10. TV: 13 Nights of Elvira
A Halloween without Elvira? You must be criminally insane! "Yours cruelly," Elvira, Mistress of the Dark, returns just in time for the gay high holiday with a 13-night Hulu series in the spirit of her classic Movie Macabre broadcasts, hosting horror stinkers so bad that they're good! Watch 13 Nights of Elvira now through October 31. -- Scott Ragan
9. WEB: Go-Go Boy InterruptedA retired go-go dancer turns a comic eye to his party boy past in
Go-Go Boy Interrupted, an uproarious Web series from Jimmy Fowlie. Born as a popular series at the Groundlings in Los Angeles,
Go-Go Boy Interrupted tells the story of a 30-year-old dancer searching for his life's purpose after shimmying at one of L.A.'s hottest bars for the duration of his 20s. The drinking, the drama, and the drag queens are captured in hilarious detail -- and best of all, the series also features performances from the indomitable Drew Droege (
Chloe) and the delicious Scott Evans. Watch the series online at
GoGoBoyInterrupted.com and the strip-teaser below. --
Daniel Reynolds
8. THEATER: Sketchy QueensCelebrate Halloween with two celebrated drag artists. Kay Sedia, Tupperware diva and "Tijuana high fashion model," and Reba Areba, "Mexico's #1 country music star," headline this sketch-comedy show at Cavern Club Theater in Los Angeles, beginning Wednesday and continuing through November 2. Expect plenty of Halloween-themed hilarity. Reserve your tickets
here and watch a sketch from the show below. --
Trudy Ring
7. TV: The Flash, "Going Rogue"Out actor Wentworth Miller will heat up
The Flash when he makes an appearance as fan-favorite villain Captain Cold in episode 4, "Going Rogue" (Tuesday night at 8/7 Central on the CW). Miller is the first of three out actors who will be making guest appearances during the show's first season. Others include gay actor Victor Garber (
Alias), who will be teaming up with Robbie Amell as the heroic duo who combine to create
Firestorm: The Nuclear Man later. Also, bi actor Andy Mientus (
Smash) has been pegged to
play the part of the Scarlet Speedster's hearing-impaired gay villain Hartley Rathaway, a.k.a. the Pied Piper. Catch a preview of Miller in the clip below. --
Jase Peeples6. BLU-RAY: The DogJohn Wojtowicz, the real-life man who inspired Al Pacino's legendary character in Dog Day Afternoon, is the colorful subject of the heralded documentary, The Dog. Filmed over the course of 10 years by codirectors Allison Berg and Frank Keraudren, The Dog interweaves extraordinary archival footage of the robbery, 1970s-era interviews, early film of what was then simply the gay liberation movement, recollections from gay activists who know Wojtowicz, and a decade of interviews with the man himself. It's a rose-colored trip down memory lane of a larger-than-life guy who, even in celluloid, continues to seduce just about anyone who sits down to watch The Dog. --
Diane Anderson-Minshall 5. THEATER: Nice ThingsThe ethics of military recruitment and the politics of love and war take center stage in this world premiere production by Los Angeles's Rogue Machine Theatre. A recruiter in a depressed Pennsylvania town where there are few opportunities feels guilt over the death of a young man she persuaded to join the military and is haunted by her own experiences of combat in Afghanistan; it's all driving a wedge between her and her girlfriend, and the recruiter is also afraid to come out as a lesbian. Meanwhile, a journalist is investigating recruitment practices at the behest of the dead man's girlfriend. Written by Vince Melocchi and directed by Elina de Santos,
Nice Things is playing through November 23 at L.A.'s Theatre/Theater. Tickets and info
here. --
Trudy Ring4. MUSIC: "Waterfalls," Bette Midler Bette Midler is paying tribute to some of the greatest harmonies performed by girl groups throughout music history with her upcoming collection of covers,
It's the Girls. The album, available November 4 from Warner Bros. Records, features 15 classic tracks made famous by legendary ladies including the Ronettes, the Supremes, TLC, and the Chiffons, among others. Listen to the iconic singer's smooth rendition of TLC's "Waterfalls" below, delicately delivered as only the Divine Miss M can. --
Jase Peeples
3. FILM: CitizenfourOne of the most hotly anticipated documentaries of the year,
Citizenfour is the true story of how filmmaker Laura Poitras was contacted via email by "citizen four," an anonymous tipster who wanted to expose the secrets of the National Security Agency and its surveillance of the American public. That tipster turned out to be Edward Snowden, and Poitras's documentary captures her meetings with Snowden, Glenn Greenwald, and other whistleblowers as they blow the lid off governmental invasion of privacy. Poitras, who shared the 2014 Pultizer Prize for Public Service for her contributions to reporting on the NSA, accomplishes something never quite seen in cinema before: a real-life spy thriller, where the stakes are high, and the drama continues to unfold after the viewer leaves the theater.
Citizenfour comes out today in limited release. Watch the trailer below. --
Daniel Reynolds2. TV: Project Runway All Stars, Season 4Break out the needle and thread, y'all.
Project Runway All Stars returns for its fourth season next week, and the competition is
sew fierce. Fourteen designers, including Chris March, Justin LeBlanc, Michelle Lesniak, Dmitry Sholokhov, Fabio Costa, Gunner Deatherage, Sonja Williams, Helen Castillo, Samantha Black, and more, will cut, stitch, and sashay on the catwalk once more for a chance to win reality TV's fashion crown. Judged by Isaac Mizrahi and Georgina Chapman and hosted by Alyssa Milano,
All Stars also has an all-star lineup of guest judges -- Laverne Cox, Nicole Scherzinger, and Snooki. Talk about a
Shore Thing.Â
Project Runway All Stars opens its new season Thursday on Lifetime. Watch the trailer below. --
Daniel Reynolds1. MUSIC: Nostalgia,
Annie LennoxAnnie Lennox's third album of cover songs features the legendary Eurythmics singer's impassioned takes on iconic American classics such as "Memphis in June," "Georgia on My Mind," "I Put a Spell on You," and "Summertime." In September, Lennox invited
The Advocate and a small audience to
preview the 12-track collection in Los Angeles and spoke about the inspiration for the album, including her ongoing evolution as an artist. "I think your values change and shift," she said of the song choices for
Nostalgia. "I'm a woman and I'm getting older but I want to still make music. ... I don't want to twerk, but I want to be relevant," she joked.
Nostalgia is available now on iTunes.
-- Scott Ragan