Theater Thursday: Buffy, Drag Queens and Angelina Jolie

Oh, the pangs of actually having to work and getting caught up so I can't post during my lunch hour... Anyway, so I'm a little late with the post. Y'all just get a less formatted version of the post because I get to write it on my iPhone!

Television

Two gynormous TV events for me this week! First, the premier of Ru Paul's Drag Race season 3! I am pumped for the show. We actually started watching the first two episodes last night and I only made it through the first and half way through the second before I fell asleep. Not that it was boring, but I was T-I-Red. I'm excited for the competition this year though, much more so than I was for last years cast, so you can bet you'll see plenty updates from me as the season goes on!

The second big event was that I finished my re-watching of Buffy season 2. I forgot how important this season actually was: Angel's curse revealed, The cementing of the scoobie gang's roles (Xander the protector, etc), Willow dabbling in witchcraft, hearing the familiar refrain that Buffy really is alone... Those are all things that become themes throughout the rest of the series. And still, more than a decade later, the show can find a way to pull at my little heart strings.

On a less monumental scale, let me just state, for the record, that Scott Caan is one sexy, furry, little man. I had avoided Hawaii 5-0 for as long as possible, but when it came on this Sunday I just couldn't resist... And now I may be hooked. Not because it's a great show or anything, but I will take any opportunity to ogle that man shirtless or in tight, ass-hugging slacks.

Movies

We didn't really watch much. The husband watched Salt while I played on my laptop, but I wasn't too drawn in to the movie. He enjoyed it though. Action, Angelina, Liev Schreiber (ok, that part I did enjoy), those all spell "movie husband enjoys." I just didn't get pulled in to the story.

I did make it half way through some super indie (read: no budget) gay flick called Issues 101. The "plot" was some kid going off to college, realizing he's gay, then rushing a fraternity. But when it became a poorly executed soft-core fantasy porn, I cancelled the play back and went back to gaming. I guess that should teach me that an average 1 star review on Netflix is probably more accurate than not.

What Did You Watch

So, what was on your weekly viewing plate? Any of your stories start up this week? Let me know in the comments!

Drag U: First Impressions

The husband and I sat down to watch Ru Paul's new show on Logo, Drag U, last week. Being big fans of Ru Paul's Drag Race, we were very excited to see the new show, if only because it brings some of our favorite queens back to the mix like Ongina and Nina Flowers. While the show was fabulously campy and perfectly low budget, I have to say that it rather annoyed me at times, but I'll get that in a moment.

The basis of the show is that Ru Paul has recruited his favorite (or the fan favorites at least) drag queens from the past two seasons of Drag Race to give biological women drag make overs. In the first episode they transformed three deliciously tomboyish ladies into wonderfully draggy divas! As I said, it's campy, as a show about drag queen performers almost has to be, and fun, as a makeover show should always be. But what was missing was the chance to focus on real human drama.

Some of these women had some serious psychological issues with being feminine. One wanted to spice up a failing marriage and another blamed her former femininity as the reason for being sexually assaulted. And while the producers made mention of these things, they chose not to focus on what their drag transformation might do to positively impact these women, which is a HUGE missed opportunity. That is real drama and the chance to show that these drag divas are more than just stereotypical drama queens was completely missed. Instead the producers focused on made up, scripted, trite "drag drama." "This bitch stole my wig," or "that gurl called me fat" were unnecessary additions to this show and only served to undermine the potential of it.

I was also slightly bothered by the judge's panel. These women are trying to make themselves feel better about themselves and having the judges rate them afterward really undermines that ultimate goal of helping these ladies. If they feel the need to judge anyone, they should judge the queens assigned to the women, as they are the ones ultimately responsible for the new look.

What is great is seeing the family and friend's reaction to their loved one's transformation. Getting a make over from a drag queen is quite different than getting a make over from the Queer Eye team. I also really enjoyed the bits of human drama that were tossed in. I also really like that this is a show that has the potential for a full season filled with cast members I actually like. Speaking of, I do really LOVE seeing my favorite divas again without having to look at that vicious Tyra Sanchez again.

