The Department of Defense recently posted a call for proposals—due by September 25—to combat “the national security threat posed by public data available either for purchase or through open sources.” For its only example, the DoD pointed to a 2009 lawsuit against Netflix for allegedly outing a lesbian after programmers reverse-engineered the site’s famously robust recommendation engine:
The Austin American Statesman and Houston Chronicle are reporting today that a major factor leading to the failure of Rick Perry's presidential campaign was friction between its two very different teams: the "loyalists" like Rob Johnson and Dave Carney, who had worked with Perry throughout much of his 12 years in Texas politics, and the "nationally known veterans," one of whom was former G.W. campaign manager Joe Allbaugh.
I heard that Hollywood manhunk Jake Gyllenhaal was going to join Bear Grylls on a frosty trek for the show Man Vs. Wild, I thought, "Great, he's never going to get shirtless in Iceland." Was I wrong!
It's Pretty Much Over When the Gay Sheepherder Fails To Sing. Hey, gays—want another slap in the face? The departure of its artistic director means that New York City Opera's lofty plans to mount an opera based on Brokeback Mountain have fallen through. Sadly, we'll never hear the sweet sounds of Jack Twist's angelic tenor and Ennis del Mar's more dominant baritone on arias like, "You Know I Ain't Queer (Me Neither)," and "You Need to Shut Your Slop-Bucket Mouths, You Hear Me?" nor will we experience the full fury of a 300-person choir singing the "Carmina Burana"-esque climax accompanying Ennis's fateful first "taking" of Jack in their hillside pup-tent. [Variety]
It's the rumor that's been burning up the internet for the last few days: in an upcoming issue of Esquire, actress Anne Hathaway will open up about her love of anal sex. After describing it as one of the most sensual things she's ever done and something that makes her feel "feminine in a very special way," the actress supposedly says, "Every woman should try it, otherwise they miss out on something amazing." While Hathaway has played her fair share of sexually provocative roles in films like Havoc and Brokeback Mountain, we were skeptical of her newfound candor; nevertheless, the rumor has only built up steam over the last few days (it was spread by Gawker, LA Rag Mag, and thousands of other sites). Emboldened by our investigation into Megan Fox's own magazine confessions, we knew we had to find out: are these Hathaway quotes for real, and if not, where did they come from?Our first instinct was to disbelieve the story; after all, virtually every profile we've ever read of Hathaway mentions how carefully and professionally she answers questions, concerned that her quotes will be taken out of context. Had Hathaway been emboldened after her split with boyfriend Raffaello Follieri, or was someone putting naughty words in her mouth? Turns out, it's the latter. We contacted Esquire for comment, and spokesperson Rhett Usry was shocked by the rumor. "Absolutely not true," he told us. "There is no interview with Anne Hathaway at all in the upcoming issue of Esquire." So where did the story originate? All signs point to this September 12 posting on Celeb.Dump, a photo-laden blog promising "Sexy Celebrity Pictures With Little To No Bullshit" (and headlines like "Stacy Keibler is so very hot" and "Jessica Simpson touching herself"). "Thanks to Miss M. from Esquire for letting me know" about the rumor, said the poster (who declined our repeated requests to comment on his tip). As for how this obscure bit of gossip hit the big time, we're betting it's due to a potent mix of wishful thinking, Hathaway's Rachel Getting Married press tour, and lingering conflation of the actress with Brokeback Mountain. Either that, or Follieri's got an axe to grind. Memo to Celeb.Dump: if your "source" claims to be Esquire's liaison to the Vatican, it may be time to place some calls. [Photo Credit: AP]
Hey, did you know? Before Brokeback Mountain was a moviefilm about gay cowboys, it was a novella by Annie Proulx. Like, in an actual book. Now that her story has reached a mass audience, Proulx is on the receiving end of certain fans re-writing her story as slash fiction—a.k.a. gay porn—and sending it to her. (Redundant?) Their amateurish attempts annoy the hell out of her. We looked up some of this slash fiction to see exactly how people are molesting this Pulitzer-winning author's story:Proulx told the Wall Street Journal via Independent:
An Important Drama like Brokeback Mountain has been many things to many people since its release three years ago, but who knew it was a budding franchise? Not only is the cowboys-in-love tale going opera, but ardent internet fans continue to sequelize the film with fan fiction, side stories and improbable follow-ups. Why, even Defamer has gotten into the act — Ang, the rights for "Ennis and Jack's Outrageous UFO Adventure" (above) are still available. Call us! However, there's one person who finds these add-ons downright Jack Nasty, and she's Annie Proulx, the tale's original author. As she told the Wall Street Journal:
Today is a special Gay Day! No, they didn’t pass another fabulous law for the gheys, it’s the first night of 26th annual film fest, Outfest. The 13-day blast of gay film kicks off tonight with Breakfast with Scot, featuring Tom Cavanagh (Ed) and Ben Shenkman (Angels In America) at the Orpheum Theatre. We talked to Kirsten Schaffer, the interim executive director about her new favorite flicks, and the process of whittling all those submissions down to a manageable “225 movies from 25 countries and nine venues for over 13 days, and we expect over 50,000 attendees,” as she put it in her understated way. And also we find out how exactly a South Park movie makes the cut in a gay fest. (Hint: It’s a sing-a-long. All together now: “Uncle Fucker!”)
