Where MERYL STREEP was deliciously wicked and entertainingly evil, ANNA WINTOUR is just dour and nasty. WINTOUR, of course, is the force behind Vogue Magazine, the bible for the world of fashion. She has reigned as
editor-in-chief at American Vogue since 1988; and, is the focus of a new documentary, THE SEPTEMBER ISSUE, in theaters now.

It was understood she was the basis for the character, MIRANDA PRIESTLY in THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA, so delightfully played by STREEP. But having seen both, I would say MERYL smoothed out the edges, lest we all would have slit our wrists after seeing the feature film. Watching DEVIL it was humorous to think someone, particularly someone with a career in the make-believe world of high couture, could really take themselves, and life so seriously. So seriously sullen that is. When STREEP asked for the impossible, and got it, without a hint of appreciation, it was caricature. And it was charming, even if in a slightly masochistic way.

When WINTOUR does it, it's repulsive, and it's really her.

And in this look, she is not all that big and bold. She is kind of a wimp, with all the power of a general. She is meek, but commands complete and utter surrender. And she has none of the PRIESTLY charm. Perhaps that is WINTOUR gussying it up for the camera. Good lord, can you imagine what life is lie in the bowels of Vogue when there isn't a neutral observer in the midst?

The film was produced and directed by R.J. CUTLER, who began his career producing THE WAR ROOM, the Oscar-nominated documentary about the CLINTON campaign for the presidency in 1992. I'm sure he needed all the skill and
diplomacy of a world class politician, as well as the thick skinned, tough as nails bravado to get this thing in the can.

It's a fascinating look behind the curtains on the runways of the world of fashion. In the studios, and mostly in the cramped and distinctly unglamorous hallways at Vogue, CUTLER gets the camera right up in WINTOUR'S face to see that ever so slight grimace, the cool and calculated turn of the eye, and the sugh of utter disappointment as time and time again WINTOUR is let down. Even in elevators, or in the lonely ride to work in the backseat of a generic towncar of the day, we are right there at ANNA'S side, and it's not always fun.

This woman is miserable, despite her unparralled success, not to mention the ungodly power. Her own employees refer to her as the "pope" of fashion. How can someone be so unhappy? Retire, and shoot humingbirds with a skeet shooter from your porch in the Hamptons. Bake laxative brownies for the Halloween kids on the block. Life is short. You'll be happier, woman.

At one point in the film she intimates, quoting a famous achiever whose name escapes me now, that when the anger gets too much, it will be time to retire. She acknowledges that it might be getting near that time. My guess is, that time passed 18 or 19 years ago. As a happier Brit is known to say, "go home, go on, go home."

ANNA WINTOUR had a Victorian upbringing in England; her father was editor of THE EVENING STANDARD and her mother, the daughter of a Harvard law professor. I'm guessing not the breeziest, most pleasant childhood. She joined Conde Naste in 1983 as Creative Director of Vogue, left for a stint as Editor-in-Chief at British Vogue, until returning to head American Vogue in 1988.

Oddly enough, that same year, another British Vogue veteran, GRACE CODDINGTON, who also modeled for Vogue, came onboard at American Vogue as Fashion Director. CODDINGTON has been at Vogue ever since, and is currently Creative Director, and ANNA's biggest cross to bear. Mercy for small wonders.

It is CODDINGTON who makes this documentary bearable, if not completely entertaining. She is the bright reality in WINTOUR'S dark, fantasyland of torture. She is, oddly enough, the ANNE HATHAWAY in this real-life drama. And she
is still kicking. CODDINGTON hasn't walked away from the craziness. She is still in the trenches, battling everday, most days with WINTOUR, and that makes us happy.

Funny thing, in most of the reviews I had read prior to seeing a THE SEPTEMBER ISSUE, CODDINGTON was made out to be just as much of a beast as WINTOUR. A 2-headed serpeant, that Vogue magazine, with CODDINGTON cleaning up the scraps that WINTOUR leaves on the blown out runways. The two eat supermodels for lunch, and the supermodels have it easy. You should see how they treat the designers. They then retire to their dark offices to inflict fashion warfare on the poor saps who shop at that simplistic closet for the bourgeosie, Gap.

