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Access Atlanta > Blog > Archives > 2006 > August > 10 > Entry
‘Another Gay Movie’ not your typical teen comedy
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Each summer, movie screens are liberally dosed with raunchy teen sex comedies hoping to attract bored kids.
But Atlanta might need to brace itself for director Todd Stephens’ first foray into the genre, opening Friday at Landmark’s Midtown Art Cinema.
“Another Gay Movie” provides a twist on the time-honored “teen boys losing their virginity” (a la “Porky’s” and “The Last American Virgin”). Stephens’ characters — Andy, Jarod, Griff and Nico — are all totally out and on the sexual prowl.
For other boys.
The result could be one of the most politically charged films released this year (with a summery Nancy Sinatra soundtrack, that is).
“This movie came out of a sense of frustration and anger,” Stephens tells Buzz. “The whole right-wing crackdown [and] censorship was affecting me, while all these film people were telling me my last movie ‘wasn’t gay enough.’ “
“Another Gay Movie” producer Jesse Adams says he hasn’t heard that complaint with Stephens’ new film.
“I love that it offends some people,” Adams concedes. “Last summer, when we were editing the film, I kept going out and seeing movies like ‘The 40-Year-Old Virgin’ and ‘Wedding Crashers.’ I kept thinking, ‘Wow, we’re way more out there than this!’ “
And while the political battles over gay rights continue, last fall’s horror flick “Hell Bent” (billed as the first gay slasher movie) and “Another Gay Movie” have quietly snuck into the neighborhood multiplex.
“Now there’s a sex comedy out there for young gay kids who can see themselves reflected on-screen,” says Adams.
Stephens, who remains best known for his 1998 sticky sweet, gay coming-of-age movie, “Edge of Seventeen,” feels progress has been made in the post-“Will & Grace” universe.
For “Another Gay Movie,” Stephens again hired “Edge of Seventeen” actress Stephanie McVay to play mom. This time, he’s parodying his own “Edge of Seventeen” classic piano-laden “coming out” scene. When McVay’s kid comes out in “Gay Movie,” she responds, “Well, duh!”
Adams will be at Landmark for a Q&A session after Friday and Saturday nights’ screenings.
New venue for Montreux fest
The Montreux Jazz Festival is back but not where we last saw it.
Underground Atlanta will be the new site of the on-again, off-again Labor Day event. Performers will be announced next week. But organizers told us this week that the family-oriented activities and wide-ranging music will be free in the daytime, while the evening shows are expected to range from $25 to $35 per club.
“We have been fortunate to have identified a few sponsors willing to work with us as we reinvent this festival and move forward,” said Camille Love, director of the city of Atlanta’s Bureau of Cultural Affairs. “The Montreux Festival in Switzerland has had a relationship with the city of Atlanta, and we were very interested in maintaining that relationship. We think it is still important that Atlanta have an event Labor Day weekend. … And now Underground is where we will attempt to resurrect it and make it a downtown festival.”
Love added that she hopes the city will be able to expand the festival to incorporate Woodruff Park, the Rialto and possibly Centennial Olympic Park.
In March, the Woodruff Arts Center announced that Montreux would not return to its site because of inadequate funding. The festival was held there in 2005 after a four-year absence. The mix of free and paid events drew some 14,000 attendees over the entire weekend. At its height, the free festival in Piedmont Park drew 30,000 people a day.
Trader Joe’s sprouts a sign
We can almost visualize the crowds cascading out onto Monroe Drive already. The signage is up and the exterior remodeling has begun at the former Winn-Dixie store in the Midtown Promenade shopping center. The store will become a Trader Joe’s specialty grocer this fall. The Left Coast-based chain apparently inspires frenzied fans to run pell-mell into the store, grabbing up lime and chili peanuts and bottles of $2 wine. As for us, we’ll wait for the DVD.
A fond college farewell
Johnnetta Cole is leaving her gig at Bennett College with a bang. Tickets to a fund-raiser for the college in Greensboro, N.C., featuring Oprah Winfrey and Maya Angelou evaporated quickly.
The private school for black women sold all 300 tickets available Monday, bringing in more than $100,000 for the Oct. 20 event. Corporate sponsors can still buy blocks of seats for between $25,000 and $100,000, officials said.
The gala is part of college president Cole’s plans to leave office with the school on a firm financial footing. Bennett is in the midst of a $50 million fund-raising campaign co-chaired by Angelou and former Sen. Bob Dole. Bennett College was running a $2 million budget deficit and was on academic probation when Cole, the former president of Atlanta’s Spelman College, took over in 2002. Cole will retire from the school’s presidency in June.
Celebrity birthdays
Singer-turned-sausage-king Jimmy Dean is 78. Singer Eddie Fisher is 78. Singer Ronnie Spector of the Ronettes is 63. Actor Antonio Banderas is 46. Singer Michael Bivins (Bell Biv Devoe, New Edition) is 38. Actress Angie Harmon (“Law and Order”) is 34.
Contributing: Sonia Murray and news services. If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
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