The December 1st release of Black Swan offers Natalie Portman as a dance obsessed ballerina competing against stand out newcomer dancer, Mila Kunis for the lead in Swan Lake. This is director Darren Aronofsky (The Wrestler) continued theme of competition as he switches from the wrestling ring to the dance stage. Early buzz has many looking forward to this movie as it features a kissing scene between Portman and Kunis. Wow, Star Wars and That 70s Show go Sapho.  Beside the smooch, you can also expect to see Christopher Gartin (Hugo on True Blood,) Barbara Hershey (Lantana,) Toby Hemingway (The Covenant,) the scene 'stealing' Wynona Ryder and Vincent Cassell who is best remembered as the cross-dressing Duc d'anjou in the film Elizabeth. 

For Sci Fi fans there's a few holiday treats this month. If you are one of those who feel Christmas isn't Christmas without some egg nog and a spinning TARDIS, then set your DVRs for the traditional Doctor Who Christmas special coming to BBC America on Christmas night.  *** Fans of Family Guy are eagerly waiting for the December 21st release of the third look at the Star Wars Trilogy with their spoof of Return of the Jedi. Titled 'It's a Trap,' this latest spoof of the Empire of George Lucas won't air on television until next spring.

After it received a warm reception by audiences at the 2009 Sundance film festival, the Jim Carey film, I Love You Phillip Morris, had been stuck in legal limbo but finally reaches American audiences on December 3rd.  The crux of the problem has been that EuropaCorp, the Paris-based financier behind the film, has been claiming that Consolidated Pictures Group, who supposedly bought the rights in 2009, still owes about $3 million to complete the deal. In the movie, Carey plays an incarcerated con man who falls in love with his cellmate played by Ewan McGregor. The legal wrangling caused delay has convinced some to spread the rumor that producers were forced to re-edit the picture to lighten its overtly homosexual elements but sources insist that is not true. The cast includes Rodrigo Santoro (Lost,) Leslie Mann (The 40 Year Old Virgin,) and Sean Boyd (Jonah Hex.) *** 

For your hard to buy for friends and family some of you might go for the new tropical print snuggies or Meg Whitman Chia Pet. But something that doesn't require shipping, wrapping or size dimensions can be a better choice -- how about tickets to any of the following shows by some of today's best female comedians.  Take your pick of the Margaret Cho: Cho Dependent Tour at the Wiltern on December 3rd, Paula Poundstone at the Art Theatre in Long Beach December 16th or Kathy Griffin Live at the Gibson Amphitheatre at Universal City Walk, December 17th.  If you hadn't heard, Kathy recently announced that another season of her reality show My Life on the D List, looks iffy at best. 

Jamie Bamber has been far from idle since the end of Battlestar Galactica. Not only a regular on Law & Order UK, the actor stars in the new sci fi series Outcasts, debuting on BBC America this month. Set in the year 2040, when the human race has left the Earth and has started a new civilization on another planet. As is the tradition of short episode season on UK television, only 8 episodes have been commissioned. An audience favorite at GLBT film festivals this past year, the Swedish film Patrick Age 1.5 comes out on DVD December 14th. The story looks at a Gay couple who arrange to adopt a 15 month orphan and how their lives change as the result of a typo. Due to a paperwork error, their little bundle of joy turns out to be a troubled homophobic 15 year-old boy. Isn't that how Michael Jackson ended up with two kids named Prince Michael?

CW is ripping off the success of Project Runway with the one time special Fashion Forward: Making It airing on December 8th with host Ashley Greene (Twilight.)  *** A rare chance to see a Hollywood legend comes to the Geffen Playouse in Westwood on Dec. 16th, when Dick Van Dyke's appears in a new autobiographical musical titled Dick Van Dyke - Step in Time.  The show was co written by Van Dyke and Joshua Ravetch who previously worked on Carrie Fisher's Wishful Drinking. *** 
December 10th brings Julie Taymor's (Frida) gender switching version of Shakespeare's The Tempest with Helen Mirren as a female version of the sorcerer, now named Prospera. It's that simple, switch the O for an A and you've get estrogen. The story has Prospera's use of the magical arts causing her brother to ship her and her daughter off to a deserted island. Faster than you can say "the tribe has spoken," the Prospera/Caliban conflict ensue and the masterful work of the bard fills the screen. Offering a cast that only Taymor could assemble, the list includes the new Mr. Katy Perry - Russell Brand, Alan Cumming (The Good Wife,) Alfred Molina (Prick Up Your Ears,) Djimon Hounsou (Gladiator,) and Ben Whishaw (Brideshead Revisited.) 

Brother's & Sisters gathers the Walker clan for an early Christmas celebration on December 12th.  In tradition of the spirit of giving, out Executive producer Greg Berlanti brings a special treat with the casting of Richard Chamberlain as a former lover of Uncle Saul (Ron Rifkin.)  Also being introduced will be a new love interest for Kitty (Calista Flockhart,) as played by Ryan Devlin, best known as Smith on Cougar Town. As the series Private Practice has used the LA Gay & Lesbian Center to film a number scenes this year, Brothers & Sisters also filmed some recent scenes with Chamberlain at the Village on McCadden. 

The Sundance channel has found a new thread in the blanket of reality programming. This one is called Girls Who Like Boys Who Like Boys and begins December 7th. The angle looks at the relationships between New York hetero women and their gay best friends. They use to be called fag hags now I guess a more politically correct title could be ‘ladies in denial.’ As a matter of fact I would have suggested a better title for the show. How about 'So You Want to be Married to a New Jersey Governor?'  The relationships are pretty intense as they shop together, work together, party together and just about everything else except the horizontal tango. You know - the one Bristol Palin did before giving birth out of wedlock or losing Dancing with the Stars. For some, this may be the perfect guilty replacement for The A-List. 

Filming has begun on a quirky new film called Hysteria, a penetrating look at the Victorian era invention of the vibrator.  Seriously folks, I couldn't make this stuff up if I tried. Hugh Dancy (Confessions of a Shopaholic,) co-stars with Maggie Gyllenhaal (Happy Endings,) and Rupert Everett (Stage Beauty,) for director Tanya Wexler. The film's title hails from the term used before the turn of the century to describe a woman's irritability or uncontrolled crying. Today that word is used for describing when one's credit card has been maxed out. 

Until next time, I'm Nathaniel Grey and I was born this way. 
 

Previous Entertainment Features:
Eye On Entertainment - November 15, 2010
Eye On Entertainment - November 1, 2010
Eye On Entertainment - October 15, 2010
Eye On Entertainment - October 1, 2010
Eye On Entertainment - September 15, 2010
Eye On Entertainment - September 1, 2010
Eye On Entertainment - August 2010
Eye On Entertainment - July 2010
Eye On Entertainment - June 2010
AP Tour 2010 Rocks The Sunset Strip
L.A. Radio Trio Gets West Hollywood Welcome