Out Spotlight

Today's Out Spotlight was an American LGBT activist, film historian and author who is best remembered as the author of the book The Celluloid Closet. Today's Out Spotlight is Vito Russo.

Vito Russo developed his material following screenings of camp films shown as fundraisers for the early gay rights organization Gay Activists Alliance.

 He traveled throughout the country from 1972 to 1982, delivering The Celluloid Closet as a live lecture presentation with film clips at colleges, universities, and small cinemas such as the Roxie Cinema in San Francisco. In both the book and in the lecture/film clip presentation, he related the history of gay and lesbian moments – and the treatment of gay and lesbian characters – in American and foreign films of the past.


In 1983, Russo wrote, produced, and co-hosted a series focusing on the gay community called Our Time for WNYC-TV public television. This series featured the nation's first GLBT hard news and documentary video segment produced and directed by social behaviorist D. S. Vanderbilt.

Russo's concern over how LGBT people were presented in the popular media led him to co-found the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), a watchdog group that monitors LGBT representation in the mainstream media and presents the annual GLAAD Media Awards. The Vito Russo Award is named in his memory and is presented to an openly gay or lesbian member of the media community for their outstanding contribution in combating homophobia. Russo was also actively involved in the AIDS direct action group ACT UP.

Russo appeared in the 1989 Academy Award-winning documentary Common Threads: Stories from the Quilt as a "storyteller," relating the life and death of his lover Jeffrey Sevcik.

In 1990 he spent a year in California at the University of California, Santa Cruz, teaching a class, also entitled "The Celluloid Closet". He enjoyed being a professor, spending lecture breaks smoking and joking with his students.

Also in 1990, Merrill College at UC Santa Cruz established Vito Russo House to promote Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender awareness and provide a safe and comfortable living environment for queer, straight-supportive and all students who value and appreciate diversity. The house tailors its programming to meet the needs of GLBT students and offers all an opportunity to build understanding and tolerance.

Russo was diagnosed with HIV in 1985, and died of AIDS-related complications in 1990. His work was posthumously brought to television in the 1996 HBO documentary film The Celluloid Closet, co-executive produced and narrated by Lily Tomlin.

After his death there was a memorial in Santa Cruz put on by students and colleagues. There were testimonials about how inspirational he had been and en masse, the group sang "Over the Rainbow" in his memory.

His papers are held by the New York Public Library.

A family-approved biography of Ruso's life, written by NYIT professor Michael Schiavi, titled Celluloid Activist: The Life and Times of Vito Russo was published by the University of Wisconsin Press in April 2011. A two-volume Vito Russo reader was published in July 2012 by White Crane Books titled "Out Spoken: The Vito Russo Reader - Reel One" and "Out Spoken: The Vito Russo Reader - Reel Two." Reel One presents his film writings; Reel Two collects his political/social commentaries.

A documentary film on his life, Vito, had its festival premiere within the 2011 New York Film Festival, went on to screen within such festivals as Maryland Film Festival, and had its television premiere on HBO June 23, 2012. It is directed by Jeffrey Schwarz of the Los Angeles production company Automat Pictures.

In 2013, GLAAD named the "Vito Russo test" after him, a set of criteria intended to analyze the representation of LGBT characters in films.

In the middle of Prisoners an Enemy pops up

While press wagon rolls on and over the pond,  it is not Prisoner's that they are talking up.

The old adage is strike while the iron is hot, so with Denis and Jake in the press so much, why not give a sneak peek of their other project, Enemy.



Jake stars as a troubled and increasingly paranoid teacher who believes he's found his exact doppelganger in a bit part in a movie, and starts to try and figure out who exactly this person is. And that's just how the movie begins.    Indie Wire called it "fascinating and spellbindingly disturbing. A riveting examination of intimacy (and the lack thereof), identity, duality and the nether regions of our unconscious desires.

Jake hasn't done a movie this dark and complex since Donnie Darko. After TIFF, the response to the movie created a three -way bidding war between distributors. Enemy is slated to open in the U.S. next year.

 Take No Prisoners Tour

Sept 23 - Monday - Jake, Hugh and Denis at The Apple Store - London

Five Letters - Starts with a B

Only kind you should have

and the only kind you date.

Happy Austin Friday!


P.S.
Jake wrong year to be a Damn Yankees fan.

 Bring Back the Hat

We know you still have it.

Congrats to the Boston Red Sox - The 2013 American League East Division Champions!!!

Jaking around

Another full day for Jake with taping the Katie Couric show this morning, with the rest of the cast of Prisoners, then lunching together and his Inside the Actor's Studio debut, and a special evening for Academy members, it was more Jake than you could shake a stick at today.

So helping everyone catch up:

Here's Katie:



Part 2,  Part 3,  Part 4,  Part 5


Then Warner Bros threw the cast a lunch in their honor.

And then Jake had his turn on Inside the Actor's Studio 

 There were some adorable pictures of Jake as a baby and growing up. It was nice to see him speak about his craft and his approach to work and how the roles came to be.  It is amazing to think he audition for Brokeback while he was in London doing This is Our Youth. It tells you how long the pre-production process can be.

It was clear how moved he was when talking about BBM and what the movie meant to him.  And when it came to speaking about Heath it still emotional, speaking of his friend and co-star and how it wasn't just a loss of what was but also of what could have been for Heath's career.

But there was no time for Jake to rest and watch the show.  He and the cast hosted a screening and Q &A for members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences.

Jake you should have ditched the suit and gone for the leathers like Viola and Maria.

With the movie's premiere Friday it doesn't mean the Jake stops.