As it turns out, CODDINGTON is nothing of the kind, despite her red frizzy mop, dark robe of a dress, in which she can be found nearly every day (if the documentary is a representative sampling that is), and a face that conjures up the Evil Emperor in Star Wars. In her day, she was a stunningly beautiful model for Vogue, but a car accident and years of plastic surgery forced her to evolve into the managment of fashion, and it has served her well.

The film is mostly about her, and ANNA, and their contentuos relationship at American Vogue, which is now 20 years on. CODDINGTON has a talented eye for images, yet a foot firmly planted in reality. WINTOUR seems to lock horns with CODDINGTON at every turn, and it is through CODDINGTON that the viewer can make any sense of it all.

WINTOUR squares off, in her passive-aggressive way, with everyone in her presence. In my naivete, I thought fashion was somewhat organic; that is, fashion magazines actually reported on creative trends emerging from around the globe, via big name
designers, or no name up and comers, or even individuals with a sense of style all their own. Culture and entertainment all could influence fashion, with the end result an amalgum of burgeoning patterns that took on a life of its own. Was I wrong!

Fashion is what ANNA WINTOUR says it is. And it has little to do with what OSCAR DE LA RENTA says about it, or NORDSTROMS says about it, or NAOMIE CAMPBELL says about it, or, even GRACE CODDINGTON in all her working "man" wisdom says about it. It is the spawn of the devil, in her bob and dark sunglasses, and it is more about what she ate or didn't eat, what is going to make Conde Naste money, what colors were run in last year's issue, and what split second impression a dress or skirt or belt or shoes makes on her high priestess at that moment, for whatever reason. And that is screwed up, big time.

There are several scenes with ANNA and her daughter, a seemingly well-adjusted girl with her mind clearly in the right place about fashion. When asked by CUTLER if she planned to work at Vogue with her mother, the young lady replies, perhaps not realizing her words were painting a less than flattering vision of her mother, ANNA WINTOUR, herself and only.

"Those people down there live fashion. Fashion is their whole life, and there are so many other things to do with your life."

So true.

to see the trailer click here

WOODSTOCK, the mythological event that lives forever in the hearts and minds of baby-boomers, is approaching a 40-year anniversary on August 16th. For those who were there, it was life changing. For those who witnessed from afar, or merely heard of the legend, it is an iconic event that looms large in our collective conscious, and for those who do not know of WOODSTOCK, it was a confluence of love and music, peace and protest against the Vietnam war, tolerance and cooperation, of sexuality and coming of age, and the precursor to large music festivals that, now, seem of so little import by comparison.

To celebrate the 3-day music event, media outlets of all stripes will be broadcasting footage from the event, interviews with attendees. Record companies are re-releasing recordings from the impressive list of performers-legends in their time: JIMI HENDRIX, JANIS JOPLIN, SLY & THE FAMILY STONE, THE BAND, CROSBY, STILLS & NASH, SANTANA, CREEDANCE CLEARWATER REVIVAL, JOE COCKER, JEFFERSON AIRPLANE, THE WHO, THE GRATEFUL DEAD, BLOOD SWEAT & TEARS, CANNED HEAT, COUNTRY JOE & THE FISH, SHA NA NA, JOAN BAEZ, ARLO GUTHRIE, RICHIE HAVENS, RAVI SHANKAR, MELANIE and others. HENDRIX was paid the most, earning some $30,000, while SANTANA, anewcomer to the rock scene, got a paultry $1,500. It was a concert unmatched in importance. And it was a cultural moment in time that changed the world, if only for a weekend.

watch video

FOCUS FEATURES will roll out TAKING WOODSTOCK at the end of the month, based on a true story by ELLIOT TIBOR, who lived it. Check out the premiere, from the Arclight Theaters, with interviews from TIBOR, as well as director ANG LEE, and actors EMILE HIRSCH and DEMETRI MARTIN.

