America), Pretty Little Liars (ABC Family) and Shameless (Showtime). The Comedy Series hopefuls are Brooklyn Nine-Nine (Fox), Glee (Fox), Modern Family (ABC), Orange Is The New Black (Netflix) and Please Like Me (Pivot). The MSNBC leads all networks with four noms, followed by ABC with three. Sony Pictures, The Weinstein Company and Breaking Glass Pictures are the only multiple nominees on the film side. The honors recognize media for their fair,...

(l-r) Alex Newell, Nikki Blonsky, Cameron Deane Stewart, Ally Maki and Teo Olivarea

Even though a lot of us have put our coming out process behind us, there are also a lot of people, young and old, who are dealing with it now or will very soon and the new film, Geography Club, is the kind of movie that appeals to everyone.

Based on former AfterElton editor Brent Hartinger’s first book in the Russel Middlebrook series, the film version was written by Edmund Entin and directed by his brother, Gary Entin. The central role of Russel is played by Cameron Dean Stewart (Pitch Perfect) who brings a realness and honesty to his portrayal of a teenager trying desperately to connect with other people.

The film, which won the Audience Award for Best Feature at this summer’s Outfest, also stars Justin Deeley (Drop Dead Diva) as Russel’s love interest,...

Breaking Glass Pictures, Huffington Pictures, and Shoreline Entertainment have announced the November 15th North American theatrical release of Geography Club, produced by Michael Huffington of Huffington Pictures. Starring Cameron Deane Stewart Pitch Perfect, Justin Deeley 'Drop Dead Diva', '90210', and Nikki Blonsky Hairspray, Geography Club has been a hit on the festival circuit in the past year, culminating in an Audience Award for Best First Feature at Los Angeles Outfest.

Et's Rocsi Diaz sat down exclusively with Hairspray star Nikki Blonsky in which she set the record straight regarding the images of her sweeping the floor in a hair salon.

Blonsky explains that she did not work in the salon but rather was helping a friend, stating, "I actually never worked in a salon. That was a story that was out there and it wasn't true, but it's funny the things that people make up when you're not working. I had just gotten my hair done and my friend said, 'Hey can you put makeup on me? I'm going to a wedding.'" She goes on to say, "People think I do so many different things. Some people ask me if I still scoop ice cream because I used to work at Cold Stone Creamery before Hairspray. Some people think I'm on set 24/7. People think all crazy things. If I switch this ring to this finger, I'm instantly...

International Sales Agents are the core of the current international film market system – i.e., the buying and selling of films worldwide. Half of the approximately 450 worldwide ISAs are based in La, the rest spread around the globe, but it matters little in a business sense where they are based. They gather together during the upcoming American Film Market November 6 in Santa Monica, California, in Berlin at the European Film Market February 6, 2014, and at the Cannes Marche in May as well as other events around the world to license rights to their films to distributors coming from every corner of the world. Their films also originate from every corner of the world.

Shoreline has been selling to the international film market since 1992. Morris Ruskin sat down last week for a chat with me here in La. I sum up our discussion as follows, after I add that Morris’ friendship and professionalism (and good taste!), is in general one of the principal reasons we like this film business. When we travel, which is frequent, it is people like Morris who light up the distant locations for us and, while both of us are L.A. based, we often only see each other throughout the year at various film business related events in remote places such as Cannes, Berlin, Bahamas., etc.

Morris Ruskin was born in South Africa to anti-Apartheid parents. He left there, along with parents and three older sisters, at age 9, to move to Boston where his Dad went to Harvard Business School. Then they moved to Bermuda for 3 years. When Morris was 15 his mother attended graduate school at UCLA School of Theater. There he met Athol Fugard, the South African playwright about whom his mother did her dissertation.

Many years later, Morris Executive Produced Master Harold & the Boys and dedicated the movie to his mother. He fell in love with L.A. and the movies in high school in L.A. His best friend lured him into filmmaking through Super 8 films which they recreated --movies like Raiders of the Lost Ark and The Blues Brothers. Attending UCLA he wrote screenplays, some of which were optioned and he became an intern at MTV, an experience he considered at that time to be “the new frontier” of entertainment.

He soon became employed at Zupnik Entertainment Enterprises, staying for 6 years. He began as a script reader, then moved up to become the Director of Development and finally became a Vice President. His high water mark there was as a Co-Producer for the high profile very successful film, Glengarry Glen Ross.

