Harry Styles is ‘My Policeman’
Legendary gay novelist E.M. Forster penned classics like “Maurice,” “Howards’ End” and “A Room with a View,” but he had as complicated a personal life as any queer person in the middle of the 20th century. His longstanding relationship with police officer Bob Buckingham, as well as with Buckingham’s wife, May, became the inspiration for Bethan Roberts’ novel, “My Policeman.” Currently in post-production, the film version of that novel is the kind of openly queer production that the book’s fictional protagonists could only dream of. Starring Harry Styles and Linus Roache as younger and older versions of Tom, the titular cop, the film also features queer, non-binary actor Emma Corrin (Princess Diana on “The Crown”) and Gina McKee as younger and older versions of wife Marion, with David Dawson (“The Last Kingdom”) and gay screen vet Rupert Everett as the man who becomes involved with the ostensibly heterosexual married pair. Adapted by “Philadelphia” screenwriter Ron Nyswaner and directed by gay filmmaker Michael Grandage (“Genius”), we’re looking for this to do for bisexual poly relationships what mainstream queer filmmaking almost never does: get it respectfully right.
Shangela helps drag ‘Lone Star Bull’ into the action hero zone.
Who gets to be an action hero? That’s the question “Lone Star Bull,” currently in production, plans to explore when it eventually hits theaters near (one hopes) you. The debut feature from filmmaker David Stoddart, written by brothers Edward and Rory McHenry (creators of the World War II puppet comedy “Jackboots on Whitehall”), tells the story of a former military man turned nightclub bouncer, a medical student who does drag at the bar, and the mission of vengeance they undertake when the club owner is shot during a homophobic attack. The film stars four queer actors: “Brothers and Sisters” alum and Hallmark Christmas movie mainstay Luke Macfarlane, Molly Bernard (“Younger,” “Transparent”), “Mad Men” co-star Bryan Batt and drag superstar D.J. “Shangela” Pierce. In a genre that has historically had little desire to engage with queer characters or themes, what we’re hoping for here is a little bloodlust and vigilante justice from some pissed off homos with very particular sets of skills. We’ve earned it.
‘Real Housewives of the North Pole’ promises holiday mayhem
NBC streaming service Peacock is throwing its hat into the Christmas movie ring with a brand-extending concept: take sister network Bravo’s realest housewives and allow them to ruin Christmas for anyone who gets in their way. That seems to be the promise of “Real Housewives of the North Pole,” starring “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” glamourpuss Kyle Richards and “Breaking Bad” alum Betsy Brandt. They’ll play two women who’ve won the holiday house decorating contest for a decade in the town of North Pole, Vermont, only to find themselves in a knock-down-drag-out, friendship-ending fight that splits the town into feuding factions. Shooting soon, we want this fight before Christmas on our screens by December if only to spill a little corrosive acid on the cozy genre that seems to dominate TV for the last hundred days of the year.
Rachel Dratch and Ana Gasteyer make Christmas weird again
If you’ve had your fill of Hallmark, Lifetime and Netflix Christmas-themed rom-coms, you might be ready for a Clusterfünke. MTV has announced production on “A Clusterfünke Christmas,” executive produced, written by and co-starring “SNL” alum Rachel Dratch and Ana Gasteyer. They’ll play the owners of, what else, an adorably Christmas-themed bed and breakfast called Clusterfünke Inn. The quaint small-town business attracts the attention of power real-estate exec Holly (Vella Lovell, “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend”) who wants to buy it and destroy it for quick cash. But into the picture walks heterosexual hunk Frank (the not-at-all-heterosexual Cheyenne Jackson, “American Horror Story”) who will… turn this whole thing upside down? We hope? Listen, we trust Dratch and Gasteyer to surprise us and make this a Christmas parody miracle we’ll remember for all future holiday watch parties. The two have promised all the “Vancouver in July” charm we’ve grown accustomed to, so we’ll be checking it off our list this December.
Madonna’s ‘Madame X’ documentary gets into the groove
Did you miss Madonna’s “Madame X” tour? The album? Well, now’s your chance to get acquainted with it when Paramount+ drops her tour documentary, also called “Madame X.” Shot during the Lisbon dates of her 2019 concert tour, the spectacle of it all incorporates a lot of high-concept sets, costumes, musicians and dancers (48 of those, to be exact). Directed by Portuguese photographer Ricardo Gomes in collaboration with SKNX, the team that created Amazon Prime’s documentary “Madonna – World of Madame X,” the concert film will showcase the ambitious concept album’s influences rooted in international pop. Ms. Ciccone has stated that she hopes the film will “remind us of the sacred bond of our shared humanity,” which is an appropriately grandiose goal, and nothing less than what we’d expect from a woman who’s never aimed for the small gesture. The movie arrives Oct. 8 on Paramount+. We’ll be there lounging on our couch watching the hardest working pop star in the world refuse to stop making noise. Long live the queen.
Romeo San Vicente is waiting for you to justify his love.