In something akin to blasphemy, MTV is giving the green light to a project that remakes the cult movie The Rocky Horror Picture Show. To say that RHPS, which debuted in 1975, helped generations of queer kids find their inner-sweet transvestite isn’t giving enough due.

The Rocky Horror Picture Show has, for more than 30 years, allowed queer kids to ceremoniously gather at midnight with their simpatico straight buddies — some of them wearing fishnet stockings — and wave their freak flag high.

Before we hear the announcement of the inevitably disappointing new cast, we here at AfterEllen.com (OK, just me) have assembled a cast of our own from the AfterEllen.com Fantasy Players, an all LGBT thespian troupe. It wasn’t easy. I mean, who nowadays could do this?

Or this?

After several grueling meetings wherein we took each actor’s body of work into consideration, we came up with a cast.

In the role of Brad: Neil Patrick Harris. Harris is excellent at playing a square and has no problem with every joke being at his expense. (See: Doogie Howser, M.D.; Harold & Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay). Also, Harris can appreciate the travails of a mad doctor (Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog).

Brad’s nerd-to-knock-out wife, Janet: Sarah Paulson. Paulson’s an actress used to playing someone too wholesome for her surroundings (See: Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip). … continue reading

The perpetual list-makers over at listverse.com have posted a new list I found appealing to my geekish tendencies: the Top 20 Geek Movies of All Time. I was relieved to see that these were movies for geeks, among whom I count myself, and not about so-called geeks, which is a totally different beast. (And the appeal of which I just don't get. I was in a house this weekend where Superbad was playing, and I still feel like the inside of my head needs scrubbed.)

The criteria for the list are a little hard to gauge, but there are a few things in common: space, or computers, or other sci-fi themes, or a combination of the above. Also, the 1980s spawned most of the geeky classics. One of my favorites made it: Short Circuit. Ah, Ally Sheedy circa 1986. My girlfriend says you look like somebody's mother here, but I say what's wrong with that? (Also, she was crushing on Sally Field in Places in the Heart, so I say her judgment may be questionable.)

A more recent film that made it was The Matrix. Again, I agree. The sequels were unwatchable, but I'll never forget seeing the fight sequences at the theater; this was a movie that changed the way movies are filmed. (Er, does saying that make me a geek?) Oh, and there was Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss).

Another good call: Serenity. I sort of think anything written by Joss Whedon qualifies for geekdom on that basis alone, and this one also has Jewel Staite, Summer Glau, Morena Baccarin, and Gina Torres fighting the good fight on the big screen. Enough said. … continue reading