GENESIS PUBLICATIONS is releasing a limited edition multi-media box set to pay homage to the historic festival, with never before seen photos, and behind the scenes stories, including the little know fact that CROSBY, STILLS & NASH almost never made it to the festival, as the helicopter delivering them to the event nearly crashed. The trio delivered one of the most memorable sets of the weekend after the harrowing experience.

Newly discovered photos fill the work, along with over 70 contributors who share their personal memories in Woodstock Experience, including Graham Nash, David Crosby, John Sebastian, Arlo Guthrie, Joe Cocker, The Band and Ravi Shankar, as well as audience members, photographers, artists and Woodstock producers Artie Kornfeld and Joel Rosenman. Woodstock’s Executive Producer, Michael Lang, is also the project’s Executive Editor and, along with his own story, provides letters, notes, contracts and more from his personal archive.

Woodstock Experience comprises two separate volumes: Volume One is the definitive oral history of the festival; Volume Two features the previously unseen photographs of the late Dan Garson, taken as a 17-year old student. In addition there are loose-leaf essays, a specially pressed vinyl record featuring Santana and Jefferson Airplane live at Woodstock, a facsimile hand-drawn site map, a fine-art print by legendary Sixties artist Peter Max, and an original festival ticket with every set. This collection of artefacts are housed in a three-part folding box which itself features exclusive screen-printed art by leading artist and designer Shepard Fairey – the man behind the Barack Obama ‘Hope’ posters.

Only 1,000 of these boxed sets are available worldwide, each one signed by both Michael Lang and Arlo Guthrie.

Guthrie introduces the work in the forward,

"ALMOST ALL OF HISTORY IS CREATED WITH HINDSIGHT – SOMETHING HAPPENS
AND ONLY LATER ON DO YOU REALISE HOW IMPORTANT IT WAS, AND IT BECOMES
HISTORY. IT’S VERY RARE THAT YOU’RE IN AN HISTORIC MOMENT AND YOU KNOW
THAT YOU’RE IN IT. NOT ONLY THAT, MOST SUCH HISTORIC MOMENTS ARE OF
EARTHQUAKES, FLOODS, FAMINES, DISEASE, DISASTERS. IT’S EVEN MORE RARE THAT
YOU’RE IN AN HISTORIC MOMENT, THAT YOU KNOW IS HISTORIC, AND YOU’RE
HAVING FUN. WOODSTOCK WAS ONE OF THOSE HISTORIC MOMENTS. ACTUALLY, IT
WAS OUTSIDE THE BOX OF HISTORY."

A one-day ticket for WOODSTOCK was $8.00, while the weekend pass cost $18.00.

Woodstock Experience signed by Michael Lang and Arlo Guthrie – the limited edition box set of 1,000 copies, is available only through Genesis Publications:
www.genesis-publications.com; tel: +44(0)1483 540970; price: £395.

Fascinating archival footage of retro polyester outfits and shag-dos (on the guys) keeps one wondering "Did I ever dress like that?" (Probably at least once!)
This documentary reveals that the singing group Up with People began in 1965 as an outreach of the MRA- the Moral Re-Armament. The fresh-faced, squeaky clean college kid members/performers were to recruit everyone into the MRA cult through song and dance.
Writer/director/producer Lee Storey, the wife of one of the former African-American members, highlights the black Up experience as being a positive one. The singular poignant moment of this documentary is the recounting of a female former member’s literally head-on experience with racial prejudice.
In touring around the world, rather than paying for hotels rooms, the performers were put up in the homes of various volunteer hosts. This particular African-American girl was greeted at the front door of her host home by its owner sitting in a chair with a rifle in his lap. When he proceeded to aim his rifle at her, the scared witless girl started singing. The result—the two spent the night talking.
The one gay member interviewed in "Smile" explains "There was no gay in the group." No one acknowledged sexuality the entire time he was performing in the group. The cult control was so strong even heteros had to get permission from their cult leader to marry or to have children.
Though it seems Storey attempted to show both the negatives and the positives of being in Up With People, the candid and sometimes oblivious present-day comments of the 40+-years-older, wiser (?) former members don’t add up to a balance portrait of the singing group. One wishes Storey had taken a definite point of view—one way or the other. Then the audience could agree or disagree with her. As screened, the result is unsatisfying.

