Planet Snoopy will be closed next Saturday night, Sept. 11, during Brother Help Thyself's annual outing at Kings Dominion. ''[That section] is for the kids... and people who are really into furries,'' says BHT's Tim Woody, quickly adding about bears like himself, ''Not that kind of furry.'' Don't worry, that kind of furry will definitely be in attendance -- and not just Woody, this year's BHT events chair, who promises to be ''bright-eyed and bushy-tailed'' most of the night greeting ...[more]
''I would have loved for my mom to have had a relationship with someone,'' says comedian Loni Love. Love was raised with her brother by a single mother in the projects of Detroit. ''And I can tell you this: As a child, I wouldn't have cared if it was a man or a woman. I just wanted my mom to not be alone.'' Of course, she jokes, ''If it was a woman, I wish she could play basketball, so she ...[more]
The American. It's rather a bland title. But if you bring a star's name into it -- for example, ''George Clooney is…The American'' -- you get a bit of a rush. But it still seems understated. And if you look at the marketing for the film – the trailer is filled with drawn guns, scantily clad women, and ominous men lurking in shadows – you wonder why it's not The Assassin. Why pick the milquetoast title instead? Because it fits ...[more]
''Somebody alert the authorities, I got criminal intent,'' Robyn raps on one hip hop-flavored track on her playfully sublime new EP, Body Talk Pt. 2. Her professed crime? She likes to get a little dirty on the dance floor. Her real crime? She's disturbing the pop peace. The industry keeps churning out so-called artists with nothing new to offer, just trite sounds and pandering provocations. I'll turn to a prime offender in a moment. Robyn, the sassy and sweet Swedish ...[more]
When unhindered by such things as a degree in history or political science or more than passing knowledge of the works of, well, any of those folks on the History Channel identified as being noted authorities on the Cold War, one can make statements like, ''That Cold War was a really funny thing.'' We feared the Russians – or, more accurately, all communists everywhere – much like we fear terrorists now, but our Russian spies were sexy bombshells or devilishly ...[more]
In Shaun of the Dead, director Edgar Wright reanimated the zombie movie, and in Hot Fuzz he blew up action film stereotypes, both with hilarious results. Now, with Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, he's trying to put the joy back in joystick and restyle video games as hip and cool. Scott Pilgrim (Michael Cera) is a slacker – listless, moping through life, and far from the model of masculinity. Thankfully he's in a band -- it's about the only cool ...[more]
Kele Okereke, the 28-year-old lead singer of the popular British indie-rock group Bloc Party, came out publicly as gay earlier this year. He's already tired of talking about it. ''It's just shyness, you know?'' Kele concedes. ''What I say in my music and the way I write, I think that that's far more eloquent than I ever will be [talking about myself]. You open up a part of yourself when you make music, and that's the part you want people ...[more]
''I tell people, if I were in prison, I would be out already,'' says Donna Summer. ''It's kind of old.'' In the mid-'80s, rumors swirled that Summer had made anti-gay comments. At the time, AIDS was ravishing the gay community and striking fear in everyone. And Summer, regarded as the Queen of Disco for her dominance in the genre -- custom built for the hedonism and freedom of nightclubs -- had also recently proclaimed herself a born-again Christian. To this ...[more]
Fifteen years ago, Carol Leifer wrote an episode of Seinfeld in which the character Elaine Benes tries to get a gay man to ''change teams.'' A year or so later, Leifer actually changed teams herself. ''See how far ahead of the curve [Seinfeld] was?'' she laughs. At the age of 40, Leifer, who had previously been married to a man, had her first encounter with a woman. ''I say life threw me a surprise party,'' she explains. ''I did not ...[more]
''I had gotten into a big argument with one of the local ANCs about gay marriage, religion and politics,'' says Sampson McCormick. ''And then I ended with, 'Don't make me take off my earrings.' And it's just kind of stuck.'' The phrase is now the title of his current standup routine, which mixes the silly with the serious, a staple of the comedian, who goes by just his first name. The 25-year-old grew up in ''basically the Bible Belt'' in ...[more]