He began Shoreline in 1992 on his own with a financial partner. It started as a production company. He then had operating money to run the company but No income. Projects were set up at New Line, Warner Brothers and various sales companies but they all got stuck in development. He figured out that there were two viable ways to make money in the business – selling movies worldwide and managing talent. Because he worked very closely with the sales company, New Line, on Glengarry Glen Ross, he decided to start a sales company. In 1995 he hired sales people to sell films and within six months he had three films in play. Morris says this meant “we were off to the races”. He then began to pick up / or acquire other films to sell.

He continues to branch out. In 2012 he formed a management company for directors, writers and writer / directors.

When we spoke he was intensely proud of a new film he served as Executive Producer on, Pablo, which was opening the Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival this past October. This is a Spanish language feature documentary about graphic artist, trailer and title maker, Pablo Ferro, narrated by Jeff Bridges. Pablo was Kubrick’s title designer. Born in Cuba, he migrated as a teen to New York and had, as Morris expresses it, “a rags to riches and back to rags life”. The documentary is a representation for how difficult it can be to make it as an artist in the business. Perhaps it resonates with Morris as he has been able to successfully balance the art of filmmaking with the business side of selling movies.

For Morris Shoreline is a “purposely eclectic” company. His team acquires and sells feature narrative films and documentaries. They pick up “foreign language” (meaning – non English language) films and art house indies. On the commercial side they sell “genre” pictures, thrillers, horror.

Now that sales are successful, Morris now focuses his daily work on management, production, financing. He has produced approximately fifty films. Two of those films were directed by his high school friend who introduced him to filmmaking through Super 8 movies! Shoreline tends to be very loyal to the filmmakers it works with. If it picks up someone’s finished film, often Morris works with that filmmaker to produce the next film and perhaps even to manage him or her. As a producer Morris has had many award winning films and multiple films in Sundance and at The Toronto International Film Festival.

He has started a film financing company called Watermark. His partners here are the Swiss / London based Blue Pencil Investments. They will raise equity money for films, will give MGs (aka minimum guarantees) and sales advances. They will take all rights to world markets and license them to distributors through Shoreline.

A film he used to outline his way of working was the 2005 Sundance hit Marilyn Hotchkiss' Ballroom Dancing and Charm School, a romantic film about a couple meeting in a charm school, starring Robert Carlyle, Marisa Tomei, John Goodman and a cameo from Danny DeVito. These elements gave it heat for sales – Sundance, good cast, mini majors involved and CAA. Lots of CAA talent were cast in film. CAA was also brought in to sell U.S. rights post and during Sundance. Goldwyn acquired the film for U.S. distribution. For this deal CAA was proof (to the market) that the film had “the best elements”.

Another successful film out of Sundance in 2007 was The Signal which had a Usd $50,000 budget and made over $3 million Usd from the U.S. alone.

Shoreline acquires and sells lots of Spanish language films now. Some recent titles are Rabbit Woman, The Precocious and Brief Life of Sabina Rivas and 7 Boxes which has been to as many as seventy five film festivals.

Morris’ main philosophy for Shoreline films is, “get the films out in the biggest way possible”. Often these days this means going firstly to festivals as there is often no theatrical release. Festivals can lead to or even replace theatrical. Festivals spread the word, help marketing, get films seen and reviewed, and can even mean income when a festival will pay a screening fee.

Some recent titles he is proud of include A Perfect Man with Liev Schreiber which will be released theatrically in North America by IFC on November 1st, A Farewell To Fools with Harvey Keitel and Gerard Depardieu which will be released theatrically in North America by Monterey Media in the Spring. (About Liev Schreiber Morris says “a good name really helps” and he says that sometimes the films with known cast sell best). Also The Geography Club, which premiered at OutFest and will be released theatrically in North America by Breaking Glass on November 15th, the aforementioned 7 Boxes which will also be released theatrically in North America by Breaking Glass in February, and Baal Shem Tov, a Jewish film in clay animation which Morris says is a very rare film medium and because it belongs in a niche which has attracted much attention.

+++++++++++++

Shoreline’s website says the following about Morris’ work and career.

During the course of producing more than fifty films, Morris has structured deals that incorporate deferments, soft money and international co-productions in order to create financially-viable motion pictures. These productions focus on bankable genre content and star-driven projects that can secure success in a sometimes-uneven marketplace.