for more info go to: http://www.smiletilithurts.com/

The OUTGAMES in Copenhagen had the joy and celebration of their global event disrupted over the past week, with 2 hate crime incidents interrupting the festivities.

On Friday evening, after returning from the Opening Ceremonies, 3 gay men were attacked by 2 men ages 28 and 33, who were said to have yelled "homo pigs" at the men, before attacking them. All 3 were taken to hospital and released with minor injuries. The assailants, who are said to have had prior criminal records, and were reportedly under the influence of alcohol, or drugs, or both, are in custody, and expected to remain in custody throughout the duration of the games which run through August 2nd in and around Copenhagen.

Then, on Tuesday, at a track and field event, 3 bombs, or fireworks, were exploded on the track as the competition was underway. One athlete, from Seattle, was injured and treated at the scene.

Police arrested a man thought to have shot the explosives from a Roman candle device from a church across from the stadium.

"We are deeply saddened that this should occur during an otherwise excellent event, and moved on behalf of the injured athlete", World Outgames Director, Uffe Elbaek said. "I am, however, relieved that the incident was not more serious and I am very satisfied by our cooperation with the police during the incident.

All events were going forward according to schedule.

The Federation of Gay Games, which will hold it's global athletic competition in next year in Cologne, Germany issued this statement:

"Copenhagen has a reputation as one of the most LGBT friendly places on earth. Even there, we are reminded that our community still faces those that would deny us our basic human rights, even the freedom to run in a track meet in safety. But we will not be discouraged; rather, we will run, swim, jump, throw, grapple, volley and perform at events like the Gay Games and OutGames, celebrating our right to love who we want.”

WHITNEY HOUSTON'S comeback has been getting rave reviews from those very special VIP's who were lucky enough to attend listening parties recently held in London, New York and Los Angeles. You can be your own judge, as the recovering Diva has made the title track, written by R. KELLY, " I Look To You" available on her site, whitneyhouston.com. If you are willing to trade your email information you can even download it.

After hearing it, it might be true that her voice is strong again, but the new release, now due on August 31 to qualify for Grammy consideration, will need more punch if it is to revive that HOUSTON aura. This tune is a little weak. Perhaps the remixes will punch it up.

Another song on the new album is apparently available online, leaked by some authorized source. Hmmmm.

At the Los Angeles debut, held at the Beverly Hilton, WHITNEY herself, made a dramatic appearance, at the end of the event. She didn't sing, but looked well, as she posed with her relentless protector, CLIVE DAVIS, and STEVEI WONDER.

If "I Look to You" doesn't fulfill expectations, it'll only be 2 weeks or so before MARIAH CAREY'S new release, "Obsessed" hits the airwaves. Now isn't that just the bitch fight we've been waiting to see.

Welcome back Divas all.

What if you threw a film festival, got a gay mecca city name behind it, invited hundreds of filmmakers to exhibit their work, but never hired any staff, never got any sponsors, never secured any venues, didn't get your website-the only place to buy tickets- functional until days before Opening Night, and didn't purchase the requisite insurance theaters require to exhibit films in this festival, but sold tickets-what few you could with a website that was completely inadequate- to venues you didn't reserve, what would you have?

Well, if you squeezed those filmmakers to do all the marketing, to sell all of the tickets, to put together their own sponsors, to supply food and drink for receptions, to contract with panelists and get commitments from them to appear and speak at their own expense, to pay for the theaters in which their films were to be shown, and then charged a $30 ticket as a result of all of the "volunteer" effort, then you'd be pretty close to running the West Hollywood International Film Festival.