By now we agree that an opera is no real way to honor the legacies of either Brokeback Mountain or Heath Ledger, but at least an alternative arrived quickly. Or sort of, anyway — and only if you have a spare $1,500 (at least) to "invest": Amid Marilyn Monroe's pencil cup, fishnet stockings and other dustbin diamonds, an auction next week at Bonhams offers up Ledger's director's chair from the Brokeback set, bittersweetly redolent of oak, denim and, we hear, Canada.
When America was gripped by an outbreak of Brokeback Mountain spotted fever a few years ago—a rare condition characterized by an onset of involuntary gay-cowboy jokes and acute rose-stemming—more than a few of the afflicted (ourselves included) were visited by visions of high-kicking chorus-boys in a Brokeback musical. Now, reports Variety, our rhinestone-studded delusions are not only coming to pass, but they've even gone one gayer, with the commissioning of Brokeback—The Opera:
Annie Proulx's short story about gay mountain love reached millions when it became an Oscar-winning hit movie in 2005. And it refuses to go away! "The New York City Opera commissioned Charles Wuorinen to compose an opera based on 'Brokeback Mountain,' the 1997 short story by Annie Proulx... The opera is scheduled to premiere in spring 2013, City Opera said Sunday. It will be City Opera's second Wuorinen premiere, following 'Haroun and the Sea of Stories,' which was based on a Salman Rushdie novel and opened in October 2004. 'Ever since encountering Annie Proulx's extraordinary story I have wanted to make an opera on it, and it gives me great joy that Gerard Mortier and New York City Opera have given me the opportunity to do so,' Wuorinen said in a statement." [AP]
Our progressive neighbors to the North — they of universal health care and stealthy American media insurgency — may yet cede their place among North America's movie industry vanguard. The Toronto Globe and Mail reports that the country's Conservative leadership wants no part of backing "any film or television show that it deems offensive or not in the public's best interest - even if government agencies have invested in them." Naturally the Canadian left is mortified envisioning a future sans even the tamest of subversive exports. "Would this committee put money into Juno?" asks Toronto lawyer David Zitzerman. "It might not want to encourage teen pregnancy. Would the government put money into a film with a dirty title, like Young People Fucking? Would they invest in something like Brokeback Mountain? They might not want to encourage gay cowboys to have sex together in Alberta." Hollywood studio heads, having long endured the repercussions of Canadian filth from Strange Brew to Paul Haggis, were rumored to vigorously laud the move in a conference call Thursday.
Instruct your assistant to hold all your calls, poor yourself a tumbler of whiskey, and fire up the Bose Wave to ease you into haunting opening strums of Gustavo Santaolalla's "The Wings"—this next one's going to be a little rough. Sources from the New Mexico set of Jake Gyllenhaal's new movie Brothers tell People that the actor is "devastated" since learning of his Brokeback Mountain sharpshooting partner's death:
We'd like to offer our gratitude to an attentive reader, who pointed us to today's AFP story on a lawsuit Crash director Paul Haggis recently filed against producer Bob Yari, which for one fleeting, poorly fact-checked moment righted one of Hollywood's most egregious wrongs. Even though the wounds inflicted by those heavy hands had long ago healed, briefly revisiting what could have been was still a nice way to begin this Tuesday morning.
Who could ever forget the final scene of Ang Lee's tragic Brokeback Mountain, in which Heath Ledger's Ennis Del Mar [spoiler alert if you've been meaning to Netflix it!] clutches a shirt belonging to the gay-sheepboy love of his life, as if touching him for the very last time? As shattering as that moment was, however, something called for a coda—perhaps just a brief shot of a smiling Ennis, finally at peace serving daiquiris to vacationing tourists at the Key West bed n' breakfast he opened after Jack Twist's death. We may not have to rely on our imaginations for that kind of closure, however, as OK! Magazine reports that a Brokeback sequel is on the way:
Fortunately for us all, this unexpected house-cleaning turned out to be just a false alarm: Atene has already returned, shirtless and brandishing a bottle of Sam Adams (has he signed a product placement deal?), and reassuring his fans that not only hasn't he gone away ("I'm STILL here. I'M STILL HERE, I'mstillhere"), but that he's on the verge of a prolific period in his creative development. Enjoy his public workshopping of a Brokeback Mountain piece that we're confident will shame the original Heath Ledger performance once he's had a little more time to run through its tricky, bittersweet rhythms.
