DVD: “Mr. Holmes,” “Tangerine,” “Mala Mala,” “Perfect Cowboy” & More!

It’s a week of sleepers and alternative standouts in our home entertainment round-up.

An elderly Sherlock Holmes goes back into action, a clique of sassy L.A. transgender gals go on a mission (Tangerine, above), Puerto Rican transgender individuals share their stories in a documentary, and a gay man tries to return to his small town country-rocker life after prison.

Now for the trailers and details!

Mr. Holmes

($24.99 Blu-ray, $19.98 DVD; Lionsgate)

Over the past decade, pop culture has been Sherlock Holmes cray-cray between the Guy Ritchie films, the Benedict Cumberbatch U.K. series (soon to return with a movie event) and CBS’s Elementary. Re-treaming with his Gods And Monsters star Ian McKellen, director Bill Condon imagines a 93-year-old, retired Holmes grappling with his fading memory, from which he must recover a critical clue from a 30-year-0ld case. Weaving together the present and two sets of flashbacks, this is an elegantly acted and directed character-driven chamber piece as opposed to a twist-filled mystery. Good show, old chaps. Extras include a pair of brief featurettes.

Tangerine

($29.98 Blu-ray, $26.98 DVD; Magnolia)

Famously shot on an iPhone, this raucous Sundance hit revolves around a pair of sassy Los Angeles transgender prostitutes. The plot: gal pals Sin-Dee Rella and Alexandra (Kitana Kiki Rodriguez & Mya Taylor), on the night of the former’s release from prison, embark on a quest through Hollywood to track down her boyfriend/pimp, who apparently is hooked up with a cisgender girl. Zany and ingenious, with some outrageously funny sequences, not to mention groundbreaking in director Sean Baker’s refreshingly matter-of-fact depictions of transgender characters portrayed by real-life transgender actresses, this one’s a must. Extras include four featurettes on the film’s making.

Mala Mala

($27.99 DVD; Strand)

Nine colorful members of Puerto Rico’s transgender and non-binary community are the subject of directors Dan Sickles and Antonio Santini’s lauded documentary. Subjects range from Queen Bee Ho and Alberic Pradoc, who perform as drag queens, to RuPaul Drag Race Season 6 contestant April Carrion, to glamorous transgender spokesperson Ivana Fred, to female-to-male Paxx Moll. Their experiences transitioning, and in some cases, deciding to stay in some grey area as far as their gender identity, prove enlightening and varied indeed.

Perfect Cowboy

($24.99 DVD; Breaking Glass Pictures)

Writer/director Ken Roht also stars in his debut feature as Jimmy Poole, a country rocker whose boozy antics led him to a three-year stint in the clink. Once released, he returns to his partner of 20 years, Ty, and adult son, Mark, who is now fronting Jimmy’s band. From there, it’s an uphill battle to reestablish his family life — which includes a connection with his son’s mother, Lacy — while concealing a secret he fears could unravel everything. Strong performances, excellent music, and a small town setting distinguish this one from the rest of the pack. Extras include a commentary and bonus footage.

ALSO OUT:

Matt Shepard Is A Friend of Mine

Trainwreck

Terminator Genisys

Selfless

Lawrence Ferber

feedproxy.google.com/~r/queerty2/~3/QxmarlhfMc8/dvd-mr-holmes-tangerine-mala-mala-perfect-cowboy-more-20151110

Trump Suits Up for Christmas Battle: ‘Maybe We Should Boycott Starbucks’ – WATCH

Donald Trump yesterday proved that he can pander to the Evangelical wingnuts like the best of them. He’ll even throw his bottom line on the sword for Christmas.

“Did you read about Starbucks? No more ‘Merry Christmas’ at Starbucks. No more. I wouldn’t buy. Hey look, I’m speaking against myself. I have one of the most successful  Starbucks at Trump Tower. Maybe we should boycott Starbucks. I don’t know. Seriously. I don’t care. By the way: That’s the end of that lease. But who cares? Who cares? Who cares. Who cares?! If I become president, we’re all going to be saying ‘Merry Christmas’ again. That I can tell you. That I can tell you! Unbelievable.”

Watch:

The post Trump Suits Up for Christmas Battle: ‘Maybe We Should Boycott Starbucks’ – WATCH appeared first on Towleroad.

Andy Towle

Trump Suits Up for Christmas Battle: ‘Maybe We Should Boycott Starbucks’ – WATCH

Johnny Depp: I play Jack Sparrow as gay

Jack Sparrow in Pirates of the Caribbean is one of Johnny Depp’s most iconic film characters ever, and he has revealed he plays the drunk ship captain as gay.

The actor was recounting how he was nearly fired from the Disney film as he was taking part in the American Film Institute festival’s onstage discussions at the Dolby Theater in Los Angeles.

Back in 2002, when he first took on the role, the way he decided to play Jack Sparrow had Disney executives worried.

‘It trickled back to me somehow that, “Goddammit, Johnny Depp’s ruining the film! What is that thing? Is it drunk, is it gay?’ Depp said.

He said he was called in to meet with someone at the ‘upper echelon of the studio’ to explain his acting choices.

‘What the fuck are you doing”‘ he remembered the executive saying. ‘When they asked if it was gay, I said: “Did you know all my characters are gay?”‘Out of four films, the franchise has grossed $3.73 billion worldwide. A fifth film is due in 2017. Somehow, that Disney executive is probably not questioning Depp’s acting choices any more.

The post Johnny Depp: I play Jack Sparrow as gay appeared first on Gay Star News.