Notable amongst such productions are the modern classic Glengarry Glen Ross (Al Pacino, Jack Lemmon, Alec Baldwin, Ed Harris, Kevin Spacey, Alan Arkin) which led to an Academy Award Nomination for Al Pacino; The Man from Elysian Fields (Andy Garcia, Mick Jagger, Angelica Huston); The Visit (nominated for four Spirit Awards) and Marilyn Hotchkiss’ Ballroom Dancing & Charm School (John Goodman, Marisa Tomei, Octavia Spencer, Robert Carlyle, Danny DeVito).

Morris is no stranger to the festival circuit having films in the most distinguished festivals worldwide such as the Toronto International Film Festival, Berlin International Film Festival, and Sundance, where The Signal was sold in a multi million dollar bidding war hours after the world premiere.

Morris’s productions have spanned a variety of genres and locations, from a stereoscopic RealD 3D-animated film based on a comic book being released by Anchor Bay (The Amazing Adventures of the Living Corpse) to a wartime dark comedy starring Harvey Keitel and Gérard Depardieu (A Farewell to Fools). A documentary narrated by Jeff Bridges (Pablo), a co-production shot on location in China ( Wushu Warrior) a comedy that was the opening night gala film at Slamdance (Weirdsville), an action thriller shot in India starring Harvey Keitel (Beeper), a heist crime caper starring

Timothy Olyphant that premiered in The Berlin International Film Festival (High Life) and a South African feature dedicated to Morris’s mother (Master Harold And the Boys).

By consistently developing and acquiring projects that are attractive to domestic and foreign markets alike, Morris has ensured for over twenty years that Shoreline remains a stable yet versatile and ever-evolving organization.

+++++++++++

The website describes Shoreline like this:

Established by Morris Ruskin in 1992, Shoreline Entertainment's Worldwide Sales, Production, and Management divisions comprise one of the longest-running and most-respected film companies in the industry.

Shoreline presents itself via its quality participation at more than 15 major media markets and festivals a year and positions itself to nourish continuous relationships with broadcasters, distributors and festival programmers.

Shoreline has represented numerous award-winning films that have premiered at high profile Festivals such as Sundance, Toronto, Berlin, Tribeca, Rotterdam and San Sebastian, as well as films nominated for Spirit Awards and Golden Globes.

Such films include: The Man From Elysian Fields, 7 Boxes, Father’s Chair, Un Mundo Secreto, Freaky Deaky, Zona Sur, Undertow, Marilyn Hotchkiss’ Ballroom Dancing & Charm School, Weirdsville, High Life, The Signal, and The Maid.

Shoreline’s advertising presence includes a long-standing deal with the Hollywood Reporter for its back cover on the dailies during the Toronto International Film Festival, American Film Market, European Film Market (Berlinale), and Marche Du Film (Cannes).Moreover, Shoreline’s marketing efforts include sponsorship of the Buyers Lounge during the American Film Market. With more than 20 years of experience, Shoreline’s momentum is greater than ever.

++++++++++++

Lastly, some useful links to various that Shoreline supplied to us –

Here is a link to our website:

www.slefilms.com

Here is a link to an article Screen did on Watermark – which is the company we set up with Blue Pencil Investments to finance films -

http://www.shorelineentertainment.com/Pdfs/screendaily-bluepencil.pdf

The number of festivals 7 Boxes has played in to date is 75. It will be released theatrically in North America by Breaking Glass in February. It all started for 7 Boxes in San Sebastian. This year we had Rabbit Woman there, so we hope for the same success. Tom Davia is our director of festivals and alternative theatrical.

Here is a link to all the markets we attend:

http://www.shorelineentertainment.com/markets.html

Here is a link to the YouTube Baby Panda Sneezing that went viral

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAcdvmnZ_GM

From this they made a family adventure film which we picked up. Here is a link to the film on our website:

http://www.shorelineentertainment.com/movies/SneezingBabyPanda.html

We’ve had success with family films and this is a title that is attracting a lot of interest from buyers.

