Another entry in the shameless self promotion department...

We're very psyched to announce that our short Thirsty will be screening tomorrow night (Sat. Feb. 23) at 9PM on NYC's PBS station Channel 13/WNET!

The selection process was based on their interactive online viewer voting system, so we're extra proud and grateful for all the votes we received.

I knew it was too good to be true. I thought it would get screwed up in casting or getting some shmo to direct it (see Fantastic Four), but with director George "Mad Max" Miller, I had hopes.

Alas, Variety reports:

Warner Bros. let the options lapse on the young cast that director George Miller chose to play DC superhero staples. The studio, which had set Tuesday as its greenlight deadline for the pic, confirmed Wednesday the project is on indefinite hold.

Sigh...

Wanted to put a plug in for a great doc I saw a few weeks back...

Hell On Wheels is the fascinating story of the rebirth of modern day roller derby that started in Austin, TX. The film portrays all the drama, blood, sweat and tears that went into a movement that ignited a national and international Roller Derby Revival.

Amanda and I were lucky enough to see the film in front of a home town crowd in Austin, when we were there for the National Rollerderby Championships. Director Bob Ray shot the film over a 5 year period and it features some great derby footage and even better beyond the scenes footage, showing all that it takes to bring a league to life.

After premiering at SXSW, the film has gotten positive nods from The Onion A/V Club and Cinematical amongst others while on the fest circuit.

It will play this Friday 10/19 at the IFC Center as part of CMJ's Film sidebar.... The screening is sponsored by NYC's own roller derby league, The Gotham Girls.
Go see it!

I came across this quote from Kanye West today:

"Speaking out against hip-hop homophobia, some people were like 'Oh, Kanye must be gay! Look at the way he's dressing! And why would he speak about it? He's a gay rapper.' And my whole point is, I wouldn't have spoke on that if I was gay or if I was in the closet. I would have stayed so far away from it. And I'm still homophobic myself to a certain extent. You know, I wouldn't go to a gay parade and feel comfortable. I wouldn't ever go to a gay club or something and just be chillin' and grab a drink. It's being in the entertainment world, I meet so many different gay people who are actually nice people. Where I came from, Chicago, being black and being a hip-hop artist, we used to really disrespect gay people. And the thing is, we can't get close to them with a 10-foot pole. And I realized, 'Wow, how ignorant has this been?'"

It's good to hear someone in the hip-hop world actually acknowledge this and bring it up, especially someone so in the mainstream. But then he makes the "gay people are actually nice" comment and it all goes to hell... Like they wouldn't be nice 'cause they're gay? I don't get it.

I'm continually fascinated by the built in homophobia and outright hate towards gay people in the hip-hop world. I also wonder how many hip-hop artists are staying in the closet out of fear and self hate, since in the arenas of sports and hip-hop it's just not okay to be gay and out.
(photo courtesy of explorer street)