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Ask AfterEllen.com (March 3, 2009)

Want to know the status of a particular movie, TV show, or band? Wondering what a certain actress is up to these days? Send your entertainment-related questions to [email protected] – with your first name, city and country – and we’ll try to answer as many as we can.

Question: Gostaria de saber em que paises já houve a estréia do filme I Can’t Think Straight? Estou procurando este filme a muito tempo, tenho chances de vê-lo até 2010?

– Késsia, Rio Grande do Sul, Brasil

Answer: I don’t know exactly what you’re asking since I don’t speak Portuguese, but I suspect it’s about when I Can’t Think Straight will be available to watch in your country, since we keep receiving emails about this from women all over the world.

Lots of them. From all over. Lots.

I have good news for you (and me)! Writer/director Shamim Sharif told us in a previous column that she’s posting all DVD and festival screening dates on the movie’s official MySpace page at MySpace.com/icantthinkstraightep.

So please, for the love of lesbian movies, check there! And if there’s no release listed for your city/country yet, it’s probably because Shamim doesn’t have one yet, so just check back later. On the MySpace page. Over there.

Question: Are you going to do a write up on Faith Trimel’s film Family?

– Kweb, Baltimore, Maryland

Answer: Definitely! But you’ll have to wait a little longer for our review, since Family just kicked off its tour of LGBT film festivals last month.

This new indie movie by Faith Trimel – who wrote and directed Black Aura on an Angel – is a coming-of-age dramedy about a group of lesbian friends experiencing problems in their personal and professional lives because they’re closeted:

Some of the women must deny and reject the women they love while others struggle with the suffocating confines of closetedness for the sake of their careers. When the strain becomes too great, the women forge a pact to come out together within thirty days in every significant relationship and situation in their life.

Trimel’s plan is to play the film at national and international LGBT film festivals throughout 2009, and then look for a distribution deal towards the end of the year.

When I asked Faith if there was anything else our readers should know about the film, she said:

I think the blogs on the myspace page, particularly, the ones that include the film’s production notes, director’s notes, and interview really encapsulate the film. I think beyond that I just want to emphasize the diversity in the casting (just about all races are involved) the universality of the story, you know, being courageous enough to speak the truth – whatever that truth may be.

Watch the trailer here:

You can donate to the film on the official website, FamilytheFilm.net, and find more photos, blogs, and info on the film’s MySpace profile.

Question: Is Joan Jett going to be de-gayed in The Runaways movie?

– Athena, New York

Answer: It’s not yet clear how much of Jett’s sexuality will be included in The Runaways, the biopic in the making about the famous all-female ’70s rock band.

But the film definitely doesn’t appear to be portraying Jett as straight.

In the casting sides for the characters, a teenage Joan is shown making out with girl, and there is also a scene of lingering sexual tension between her and another girl after a kiss. So it doesn’t seem like the film is ignoring Jett’s sexual orientation (perhaps because Jett is executive producing), although I doubt it will be central to the film, either, since it’s an ensemble drama, not a Joan Jett biopic.

Ace blogged in December about the news that Twilight star Kristen Stewart has landed the lead role as Joan, but none of the other leads have been announced yet.

The other band members yet to be cast include bassist Jackie Fox, lead singer Cherie Currie, drummer Sandy West, and guitarist Lita Ford.

Sadly, my primary memory of Lita Ford is watching couples in tuxedos and prom dresses slow-dancing to her duet with Ozzy Osbourne “Close My Eyes Forever” in high school – right before freaking to “Da Butt” by E.U. and “Get Out of My Dreams (Get Into My Car)” by Billy Ocean.

And that’s why the ’80s will never be called “the classy decade.”

Question: Is Scottish singer Caroline Gilmour openly gay? I saw her perform in Edinburgh once and I totally fell in love with her!

– Abigail, Bath, England

Answer: Yes, Caroline is openly gay, and she told me to tell you that she loves you, too, and will wait for you on the train platform every day at 4pm … no, wait, that’s a scene in Slumdog Millionaire. Damnit, I’m mixing up real life with the movies again!