Other hot Afm titles include:

A Perfect Man with Liev Schreiber who has heat from his new show Donavan.

http://www.shorelineentertainment.com/movies/PerfectMan.html

A Farewell to Fools which stars Gerard Depardieu and Harvey Keitel

http://www.shorelineentertainment.com/movies/Ipu.html

The Amazing Adventures of the Living Corpse which was bought by Anchor Bay for North America, UK, Australia and New Zealand.

http://www.shorelineentertainment.com/movies/Corpse.html

Sir Billi which is a family animated film with the voice of Sean Connery.

http://www.shorelineentertainment.com/movies/SirBilli.html

Freaky Deaky which is based on the novel by Elmore Leonard and stars Billy Burke, Christian Slater, Michael Jai White and Crispin Glover.

http://www.shorelineentertainment.com/movies/FreakyDeaky.html

The Geography Club which won the Audience Award at Outfest and will be released theatrically by Breaking Glass in November.

http://www.shorelineentertainment.com/movies/GeographyClub.html

Hidden Moon which stars Wes Bentley

http://www.shorelineentertainment.com/movies/HiddenMoon.html

was nominated for Eight prestigious Silver Goddess Awards, given by the

Mexican Film Press and Critics / Pecime on their 42nd. edition in 2013. The Silver Goddess Award is the most prestigious film award in Mexico.

1) Best Film of the year: Producers Antonio Ruiz, Ray Diaz Gonzalez, Rodrigo Lobo & Pepe

Bojórquez.

2) Best Director: Pepe Bojórquez

3) Best Screenplay: Pepe Bojórquez / David Howard

4) Best Actress: Ana Serradilla Winner

5) Best Supporting Actress: Alejandra Ambrosi

6) Best Actor "Best upcoming Lead Actor": Osvaldo de León

7) Best Female Actress in a feature role: Angélica María

8) Best Original Song: Hidden Moon. Performed by Il Volo. Music by Luis Bacalov. Spanish Lyrics by

Edgar Cortázar / Tony Renis / Humberto Gatica / Massimo Guantini. Produced by Humberto Gatica /

Tony Renis / David Franco. Winner...

Shoreline Entertainment, the Los Angeles-based production and sales company, has picked up world sales rights to wine-country mystery-thriller, The Dark Place, from Blue Seraph Productions.

Jody Wheeler (Heat Wave, In the Closet) directed the story, with J.T. Tepnapa (Judas Kiss), from Wheeler’s own screenplay, with Carlos Pedraza producing.

The film focuses on Keegan Dark, a troubled young man cursed with the uncanny ability to remember his life in videographic detail. He returns to his family’s wine estate, boyfriend in tow, to make amends with his estranged mother, only to discover a conspiracy that frames him for murder and threatens his family’s lives and livelihood.

Pictured: After a near-fatal mishap, Keegan Dark (Blaise Embry) is examined by a doctor (Andy Copeland) who may not have Keegan’s best interests at heart.

Blaise Embry (Showtime’s Weeds, NBC’s The Office) leads the ensemble cast as Keegan, joined by...

It's that time of year again -- or what used to be that time of year. NewFest is here (September 6-11). Yes, the celebration of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and what-have-you cinema is back for its 25th anniversary. The main venue will be the Film Society of Lincoln Center's Walter Reade Theater, considered by some to be the best cinema in Manhattan, one that boasts a truly superior sound system.

(Anyone who ever attended NewFest when it was held at the New School with its second-rate visuals and third-rate resonance will rejoice.)

In the past, this deliciously raucous event has screened a mixed bag of semi-brilliant to much-less-so offerings, many you'll never ever get to see anywhere else on a "big" screen whether you reside in the Big Apple or in Idaho. On the plus side, watching a woefully dreadful movie with a roomful of knowing Glbtq cinephiles is often a hoot.

Gun control is a hot button issue in this country, and it.ll probably be that way for the next hundred years without a clear resolution. And while I.m glad Hollywood has for the most part been keeping a wide berth around films that center on school shootings, the upcoming teen drama Sins of Our Youth is bound to get people uncomfortable in one way or another. Deadline reports it already has a full cast, including Lucas Till (X-Men: First Class), Joel Courtney (Super 8), and former Brat Packer Ally Sheedy, and will begin filming soon. So we.ll know sooner rather than later just what kind of reaction the film will get. Sins of Our Youth will be directed by Gary Entin, based on a screenplay written by his twin brother Edmund Entin. (The duo worked on this year.s comedy Geography Club.) It is being produced by...

He’s part of the sprawling cast of men and mutants for X-Men Days Of Future Past, but Lucas Till is thinking about something more down to earth for a new movie. The man also known as Alex Summers has signed on to star in Sins Of Our Youth.Gary Entin is directing the indie drama, based on a script by his brother Edmund, who worked with him on Geography Club. Sins follows the fallout from a tragedy when four teenagers shooting rifles accidentally kill a younger lad. When the quartet tries to deal with the incident, everything just gets darker and darker.Super 8’s Joel Courtney and teen movie veteran Ally Sheedy are also cast in the film, which should be cranking its cameras in Las Vegas this week.Till, who last appeared in Stoker, has a rash of films lined up awaiting release including tech thriller Paranoia...

