Trailer: Netflix's New Teen Comedy "Alex Strangelove"

Just as we come off our Love, Simon high, Netflix steps up to the plate with their own take on questioning high schoolers.

In the new coming-of-age film Alex Strangelove, produced by Ben Stiller, we meet way-cute, wide-eyed high school senior "Alex Truelove" (played by Daniel Downey) who seems to have it all.

Life seems pretty sweet for young Alex until his girlfriend (Madeline Weinstein of Beach Rats) begins to pressure him about that major teen milestone - losing his virginity. Suddenly, Alex isn’t so sure about which team he plays for.

Adding to the confusion is "Elliott," a gay teen (played by out actor Antonio Marziale) who clearly sparks an interest in Alex.

Here’s the official synopsis:

High school senior Alex Truelove (Daniel Doheny) has it all – the grades, the girlfriend (Madeline Weinstein), and the motley crew of hilarious friends. Everything is smooth sailing until Alex shares that he’s decided to part ways with his virginity – and meets Elliott (Antonio Marziale), a sweet and confident gay boy who isn’t shy about his instant crush on Alex…who may or may not feel the same. Rocketed into a endearing and amusing journey of sexual and self-exploration, Alex ultimately learns that like so much of growing up, love can be confusing. And that’s okay.

Director Craig Johnson (The Skeleton Twins) recently told Entertainment Weekly that he's thrilled the film landed at Netflix, "because you can be a closeted kid in rural Wyoming and access it, where you might not have gone to it were it playing in the theater."

The film feels very much in the same vein as recent hit Love, Simon, and we couldn't be happier. More gay rom-coms!

Alex Strangelove premieres on Netflix June 8. Watch the trailer below.

Award-Winning Queer Short Film "SIGN"

Make sure you take a few minutes to enjoy this super-sweet short film depicting the romance of two young guys in NYC - one hearing, one deaf.

Directed by Broadway's Andrew Keenan-Bolger (Newsies) and composer Adam Wachter, their award-winning new film Sign which spent a year being honored on the film festival circuit.

Along the way, the short picked up awards like Best Short at the Sidewalk Film Festival, the Youth Jury Award at the Iris Prize Festival, and Best Men’s Short at OUT on Film Atlanta.

From Andrew and Adam:

Using only silent vignettes, a musical score and American Sign Language, SIGN tells the story of the relationship between Ben, a hearing man, and Aaron, who is deaf.

We were inspired to portray an under-explored human experience with the help and collaboration of our talented Deaf friends in the New York theatre community, combining Andrew’s passion for visual imagery with Adam’s love of musical storytelling.

The film was shot in a four-day marathon session in multiple locations across New York City, on a set staffed by actors, ASL interpreters, Deaf consultants and many passionate hearing and Deaf volunteers.

Sensitive and artful, the short film (starring John McGinty and Preston Sadleir) plays out effortlessly with no dialogue needed.

Bravo to the creators. This made me smile.

I missed the initial release of the film, so kudos to TheOUTFront for bringing the short to my attention :)

Watch below.

Trailer: Paul Rudd & Steve Coogan As Gay Dads In "Ideal Home"

Paul Rudd (in full-on beard mode) and Steve Coogan play bickering gay couple "Paul" and "Erasmus" in the new comedy Ideal Home, in which life is turned inside out when a ten-year old boy shows up at their door claiming to be Erasmus'grandson.

"We can't have a kid. We couldn't even handle that Yorkshire terrier. Thank god for that coyote - problem solved."

Neither Paul, nor Erasmus, are ready to give up their extravagant lifestyles to be parents. But as things tend to happen in film comedies, kids have a way of teaching adults a few things about life.

It looks cute.

Watch the trailer below. In theaters June 21.

Paul Rudd

News Round-Up: September 27, 2017

Some news items you might have missed:

• After a week in NYC I gained 4 pounds eating at my favorite restaurants, and now here's fitness trainer Ramses Principe (above) being so good with his prepped lunch and all. #GymInspiration

• Fox has announced a new, live musical production of RENT, the ground-breaking rock adaptation of La Boheme that unflinchingly takes on HIV/AIDS, gay and lesbian relationships, trans identity, and substance abuse. Announced air date is January 27, 2019.

• Openly gay Teen Wolf star Charlie Carver posted a naked in nature pic and folks were seriously having it.

• Twitter is considering expanding the 140 character limit on tweets to 280. Selected twitter accounts are getting to try it out. It's making some folks feel very empowered :)

Oh shit I was selected as one of the special ones to tweet in 280 characters. HAHAHA suck it losers, I feel like God right now. Wait, I'm not done, I would also like to say that all these words I'm typing right now are useless and I wasted them just because I CAN. These too, lmao

— Big Cat (@BarstoolBigCat) September 27, 2017

• New York filmmaker/actor Brock Yurich shares details about his next project, Test. The film follows a young amateur bodybuilder in the Appalachians struggling with his sexuality. Those tensions are pushed further when his coach puts him on a heavy regimen of steroids and a path of exploitation to pay for his competition costs.

• A new Reuters/Ipsos poll shows 57% of Americans disagree with Donald Trump and do not think NFL players who kneel during the National Anthem should be fired.

• This 16 year-old got a big round of applause when he came out on live TV as bisexual.

16-year-old Andy got a massive round of applause for coming out as bisexual on our #GenZ programme. He'd never said it publicly. 👏👏🏽👏🏿 pic.twitter.com/06a8w5oFA7

— BBC Newsbeat (@BBCNewsbeat) September 26, 2017

Podcast: HGTV's Gay Married Hosts, SCOTUS To Review Denying Services For Same-Sex Weddings, Pentagon Delays Trans Recruits

In this week's headlines on The Randy Report podcast:

• The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to review whether a Colorado baker can refuse to sell a wedding cake for a same-sex couple

• The Pentagon hits "delay" on allowing transgender recruits to join the U.S. military

• The Texas Supreme Court gets it wrong on same-sex married couples rights

• HGTV has it's first show hosted by a married gay couple

All that and more in this episode of The Randy Report