It was announced, Jake, Hugh and Denis will be at the Apple Store in London this coming Monday evening and Jake will round out Queen Latifah's premiere week with his sit down and chat on Friday.

Take No Prisoners Tour

Friday Sept 20th  - The Queen Latifah Show - check local listings for times and channels

Monday Sept 23rd - Appearing at the Apple Store - London

Lucky Duck or Cover?

First the eagle eyes of OMG tracked this down:

A guy that looked like jake gyllenhaal ate at bluewater today and I came home and jake was on the TV 😍😍😍 - Twitter

Which had Jake spotted in NC the afternoon before his sitdown with Jon on The Daily Show.

Then this picture popped up this morning of Jake getting lunch at the Lucky Duck on Monday

Which prompted OMGers to call foul and speculate that Jake didn't duck but Goosed on Monday (and the weekend) before this week's press started.

But when the Goose flew the coop and landed in Austin and tweeted about it twice

 Excited to watch my bros Maroon 5 rip it tonight in Austin, TX. - AUS10

 and  

My bros are shredding!! - AUS10

it looked as obvious as Tommy singing like a bird to Ray about his latest f-up.

But back to Jake's busy day

After charming Jon and getting on the best comebacks on the comic.

Jake said "Good Morning America" and sat down with  Lara Spencer for an interview for Prisoners.



Then it was off to Live with Kelly and Michael

where Jake was asked if he was "In or Out" (Where's Kevin Klein and Tom Selleck ? And what do those producers over at Kelly & Michael know?)



and gave a glimpse what the Hangover might have looked like with a twitpic with Mike Tyson

then Jake was over to Sirius radio to sit down and chat (and run into actress Amber Tamblyn who was Sirius promoting her project too)

And then last night another article in USA Today with Jake and Hugh talking about Prisoners appeared online.  A few things to point out from the article.

1) It was a great picture of Jake

2) Now we know why Jake is looking so thin at the moment

3) Jake's producing another movie

"And Gyllenhaal is on a severely restricted diet as he preps for the crime drama Nightcrawler, which he's also producing —Gyllenhaal is only half-joking when he says he's having raw kale for dinner. "I ate a lemon slice like that because I was so hungry," he recalls, making a sour face. "And I said, 'I love it!'"

And where will Jake be on Thursday?

Well on screen he will be on :

Take No Prisoners Tour

Sept 19 - Jake will be taping the Katie Couric Show with the entire cast of Prisoners at 9:00 am- New York
The show airs 3:00 PM EDT check local listings.

Sept 19 - Inside the Actor's Studio - BRAVO 8:00pm EDT


But off screen?  Well he might have taken wings and flown.

My mother just sat next to jake gyllenhaal on the plane #crazy 
-Twitter

 @cj_rocks_10 right? He was actually sitting in her seat and she asked him to move lol

 @cj_rocks_10 lol maybe a tad! She said he was actually pretty strange..and he has two phones and cracks his knuckles a lot

Whew that's going to be a quick trip to make back by morning.  Red Bull might give most wings, but Jake might get his from the nest.

Tuesday Twist

While Jake is East does that make Austin West?  Or is he taking a bite of the Big Apple?

We know he loves NY.

It's Tuesday and is Austin sitting around twittering  his thumbs?   Nope he's tweeting with them. 

Austin was getting serious tweeting about the recent events in Washington DC today.

My heart is aching. These mass shootings make me so sad and angry. We gotta figure this out y'all. - AUS10

There is a lot to figure out and it's done by one, or  some, but by all.

While Prisoners seems to be the only new release on Friday, it might have the ultimate competition.  The Wizard of Oz restored and in 3-D opens for a limited release of just one week on Friday as well. 

 And keeping everyone in the loop.
Take No Prisoners Tour

Sept 17 - The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. Comedy Central 11pm EDT

Update:
Sept 18- Good Morning America.  ABC  7-9am EDT

Sept 18 - Live with Kelly & Michael, Check local listings for times and channel

Sept 19 - Jake will be taping the Katie Couric Show at 9:00 am- New York click here to request tickets for the taping

Sept 19 - Inside the Actor's Studio - BRAVO 8:00pm EDT

Check back on OMG for updates.

Pressing On

While Jake is winding up with Prisoners and having another busy week of press, things are getting ready for Jake to start his next project, and this time as the press.

 More cast are being added each week to join Jake and Rene Ruso on Nightcrawler. Last week Bill Paxton was announced to join the cast of Dan Gilroy's directorial debut of his own script about a driven young man, (Jake), who discovers the nocturnal world of freelance crime journalism in Los Angeles. He scripted “The Bourne Legacy.”

Add a new name to the list of cast, this week. The Wrap exclusively announced that actor Riz Ahmed is set to join Jake, Bill and Rene Ruso.
Ahmed will be Jake's driver and protege in the movie.

Some might know Ahmed, from the movies “Four Lions” or Mira Nair’s “The Reluctant Fundamentalist.”

Nightcrawler will start shooting in LA in October. But first Jake has a full court press for Prisoners to finish up. Catch him here:

Take No Prisoners Tour

Sept 17 - The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. Comedy Central 11pm EDT

Update:
Sept 18- Good Morning America.  ABC  7-9am EDT

Sept 18 - Live with Kelly & Michael, Check local listings for times and channel

Sept 19 - Jake will be taping the Katie Couric Show at 9:00 am- New York click here to request tickets for the taping

Sept 19 - Inside the Actor's Studio - BRAVO 8:00pm EDT

Check back on OMG for updates.

P.S. Pop Quiz: What Austy connection is there to Nightcrawler? That will be Bill Paxton. How? Paxton is one of the producers of Parkland.