Huffington Pictures has tapped Lucas Till (X-Men: First Class, Paranoia), Joel Courtney (Super 8) and Ally Sheedy (The Breakfast Club), to star in the teen drama Sins of Our Youth. The film is based on an original screenplay by Edmund Entin and directed by Gary Entin. Michael Huffington is producing under his Huffington Pictures banner. Principal photography will begin this week on location in and around Las Vegas, Nevada.

Sins of Our Youth is the story of four teenage boys who accidentally murder a young boy while recreationally shooting assault rifles. The film follows the perilous decisions they make in the wake of the murder in a moment of desperation, paranoia, and fear that their lives are over due to the certain eventuality of the death penalty. The four teenagers construct a "plan" that leads them down an even darker path.

Mitchel Musso (Hannah Montana: The Movie, Monster House), Bridger Zadina...

Hal Sparks jokes without a net, Anthony Weiner finds conflict on the campaign, NBC hedges on gay propaganda laws during Olympics

Bishop Desmond Tutu is committed to the fight against homophobia, and he doesn’t think any God he worships is homophobic. “I would not worship a God who is homophobic and that is how deeply I feel about this. I would refuse to go to a homophobic heaven. No, I would say sorry, I mean I would much rather go to the other place.”

NBC has stated that they support equal rights in Russia, but as far as covering the gay propaganda laws in the Olympic broadcast, they say plans haven’t been finalized. At the TCA, they took that a step further into weasel territory, with NBC Sports Group Chairman Mark Lazarus saying “The Ioc has addressed it with the Russian government and has assured athletes, fans and...

Breaking Glass Pictures has acquired North American distribution rights for Geography Club, the film based on Brent Hartinger's best selling  Ya novel, from Shoreline Entertainment.   Starring Deane Stewart (Pitch Perfect), Justin Deeley (Drop Dead Diva) and Nikki Blonsky (Hairspray), the pic recently won the audience award for best first feature at Los Angeles Outfest. Directed by Gary Entin and written by Edmund Entin, Geography Club will be released in early 2014. The film is produced by Huffington Pictures' Michael Huffington (ex-husband of Huffington Post founder Arianna Huffington) and follows a group of high schoolers who are discovering their

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The sequel to The Avengers will be titled Avengers: Age of Ultron, centering around the robotic villain from the comics. This led to questions about Hank Pym of course, which Joss Whedon addressed. “We don’t have to have him. It works very simply — this is Marvel cinema, not Marvel comics. One thing Kevin Feige has a genius for is knowing what to hold onto and what to let go of. You can invoke the feeling you had and play with the characters you love and remain true to the needs of the film.”

The Marvel panel also showed insane footage from Guardians of the Galaxy, which only began shooting a couple of weeks ago. They had footage of a jail break, a shirtless Starlord, and yes, a talking raccoon. For Thor: The Dark World, Tom Hiddleston took the stage as Loki and turned the crowd into his own army.

When Lifetime's "Drop Dead Diva" made its fifth-season premiere on Sunday, June 23, fans got a look at new cast member Justin Deeley ("90210"), who plays Paul, the current guardian angel of the soul of fashionable Deb, who's living in the body of lawyer Jane (Brooke Elliott).

After that look, there wasn't a very large percentage of Deeley's fit body that remained a mystery. But given his history, he didn't consider that a very big deal -- and neither does Paul

"Paul has a line in one of the episodes," Deeley tells Zap2it and others at the show's sets in Atlanta, Ga., "and the line is, 'It's just a human body.' I'm very comfortable with myself. I started at 22 or 23 modeling underwear. The thing about that was, it was very awkward when I started doing that.

"Once I got comfortable in that world and being in front of a camera...

You cannot walk into the Young Adult Fiction section of a bookstore these days and not be confronted with an endless and soulless supply of Twilight clones, Hunger Games knock-offs and Harry Potter replicas. Don’t even get me started on those racks full of CW shows disguised, just barely, as literature.

It’s entirely possible to forget that novels assembled with the time-tested building blocks -- interesting characters, genuine emotions, relatable situations -- are still capable of providing us with enormous pleasure. Even without the help of sparkling vampires.

