One is not enough, sweetie darling!  Patsy and Edina return for another “Absolutely Fabulous” special on BBC America and Logo! The second of three new “Absolutely Fabulous” 20^th Anniversary Specials will air its U.S. premiere Monday, February 6, 10:30 PM/9:30c.

In the last “Absolutely Fabulous” special, Patsy and Edina had (hardly) succeeded in reinventing their “Identity” for the 21^st century. In the newest special, titled “Job,” Edina takes on a celebrity client who wants to sing. When Edina discovers how awful her client’s voice really is, she’ll need to recruit some help from her other clients, Emma Bunton from the “Spice Girls” and Lulu, to help prepare the client for her upcoming debut

Twenty years ago the world was introduced to Edina (aka Eddy), Patsy (aka Pats) and Saffron (aka Saffy). It has never been quite the same.  Eddy “PR’d things.” She was into every new fad and fashion imaginable and was often to be found at the bottom of a champagne glass, actually more likely a bottle. Not much has changed. Her best friend Patsy worked in magazines and lived the high life. She still does. Eddy’s daughter Saffy was hard-working, all but ignored by her mother and hated by Patsy. Eddy’s mother was and is, well, her mother.

The “Absolutely Fabulous” 20^th Anniversary specials are written by and starring Jennifer Saunders (“Edina Monsoon”), with Joanna Lumley (“Patsy Stone”), Julia Sawalha (“Saffy Monsoon”), Jane Horrocks (“Bubble”) and June Whitfield (“Mother”) returning in their iconic roles.

“Absolutely” Fabulous is a Saunders and French production for BBC, co-produced by BBC AMERICA and Logo.

Source: press release. Photos: courtesey of BBC©

by David Cohen

One of the greatest TV comedies of the 20^th century celebrated last night the 20th Anniversary Special of Absolutely Fabulous and aired on BBC America and Logo TV channels.

The plans for a 20th anniversary revival includes three new episodes.  The first episode ran last night Sunday, January 8th with the second episode planned to air sometimes in spring 2012, and the third and final special is set to coincide with the 2012 London Olympics.

This British sitcom was created and written by Jennifer Saunders, who plays the leading character Edina Monsoon (Eddy), a heavy-drinking, drug-abusing PR agent who desperately attempt to stay young and “hip.”  Joanna Lumley in the role of Patsy Stone, is Eddy’s best friend, whose drug abuse, alcohol consumption, and promiscuity far exceeded Eddy’s comparatively mild self-destructive behavior.

These two high-powered London career women use their financial freedom to lead dysfunctional lifestyle of pill-popping, alcohol drinking and chain-smoking cigarettes, captured the hearts of millions viewers all around the world. With superb writing, great casting and directing, Absolutely Fabulous became an overnight success and inspired many of us in our own lives.

This codependent relationship between the two women made us fall in love with their wacky personalities, while we accepted them for the way they are and identified with their personal crisis.  We learned to forgive them for their bad habits that made us laugh so many times over the last twenty years. Eddy and Patsy instantly became one of our favorites TV duos of all times.

The first episode was not a reunion or a come back. It just was another day in the life of Eddy and Patsy the crazy middle-age women who refuse to come to terms with real life.

It is hard to believe what happened to the last twenty years by looking at both women who still look great.  Eddy and Pasty are still amazing, and they will always be absolutely fabulous!

———————————————–

———————————————————————

Source: Don Lemon’s Facebook page

Be the First One To See “LADY GAGA: Inside The Outside” on PINKmag.com

With the debut of BORN THIS WAY, the legendary LADY GAGA reveals her intimate stories from her youth and talks about her path to Stardom in her new special this coming exclusively to MTV, Thursday, May 26, at 9pm ET/PT. “LADY GAGA: Inside The Outside,” the one hour-long documentary, will be also available on-demand streaming on MTV.Com.

But who is the girl that became this pop-culture and musical icon, and what legacy does she want to leave?

Lady Gaga: Inside The Outside will compel the viewers to look beyond the outlandish outfits, spectacular live performances and the controversy.  Instead, appreciate the forces, events and the influences that shaped Stefani Germanotta’s ascension into one of pop music’s most influential and most successful artists of our times.

