Afternoon Greg: Here are some of my weekend picks for Outfest 2009

Sorry for the delay in posting this. I’m behind today!

I’m going to be spending much of the weekend in darkened theaters with hundreds of gay people and I just can’t think of anyplace else I’d rather be. I can easily do three movies in a weekend day and sometimes four so my schedule is often quite ambitious and I also enjoy pre- or post-movie receptions and parties!

Outfest 2009 has begun! I’m going to share with you the movies I’ve picked to see this weekend plus recommend any that I’ve already seen and liked (For more information on any of these films or other movies scheduled for this weekend, here is a link to  the Outfest site):

FRIDAY: The big screening tonight takes place at the DGA Theater at 7 p.m. It’s Hannah Free starring the great Sharon Gless. I’ve seen it and highly recommend it. Any fan of Cagney & Lacey or Queer as Folk knows what a hell of an actress she is and this is a real showcase for this two-time Emmy winner. Miss Gless will be attending.

I’m heading to the Fairfax theater to take in Misconceptions at 7 p.m. then will either stay at the Fairfax for a series of shirt films under the heading Makin Movies or head to the DGA for the much-buzzed about College Boys Live which will move over to the Fairfax for a Monday night screening.

SATURDAY: It’s my tradition to drag myself out of bed and make it to the DGA for the 11 a.m. Boys Shorts program. I love the variety of them and trust the Outfest programmers to choose well. I figure I’ll stay at the DGA for most of the day (unless I just gotta have a nap) because I plan to cap the day off with the screening of American Primitive at 9:30 p.m. The film stars Adam Pascal of Rent and Tate Donovan, best known for The OC and for being the ex-boyfriend of BOTH Jennifer Aniston and Sandra Bullock.

In between, there’s some good possibilities: At 2 p.m. in DGA 2 is Words, Pictures and Music, a panel discussion about movie musicals that includes the writers of High School Musical and Hairpray as well as Dreamgirls writer-director Bill Condon, Grease director Randal Kieser and writer-director H.P. Mendoza whose new musical Fruit Fly screens directly after the panel.

I don’t know if I’m going to be able to resist watching The Living End again which screens at 4:30 p.m. in DGA 2 as part of the Outfest 20th Anniversary celebration of Strand Releasing. But I may go home for that nap and go see Prodigal Sons at 7:15 p.m. at Fairfax 1. I’ve heard good things about this documentary about a filmmaker who returns to her small town as a transgender woman.

SUNDAY: The plan is to kick off the day back at the DGA with the 11:30 a.m. shorts program: The Bro Job, a collection of shorts featuring straight or bisexual guys and all the gays who love them. Oh, those straight boys can just drive ya crazy.

Then, I’m very excited about the 2 p.m. screening of An Englishman in New York which will be at DGA 1. Listen to this cast: John Hurt, Cynthia Nixon, Swoozie Kurtz, and Jonathan Tucker. I also happen to know that Braodway babe Nick Adams has a small role unless it got edited out. Hope not!

I’ll then head over to Fairfax 1 for the 7:30 p.m. screening of Ander about a quiet farmer whose carefully constructed life is upended by the arrival of a Peruvian migrant worker named Jose. I mean, c’com, does that sound intriguing or WHAT!

I may call it a night after that but if I have any energy left, I’ll stagger to the finish line of the weekend back at DGA 1 with the collection of shorts call, get this, Bitches, Buttholes and BFFs. I look forward to being totally offended!

Anyway, I’ll be posting interviews with filmmakers and little mini-reviews of films for the next nine days!