Joe Morgan

www.gaystarnews.com/article/johnny-depp-i-play-jack-sparrow-as-gay/

Dragaholic Is Back and More Sickening Than Ever, Yes Gawd!

To celebrate its new home on Queerty, we asked Tim Winfred, the founder of Dragaholic, to share his thoughts on the recent merger of the two sites. Here’s what he had to say…

We’re back, henny — the long-awaited return of your favorite drag
queen news site finally here! For more than a year and a half, the small Dragaholic team worked hard to provide you, our loyal readers, with top drag news from around the world… until we were forced to put things on hold this past May after a hack that completely wiped the site.

We were devastated. Then, darkness turned to light and the unfortunate situation helped us find our new home here on Queerty, which dashed to the rescue.

As the founder of Dragaholic, I’m so excited to announce that I have teamed up with Q.Digital, the world’s fiercest LGBT digital media company (not to mention most popular), to continue to bring you the best in drag queen news. It’s a partnership made in gay heaven!

With this new partnership, I have joined the marketing team at Q.Digital full-time and we’re working together to make sure all of the things you love about Dragaholic stay the same — but with an even bigger audience.

Plus, many of the Dragaholic writers you know and love will be working alongside the talented team of journalists here at Q.Digital. Together we will be working around the clock to find the best drag news stories — that means we’ll be able to bring you more drag queen news, entertainment, fashion and makeup than ever before. I promise you that this new chapter in the life of Dragaholic is going to be the most sickening one yet! Yes gawd!

Are you ready for the return of Dragaholic?! As we begin ramping up over the next few months, stay tuned for exclusive interviews with queens from around the world, full coverage of RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 8, All Stars Season 2 and so much more.

Check out the site’s new home at queerty.com/dragaholic and don’t forget to follow Dragaholic on Facebook, Instagram, Tumblr, Twitter and YouTube

Timothy Winfred

feedproxy.google.com/~r/queerty2/~3/y_XY0YyWVck/dragaholic-is-back-and-more-sickening-than-ever-yes-gawd-20151110

Washington man gets 30 months for chasing three gay men with knife

A man who yelled anti-gay slurs and chased three men with knife through the streets of Seattle was sentenced to 30 months in prison on Monday (9 November), according to the justice department.

Troy Deacon Burns, 38, from Bremont, Washington pleaded guilty to violating the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr Hate Crimes Prevention Act in August.

In his plea agreement, he admitted to coming up behind the men and shouting homophobic slurs while they were walking in the gay-friendly Capitol Hill neighborhood in January.

Burns then raised a knife over his head in a stabbing position.  The men started running, but Burns caught up to one of them tried to stab him.

One of the other men was able to pull his friend away from Burns while the third man found a police officers, who took Burns into custody.

While inside the police vehicle, Burns yelled out ‘faggots.’

Burns also said he was under the influence of drugs and alcohol at the time and claimed not to remember his actions.

‘The Department of Justice will continue to vigilantly protect the rights of victims who are targeted simply because of their sexual orientation,’ said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Vanita Gupta in a statement.

‘Six years have passed since the enactment of the Hate Crimes Prevention Act, and it continues to serve as an important tool for federal law enforcement.’

The post Washington man gets 30 months for chasing three gay men with knife appeared first on Gay Star News.

Darren Wee

www.gaystarnews.com/article/washington-man-gets-30-months-for-chasing-three-gay-men-with-knife/

WATCH: Rachel Maddow Breaks Down Pastor's 'Kill the Gays' Rally Attended by GOP Candidates

Rachel Maddow focused Monday night on a tale of two forums this past weekend: one she hosted in South Carolina featuring the three major contenders for the Democratic party nomination, and an Iowa conference featuring three antigay Republican candidates for president hosted by a right wing pastor who declared “it’s not a gay time!” 

“It really was a ‘kill the gays’ call to arms,” said Maddow on her MSNBC program.

She introduced video of Kevin Swanson, a virulently antigay preacher from Colorado, who organized the event in Des Moines. In one clip, Swanson told the National Religious Liberties Conference he believes that churches should have sackcloth and ashes at their entrances for Christian families whose “sons are rebelling, hanging out with homosexuals, and getting married, and their parents are invited.”

“And I would sit in cow manure, and I would spread it all over my body.”

Swanson, who preaches that homosexuality should be punished with death, drew more than 1,700 to his ”religious freedom” conference, including Republicans Mike Huckabee, Bobby Jindal and Ted Cruz. 

Maddow played a series of excerpts of Swanson’s speech, in which he quoted from the bible in calling for the death penalty for gays and lesbians, and then declared that was not as high a priority as giving homosexuals, and all of America, time to repent. 

“This was a Republican presidential candidates event,” Maddow told viewers. “These were not the ‘kill the gays’ ravings of the guy hosting this event from some time in his past. This was not something we dug up that he said a long time ago, that maybe these presidential candidates didn’t know about.” Maddow suggested the might be a good topic for the moderators from Fox Business Network who will put questions to Cruz and the other Republicans running for president Tuesday night. 

And lest viewers think the Iowa event was nothing but boring politics, Maddow mentioned how pop culture came under fire from Swanson as well:

“There were denunciations of Harry Potter. There was a big, long soliloquy of a movie called How to Train Your Dragon. There was a big, screaming denunciation of how country music radio stations need to repent, repent, repent because they’ve gone over to the gay side.”

Watch Rachel Maddow break down the Swanson event in the clip below. 

Dawn Ennis

www.advocate.com/media/2015/11/09/watch-rachel-maddow-breaks-down-pastors-kill-gays-rally-attended-gop-candidates