This intimate, stripped-down interview with Lady Gaga is honest and pure. Who recounts never-before-heard life experiences that shaped her early years and brought her to where she is today. From the moment she looked in the mirror and decided she was meant to be a star, to the “Thunder Road” challenge she accepted from her father to land her first baby grand piano, Lady Gaga shares an abundance of personal and poignant stories that includes: the inspiration behind her first song, the impact of being bullied at school, her musical and style influences, her relationship with her family, her love of late night bike rides around Brooklyn, and much more. Viewers will also learn how she juggles fame and her career, along with fans and her personal life, and the social causes that drive her.

“While we all know the artist who has matured into a major force in music, fashion and pop culture, Lady Gaga has seldom discussed in detail the young woman she was before,” said Dave Sirulnick, Executive Vice President, MTV News and Docs. “With this documentary, we’re pulling back the veil and providing a rare glimpse into the rich back story and personal life of this modern day icon.”

The first single from the album, title track “Born This Way,” set a music industry record by becoming the fastest single in history to reach sales of 1,000,000 copies five days after its February 11, 2011, released. On iTunes, the song debuted at the top spot in 14 countries, including the US, and hit #1 in all 23 iTunes stores worldwide its first week out. “Born This Way” was Gaga’s 7th single to hit #1 at Top 40.  The second single from the album, “Judas” has eclipsed 500,000 in sales and Lady Gaga’s latest two singles, “The Edge of Glory” and “Hair” are both currently in the iTunes top 10.

In less than three years, Lady Gaga has won a sleuth of high profile awards and honors, including the 2010 MTV Video Music Award for Video of the Year, the 2011 MTV Music Award for Most Innovative Artist and five Grammy Awards. Her hit singles, including “Just Dance,” “Poker Face” and “Bad Romance” have sold over 50 million copies worldwide.

With over 1.3 billion combined views of all her videos online, Lady Gaga is one of the biggest living people on Facebook with over 34 million ‘likes’ and is #1 on Twitter with over 10 million followers.

For more information visit  www.mtvpress.com

The lineup for New York’s 2011 Tribeca Film Festival includes several films with LGBT characters, four of which feature gay-specific subjects and story arcs:

• Gone, a documentary about a mother searching for her adult gay son who mysteriously vanished while living abroad

• Renée, a documentary about Renée Richards, the first transsexual player in the women’s US Open

• The Perfect Family: Kathleen Turner plays a devout Catholic woman coming to terms with her very human family: her lesbian daughter, her unhappily married son and the painful secrets of her own marriage

• L’amour Fou, a documentary about the relationship between fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent and his partner, and the massive art collection they acquired

The Festival, founded by Robert De Niro and Jane Rosenthal, takes place from April 20-May 1, 2011 in lower Manhattan. 

www.tribecafilm.com/festival

Source: Tribeca Film Festival press release

Pictured above: Kathleen Turner stars in The Perfect Family, debuting at 2011 Tribeca Film Festival

Cast as a hooker with heart in a lesbian-focused indie film project, famed gay comedienne Suzanne Westenhoefer wants A Perfect Ending–which also casts John Heard and Morgan Fairchild–to get its perfect-ending, silver-screen debut.

In order to help the film reach its production budget, Westenhoefer is offering a “splashy” lunch in Los Angeles with her and the film’s producer of the movie, a photo opps and a pair of VIP tickets to one of her upcoming shows in exchange for donations of $1,000 or more to the film’s operational funding. “In addition,” Westenhoefer writes on her website, “you’ll get a special thank you in the film’s credits.”

More information is posted on www.suzannew.com.

Per the film’s website, “A Perfect Ending revolves around “Rebecca” and the big secret not even her best friends know about. The last person on earth she expects to reveal it to is a high priced escort named Paris. What starts as a comedy of errors ends up a uniquely erotic journey. Rebecca’s unconventional efforts to find herself are raw, evocative, and often times humorous, but always very real, very human. Sometimes “A Perfect Ending” is not always the way you planned it.” www.aperfectendingmovie.com

At times throughout her career, comedianne Lisa Lampanelli has shown herself demure and coy–a modern-day Donna Reed wanna-be–but it was only a facade. Her poodle skirts and house dresses served as a shady shawl loosely veiling the off-the-cuff quips, harsh humor and trucker/sailor-esque pejoratives that explodes from the insult comic’s dirty mouth at the start of every set.

