Liza Puts the 'OH'in Ohio
Parker Posey has never had an orgasm. OK, it's actually the character she plays in her new movie, The OH in Ohio , who's never felt that particular physical pleasure. And Liza Minnelli—or possibly Danny DeVito—may be the person to help Posey find her groove again. Again, this is all plot speculation, but Minnelli—fresh from her hilarious career turn on Arrested Development—does, at least, co-star in the independent film along with Posey, DeVito, Paul Rudd, and Mischa Barton. Co-written and directed by newcomer Billy Kent, the climax-hungry comedy has finished shooting and is in search of a distributor. And if it's as smart and funny as last year's The 40 Year-Old Virgin and Wedding Crashers , maybe the mini-trend of R-rated, adult-themed sex farces can light a fire in the nation's depressed box-office libido.
Reno 911! Booked for Big Screen
Is the big screen ready for a closet-case police lieutenant in short-shorts? 20th Century Fox and Paramount think so—and they're probably right. The cult hit Comedy Central sitcom, Reno 911! , has been making convulsively funny improvisational mincemeat of bad police work for a few seasons now, so the show's creators—Thomas Lennon ( who plays gay Lt. Dangle ) , Robert Ben Garant, and Kerri Kenney—are making the leap to film with Reno 911!: Miami. Shooting early this year, the story will revolve around the inept officers visiting a police convention in Miami Beach during spring break. When the convention center is attacked with biological weapons, it will be up to them to save the day. Naturally, this means that audiences should expect a generous portion of politically incorrect comedy and, well, lots of on-screen deaths. Romeo can't wait.
Manchild 's Sex Connection
The British sitcom Manchild, seen in the United States on cable channel BBC America, was hailed in its home country as a Sex and the City for men. So it's only fitting that the testosterone-based equivalents of Carrie, Miranda, Charlotte, and Samantha would find their way into the hands of Sex 's queer creator, Darren Star. Star will executive-produce the American version of the show for Sony Pictures TV. There's no green light for a pilot yet, but screenwriter Michael Traeger is writing one anyway, and everything, as we say in Hollywood, is 'moving forward.' Romeo just wants to know if one of the male characters will be gay. Or obsessed with shopping for shoes. Or both.
A Slightly Queer Quinceanera
Richard Glatzer and Wash Westmoreland have been working in independent film since the early 1990s. Glatzer's feature Grief was a well-received early entry in what was then called the New Queer Cinema, and Westmoreland's innovative adult-film work was usually considered too smart for its genre. Their first collaboration, the gay indie comedy The Fluffer, was an art-house hit that drew on both of their backgrounds. Now, with their second project, the writing-directing duo is branching out into family drama of the progressive variety with Quinceanera, the story of a young Hispanic teenage girl who finds herself pregnant; banished from her home; and taken in by her uncle and her queer tough-guy cousin. It's a hopeful story of an outcast family creating its own home in the face of social disapproval. Look for it at queer film festivals and in art-house theaters later this year.
DeepInsideHollywood@qsyndicate.com .