January 22, 2008

Harvey Milk Biopic Starts Lensing in Castro; Damon’s Out, But Spinella, Garber, Luna & Others Are In

At least I avoided using the word “shooting” in the title of this entry, unlike SFist, which, despite the unfortunate word choice in its headline, “Penn to Hit Castro Bars as Milk Shooting Starts,” reports some great news about Gus Van Sant’s upcoming Milk:

Undergoing a procedure to erase 30 years from its face, the Castro neighborhood is going retro, circa 1978, for the filming of Gus Van Sant’s Harvey Milk biopic, Milk, which starts shooting this week. Already the Castro Theatre … and boutique shop Given, formerly Milk’s camera store / campaign headquarters, are being renovated to get that ’70s vibe.

This deb-u-lesbian-te of the Golden Age of Coming Out (that’s the late 1970s for you young-uns) in the Gay Mecca (San Francisco, for those who have been living under a rock for the past few decades) says: Cool!

Well, sort of cool. As welcome a 70s-flashback as it will be to see the Castro as I remember it in those heady pre-AIDS days when my best gay boyfriend Gary and I used to hang out around the grown-up gays in The City (we were about 17 at the time), seeing even a block of the neighborhood as it was will probably send a sharp pang of grief and loss through my heart. It will probably feel like looking at pictures of the World Trade Center.

But enough about me (what do you think of my new outfit?). Other news about Milk (starring, in case you haven’t heard, Sean Penn as the doomed supervisor), due for release sometime in 2009:

Matt Damon isn’t playing Dan “Twinkie Defense” White — now slated is Josh Brolin (who we can’t wait to see metamorphose into Oliver Stone’s Bush).

Also onboard:

• Out-and-proud family member Stephen Spinella, who has played numerous gay roles ever since starring in — and winning Tony Awards for — Angels in America: Millennium Approaches and Angels in America: Perestroika. Onscreen (small and big), you may know him best from And the Band Played On (1993) or Love! Valour! Compassion! (1997).

• The wonderful Victor Garber, who’s come a long, long way from playing a New York City Jesus in 1973’s Godspell. (After Titanic, we can’t help but think of him as Sid Luft opposite Judy Davis’ amazing portrayal of Judy Garland in the 2001 made-for-TV movie, Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows.)

• The mesmerisingly beautiful Diego Luna, star of Y Tu Mama Tambien, who, alongside his Y Tu co-star and now business partner, Gael Garcia Bernal, has emerged as a dedicated human-rights activist in the actors’ native Mexico.

• The very busy Denis O’Hare (who appeared in at least half a dozen movies in 2007, in addition to a recurring role on ABC’s “Brothers & Sisters“).

• “Freaks and Geeks” brooding-James-Dean-type (who eventually portrayed Dean in 2001) James Franco.

• Last but certainly not least, San Francisco Supervisor Tom Ammiano, as — surprise! — San Francisco Supervisor Tom Ammiano.

Posted by: Sapphocrat

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