Yet in light of her recent marriage, Lampanelli’s profane prose has changed (sort of). In celebration of her nuptials, Lampanelli shows that she’s giving love a chance in her new CD and DVD release, Tough Love. However in true Lampanelli fashion, the Queen of Mean takes the joys out of romance and “I Love You’s” and twists it into an opportunity of in-your-face insults and hilariously inappropriate stories. Tough Love premieres world-wide on the Comedy Central Special, “Lisa Lampanelli: Tough Love” at 10:00 PM ET/PT on Sunday, March 27, before its digital album and longform video releases on March 29.

Lampanelli once again delivers in Tough Love, which is complete with her signature one-two punch liners and mean-spirited insults. Even her husband isn’t immune from Lampanelli’s wrath, as she affectionately refers to him as “Jimmy Big Balls.” Tough Love wraps-up with Lampanelli’s first ever “The Roast of the Worthless Americans,” an appropriate kick-you-where-it-hurts roast at pop culture’s favorite love-to-hate celebrities which include Kate Gosselin, Paris Hilton, the cast of Jersey Show and many more. Tough Love is available on CD and DVD, with the DVD including over 10 minutes of bonus content.

Natalie Portman stars in her Academy Award®-winning role, BLACK SWAN, released on Blu-ray and DVD later this month by Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment.  Directed by innovator Darren Aronofsky (The Wrestler), this Best Picture nominated film boasts a wealth of talent including Portman (Closer), in the performance of her career, as well as Mila Kunis (Date Night), Winona Ryder (Girl, Interrupted) and Vincent Cassel (Ocean’s Twelve). Portman’s mesmerizing transformation into the Black Swan leaves is breathless and may stand to be a frequent showing in home theaters.

BLACK SWAN follows the story of Nina (Natalie Portman), a ballerina in the New York City Ballet trying to make it to the top. When artistic director Thomas Leroy (Vincent Cassel) decides to replace prima ballerina Beth MacIntyre (Winona Ryder) for the opening production of their new season, Swan Lake, Nina is his first choice.  But a new dancer, Lily (Mila Kunis), also impresses Leroy and becomes Nina’s competition.  Nina fits the White Swan role perfectly with her innocence and grace, but Lily is the personification of the Black Swan with her fiery personality.  As the two young dancers expand their rivalry into a twisted friendship, Nina begins to get more in touch with her dark side with a recklessness that threatens to destroy her.

The BLACK SWAN Blu-ray disc contains special features not included on the DVD, l including exciting behind-the-scenes looks at the filmmaking process and interviews with the cast and director Darren Aronofsky.

BLACK SWAN on Blu-ray and DVD is slated to hit the shelves March 29, 2011.

Source: Press Release

Philadelphia, PA—It’s been a long road for 81-year-old Philadelphia native Edith Windsor, who’s gone from would-be housewife in Philadelphia, to gay rights activist in New York, to wife of fellow New York woman Thea Spyer, to national figurehead in a recent Supreme Court case for gay marriage rights.

In Edie & Thea: A Very Long Engagement, a documentary available now from Philadelphia film distributor Breaking Glass Pictures, Windsor and Spyer recount their decades-long relationship. The film chronicles from the time the two women met and fell in love 1960s Greenwich Village, through Spyer’s battle against multiple sclerosis, to their wedding in Toronto in 2007, and ultimately till Spyer passed away in 2009.

But Windsor’s struggles didn’t end when the cameras stopped rolling. After Spyer’s death, the U.S. government dismissed the couple’s marriage and treated Windsor as if she were a stranger to Spyer, landing her with a $350,000 tax on Spyer’s estate.  Windsor swiftly responded by teaming up with the American Civil Liberties Union last November to issue a lawsuit to challenge the Fed’s definition of marriage.

Now, in response to Windsor’s case, the Justice Department has announced that it will no longer defend in court Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act, which defines marriage as being between a man and a woman.  The Department’s decision marks a significant milestone in the ongoing gay rights movement, and a personal coup for Windsor in her fight to restore the status of her marriage to Spyer.

Source: Press Release

[Editor's Note: Windsor's case is one of two that influenced the Obama administration to stop defending the Defense of Marriage Age, businessweek.com reports.--JPF]

Edie & Thea: A Very Long Engagement is available on DVD at www.shop.breakingglasspictures.com/Edie-and-Thea-A-Very-Long-Engagement-853937002476.htm.