Thankfully such pleasures are more than abundant in Brent Hartinger’s latest novel, The Elephant of Surprise. And by the time I closed the last page, I was smiling, uplifted and charmed by a novel that transported me completely to a time when love was strange and magical. Young love, as Hartinger’s novels effortlessly reminds, is about the purest kind there is.

We are very pleased to announce that our former colleague Brent Hartinger has released The Elephant Of Surprise, the 4th in his book series about gay teen Russel Middlebrook, his friends, and their adventures.

Geography Club’s Russel Middlebrook and his friends Min and Gunnar are back, and they’re laughing about something they call the Elephant of Surprise—the tendency for life to never turn out the way you expect. Sure enough, Russel soon happens upon a hot, but mysterious guy named Wade—even as he’s also drawn back to an old flame named Kevin. Meanwhile, Min learns her girlfriend Leah is keeping secrets, and Gunnar just wants to be left alone to pursue his latest obsession.

The Elephant Of Surprise is now out in paperback. You can order it from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and iTunes. And below you can see the full trailer for Geography Club, which...

Today we are talking to a tremendously talented triple-threat who headlined the 2007 feature film adaptation of the Tony Award-winning Best Musical Hairspray as Tracy Turnblad and who will be appearing in a recurring role on Smash Season Two starting tonight - the spunky and adorable Nikki Blonsky. In this all-encompassing conversation, Blonsky and I dissect the Hairspray phenomenon and she reveals her affection for collaborators such as director Adam Shankman, co-stars John Travolta and Christopher Walken, as well as two more pairs of instrumental creative team members songwriters Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman as well as producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron, all four of whom serve the same roles on Smash. Of course, Blonsky reveals details about her new Smash character and what we can expect from her multi-episode arc, as well as her experiences sharing the small screen with Anjelica Huston, Christian Borle, Debra Messing and more. Additionally,...

Shoreline Entertainment has picked up "Geography Club," an upcoming adaptation of Brent Hartinger's novel of the same name. The film, from Huffington Pictures, is produced by Michael Huffington and Anthony Bretti. (Huffington is the former husband of this site's Editor-in-Chief.)

"Geography Club" focuses on Russel (Cameron Dean Stewart), who finds companionship in a group of students all hiding their sexual preferences. Nikki Blonsky, Marin Hinkle and Scott Bakula co-star in the film, which is based on the first novel in Hartinger's Russel Middlebrook series.

"This film is a clever, feel-good, coming-of-age story with an important social message. Cameron Deane Stewart delivers an outstanding performance along with a magnificent supporting cast," Shoreline CEO Morris Ruskin said in a statement.

"Geography Club" does not yet have a release date. Check out the film's first poster, debuting here at Huffington Post, below:...

Here is last week's caption pic winner. This week's caption pic is at the bottom of the page.

Thanks to everyone for participating! The winner is ...

"No one was surprised at the press conference announcing the new head of the republican party"

Thanks to wilmbear for this week's winning caption!

Weekend Birthdays! (Note: Birthday shoutouts are for out entertainers, allies, or for any celeb that seems to have a following on Ae). Jim Verraros (above) is 30, Mary Steenburgen is 60, Seth Green is 39, Jim J. Bullock is 58, Elizabeth Banks is 39, Carole King is 71, and the faboo Judith Light is 64. James Franco Is The Mayor Of Gay Town!In ratings news, Glee was up a bit while NBC's Do Not Harm continues its sub-cw numbers. Dame Shirley Bassey will make her first ever appearance on the Oscars in the tribute to the Bond films.DC Comics has announced that the upcoming series...

Alex Newell photographed by Clinton Gaughran for AfterElton

The fourth season of Glee is off and running, and one of the newer faces at McKinley High is male-to-female transgender character Wade “Unique” Adams, played by Alex Newell.

Newell made a strong impression when he competed on the first season of The Glee Project and while other contestants from the reality series have guested on the Fox series, Newell’s part on Glee, currently at recurring status, will hopefully become full-time soon.

AfterElton sat down with Newell in West Hollywood last week for a lively chat (and photo shoot) to find out how he approaches the role, where things are going with this week’s Grease episode and about his role in the highly anticipated Geography Club [based on the book by former AfterElton associate editor Brent Hartinger].

AfterElton: When you’re playing Wade and Unique, do you see it as two different people?

Alex Newell: I do. It’s really strange.