All in all, it's a decent show. I hope to see more variety as the season progresses and I hope they take the time to change up the focus, but I'll give it a few more episodes before I give a final verdict.

It's Time To Lip Synch For Your Life... Again!

Just wanted to drop a note saying that the new season of RuPaul's Drag Race starts tonight on Logo! For those of us out there that don't have Logo (or have the desire to pay for the damn channel because it never seems to be included in the basic cable package…), last season was available on Logo's website to stream usually the day after episode aired, so I'm hoping they'll do the same this year.

I loved last season. It was just a brilliant show and they did A LOT with the bare bones budget they were given. It looks like they were given a much bigger budget for the show this year after the break-out success of the show last year. Certainly they've put a lot of ad money behind it because I've seen tons of ads for the show here in Chicago. Even the bus stop in front of our condo has a giant poster advertising the show, which is both awesome and inspiring. It's also the first show from Logo that I've seen a major ad campaign for, which is great news for the show and the network.

In any case, I'm certainly looking forward to the insanity of this year's show. I have a feeling I'll be posting quite a bit about this year's competitors!

It's Time To Lip Synch For You LIFE!

The boyfriend and I watched the finale of RuPaul's Drag Race last night, and I absolutely loved it!

STOP NOW IF YOU DON'T WANT SPOILERS!!!!

OK, with that out of the way, I have to say that although I really like Bebe Zahara Benet, I enjoyed Miss Nina Flowers more. So did the boyfriend. Not that either of either did not like Bebe, and not that we aren't happy for her, it's just that I felt Nina had more range and stage presence, and in general was just an all around nice, humble, unassuming person. Add to that I prefer the more androgynous look in my drag stars, and Nina makes a natural choice for me. Of course, Ongina was my personal favorite with her androgynous style, bubbly personality and outrageous costumes.

I'm really glad that this show made it to the air waves. It was campy, it was silly, it was high gloss on a dime (a rusty ass dime at times…), but that's drag. Drag is such an important, yet dismissed, part of gay culture and I'm very glad to see drag get it's day in the sun again. Sure, we've had movies like Bird Cage and To Wong Fu, which were great in their own rights, but the both explored characters. RuPaul's Drag Race opened up the doors to the actual people and everything that goes in to being glamorous.

I know there are some queens out there that will say that drag isn't all the gays are about and that it shows the gay community in the wrong light, etc., etc. I've heard it all. It's all BS. While not every gay man dresses in drag, the fact is that drag is a very huge part of the community. Drag queens lead our parades, host our parties, spice up our dance floors and provide outlets for us that we couldn't otherwise explore. And they are outright glam!

I'm also happy to see that LOGO has picked up the show for another season. The show has been a bit of a break-away hit too, since it's also broadcast on Logo's sister station VH1. I know plenty of people have been watching it, and from my Facebook feed, it's not just the gays. While this season was fantastic, I'm hoping the next season is a bit more polished and definitely longer!

Harry Potter Or Frodo?

Looks like the former teen cutie and eternally hobit-i-fied actor has a new challenger to his doey eyed looks. At first glance, I thought this was an adaptation of Elijah Wood, but turns out it's Daniel Radcliffe on the cover of barely-hidden gay rag Details.

Seriously, have you ever read Details? It's the trashiest attempt at fashion for "straight" men, with thinly vieled references to gay culture. Just enough to let the reader know that the writer knows and understands him as a gay man that doesn't want to be out and about reading Advocate or Instinct. Plus it's one giant ad for designer clothing. I'm not sure why I don't have a life-time subscription yet...

Back to the topic at hand, I'm really surprised how much these two look alike these days! The only differentiating feature is Elijah's ridiculously huge eyes. And that you can't readily find nude shots of Frodo online. And that Daniel will have seven ubiquitous moview while Elijah will only have three... but who's counting? Oh, and that Harry Potter wants to be a drag queen (I knew it!)