If you’re from Pittsburgh or you know your “RuPaul’s Drag Race” alumni, then you know Lydia Butthole Kollins and Kori King, legendary wild things of Season 17, who fell in love during production. And if you follow them online, you know their outsize personalities cannot be contained. Which is how they wound up hosting their own weird TV series called “Binge Queens: Absolutely Fabulous.” For World of Wonder’s WOW Presents Plus, the couple will be watching the first season of raucous queer ’90s Brit-com, “Absolutely Fabulous,” on camera in their home, “Mystery Science Theater 3000”-style, minus the puppets. Fans of queens with best-friend energy reminiscent of Trixie and Katya are encouraged to join the meta-proceedings. And if you like that, stay tuned, because this is only the first WOW TV project lined up for the pair. More on that when it breaks.
John Waters moves to ‘Baltigore’
We yearn for a new film from Pope of Trash John Waters, 79, but until then it’s clear that he has no intention of slowing down. He writes books, is seemingly always on a speaking/stand-up tour, and is about to co-star in a horror movie set in his hometown. “Baltigore: Maryland Horror Anthology” will unspool a series of strange stories, all taking place in Baltimore, from writer-director-editor Tony Savero. Waters’ presence is a teaser, the lone piece of information leaked to the press, suggesting that he will star in the segment titled “Baltigore” as a pawn shop owner called The Broker. Besides that, it’s all a big spooky secret. Currently in production with no stated release date yet, let this whet your appetite for its eventual Halloween-approximate arrival — in 2025? 2026? — somewhere.
‘The Last of Us’ star Bella Ramsey joins ‘Maya’
If “The Last of Us” made you a fan of Bella Ramsey, here they come in a new drama series called “Maya.” The young non-binary queer star of HBO’s post-zombie-apocalypse show will take the lead in the limited series for England’s Channel 4, from actor-writer-director Daisy Haggard (co-directed by Jamie Donoughue, “Doctor Who”). The titular role was written with Ramsey in mind, and Haggard will play their mother, as together they’re forced into a witness protection program that lands them in rural Scotland. Meanwhile, hitmen are trying to find the family, and not for a nice cup of tea and a sitdown. The shoot will take place in Scotland later this year, with air dates (and, one safely presumes, North American streaming outlets) to follow.
‘Fucktoys’ is the movie you’re not ready for
“Fucktoys,” the debut feature from writer-director Annapurna Sriram, is a scandalous, explicit sex comedy that’s already dividing audiences, and it’s just getting started. Starring Sriram, with a supporting cast that includes queer dance music artist Big Freedia and “13 Reasons Why” co-star Brandon Flynn (as a familiar character named “James Francone”), it concerns a young dominatrix reuniting with her just-out-of-prison lover (Sadie Scott) as they try to reverse a curse. It’s a colorful, demented, horny joyride through a fantastical placed called Trashtown that recalls the wild abandon of early John Waters and Pedro Almodovar films, and it just took its bow at the Karlovy Vary Film Festival, where its kink-based world and occasionally scatological humor apparently offended some humorless people. North American streaming distribution was picked up by Filmhub, but if you need your sex comedies on the biggest screen you can find, it’s probably going to hit the queer film festival circuit, too. Prepare.
Romeo San Vicente insists on the biggest screen.