Of course, you'd have to make sure the filmmakers alerted the media, since none of them know a thing about your festival, and insist that each filmmaker get their work reviewed in the local press, piss off the local community such that none of them want to attend your festival, alienate the city for which the festival is named, to the point they don't buy so much as 1 ticket for the event, change venues the day before the Opening, refuse to give filmmakers any complimentary tickets, and then show up late for Opening Night so that 250 angry and confused guests are waiting and wondering if they are going to get into the theater, or, uh, ballroom, for the film for which they bought a ticket.

To really get it right, you'd have to make sure you didn't pay your projectionist, so that he was threatening not to play the films. Then you'd need to schedule 3 disparate movies on Opening Night, whose audiences share nothing in common and have no interest in each other's works, disseminate a schedule to ticket holders that completely rearranges the times of the films everyone bought tickets for, charade as a big shot on the red carpet(actually more like a red spot on the floor illuminated with painter's lights) 30 minutes after the first screening was supposed to have begun, whilst an angry audience sits in the ballroom waiting for their film to start. Just for effect, you might lose the 2 shorts which were to have begun the show, allow the headline movie to start without a welcome or introduction, then cause a commotion throughout the theater by accusing a prominent activist and panel member who was to appear on stage that evening of "stealing" the shorts, only to find them under the ticket table, no doubt where they were all along. For good measure, about halfway in, shut off the film for which 90% of the audience came to see, then, without so much as a word of explanation, take the stage and introduce the shorts, which you finally found, after mugging for the camera while your festival was careening out of control. Do all this, whilst slandering the filmmakers and their supporters whom you picked for the Opening Night gala, and you'd just about be the director of the WHIFF, as it is called.

It's a stinker all right.

You'd need to insure that the picture quality and the sound were worse than a drive-in movie in the middle of the day, and that the ballroom where your showcase presentation was being made had a glass ceiling with a gyrating, blinking light show, so as to completely confuse and distract from the cinematography of the films chosen, and then piss off your audience, including executive officers of NOW, the GAY & LESBIAN CENTER, EQUALITY CALIFORNIA, LAMBDA LEGAL, EQUALITY ROOTS, and others, all of whom were there to speak on a panel about the future of gay and lesbian civil rights. Just for fun, announce from the stage that you really don't like all of this gay stuff, that's why you don't choose gay films for your festival.

Then you'd just about be the Director of the West Hollywood International Film, in all your glory, holding court in all places, the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel. We're not in West Hollywood anymore Dorothy.

Just be careful a house doesn't fall on you.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________

Despite the chaos, MANMADE MULTIMEDIA and REEL GAY TV were on hand with some special invited guests:

A TOO CLOSE FOR COMFORT reunion at the Opening Night of WHIFF as Jim J Bullock and Lydia Cornell join Manmade CEO William Manuel.

The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence join director Cheryl "Dr Pepper" Riley.

Robin Tyler and Diane Olson

Robin Tyler and LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE'S Alison Arngrim

Manmade's Marketing Director Therese Lee with Lydia Cornell and Jim J Bullock.

Diane Olson with Executive Director of the Gay and Lesbian Center, Lorri Jean.

Nadia Sutton, Cheryl Riley, Lisa Thrasher and Diane Olson.

Robin Tyler with Legal Director for LAMBDA Legal, Jon Davidson.

Manmade's Ken Tullo, Sashya Waterman Tullo and William Manuel.

Courtney Kornegay and Director Cheryl "Dr. Pepper" Riley.

Courtney Kornegay in action on the "red carpet".

Mike Skiff, William Manuel, Cesar Segovia, Tony Filippone, Jaime Resendiz and Rodney Middlecamp.

Manmade reporter Shawna Johnson, with Joe Donchaknow and William Manuel.

Director Cheryl Riley and Producer William Manuel.

Photos by Gil Kaan and Zaki Muniz