Caroline just released her first album, Someday, and here’s what she told me about it:

I was always into music and began singing and songwriting whilst dealing with coming out. I joined a band and started performing in local bars around Scotland. Things happened, the band split up and I went solo back in March 2008.

I was playing an acoustic slot at a bar one evening when I was approached by a local businessman who believed in one of my songs and offered to help fund the recording of an album for me.

So that’s what I did, and recorded this album for the best part of 6 months in between my full time day job (working in financial services).

I’ve just had my album launch party and looking forward to trying to get the album out there to the public this year, hoping that people will take notice and relate to the songs.

You can check out Caroline’s music and purchase her debut album through her MySpace page at www.myspace.com/carolinegilmour.

Question: Have you heard about the new Chinese lesbian movie The Panda Candy? Do you know when we’ll be able to see it in the U.S.?

– Miko, Brooklyn, New York

Answer: The Panda Candy is making its world premiere on March 14 at San Francisco’s 27th Annual Asian American Film Festival, and we’ll be reviewing it on AfterEllen.com soon.

Here’s a quick synopsis of the movie, a “poignant, stylized reflection of love and dating among the curious, ever-changing younger generation of China:”

Young hipsters Chun (Chun Sue) and Taki (Taki Zhang) are taking different routes to love: Chun through a succession of dorky skateboarders and self-obsessed poets, Taki in a series of brief flings with punk lesbians. When they finally meet, will they discover what they’re looking for?

Hmmm, from this still shot of the two women in the film, I’m guessing the answer’s “yes.”

This is one of the few queer-themed theatrical releases from mainland China (it’s in Mandarin with English subtitles), and is directed by Peng Lei, formerly the lead singer of the famed Beijing new wave band New Pants.

It may appear in more festivals around the U.S. this summer; meanwhile, get a longer synopsis and ticket info for the San Francisco showing here.

Question: How are Dollhouse and Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles doing in the ratings? I’m worried they’re going to be canceled.

– Francis, Sioux City, Iowa

Answer: You have good reason to worry – ratings have not been strong for Fox’s Friday-night female action block since its debut three weeks ago. In fact, they’ve been pretty dismal (especially for Sarah Connor).

But just-released DVR data resulted in a ratings increase for Dollhouse‘s premiere episode of 30%, and a 36% increase for Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. That’s the first good ratings news for these shows since Dollhouse debuted.

Will this boost from DVR users be enough to convince Fox execs to renew either show for another season?

TVByTheNumbers.com says definitely not for Sarah Connor, and probably not for Dollhouse. But others disagree, particularly about Dollhouse.

That’s especially bad news for Sarah Connor fans, given that Executive Producer Josh Friedman told Fear.net last week that the second season was not written as a series finale – in other words, if the show doesn’t get a third season, we don’t get a satisfactory conclusion to the series. Shirley Manson (who makes an excellent bad Terminator) told Fear.net, “I know that there is a total shift at the end of season 2, which leads into season 3, and as a result I’d be asked to do very different things. But I don’t know where the plot goes.”

Interestingly, Friedman revealed that, according to Fox’s data, most of Sarah Connor‘s audience is men:

We don’t do very well with women. I’ve always found that to be boggling. We have very strong women on the show. I think our show is quite concerned with motherhood and female power, those types of things. We have very little romance on the show. And I don’t want to be so shallow as so think that’s why women don’t watch the show, although that’s what the female writers in the room tell me all the time… So the state of the union is flux.

I think Josh needs to qualify hist first statement with “straight women.” I know lots of queer women the show does very well with! Although I think everyone would like it more if there were fewer convoluted and distracting subplots (yeah, I’m looking at you, Riley!).

As for Dollhouse – it still has several more episodes to prove itself, and the writing seems to be getting better. Maybe the writers will even find something better for Amy Acker to do than make vaguely mysterious statements and look morose.

What do you think the Sarah Connor and/or Dollhouse writers/execs should do to attract more viewers? Discuss in the comments!

A new edition of Ask AfterEllen.com is published every Tuesday. Have a question for us? Email it to [email protected]. For more entertainment news, read previous editions of Ask AfterEllen.com, and check out AfterElton.com’s weekly entertainment Q&A column, Ask The Flying Monkey.

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