Remains of the Day (01/31)

The AIDS Memorial: How Joel Crothers helped make Matthew Broderick, Harvey Fierstein and Estelle Getty stars

Dlisted: Remind me why Mel Gibson hasn't been permanently blacklisted from society

Towleroad: CDC chief resigns after news she bought tobacco stocks while overseeing anti-smoking agenda

Outsports: These eight NFL Pro Bowl players say they would support a gay teammate

OMG Blog: "The X Factor" contestant Keaton Stromberg flaunts what he's got

NewNowNext: A case for not eating ass

Broadway World: Kathleen Turner makes Café Carlyle debut, May 22-June 2

The Gay Almanac: Myanmar holds first public LGBT pride festival

Matthew's Island of Misfit Toys: What style swimsuit do you like your hunk to wear?

Boy Culture: Behold the Crossfit avenger ...

Greg in Hollywood: Today is Carol Channing's 97th birthday!

JoeMyGod: GOP Rep. Trey "Benghazi" Gowdy won't seek re-election

The New York Times: A paper tears apart in a city that never quite came together

Reductress: Awww! This cat and ferret are living together in order to save on rent

New York Post: Joe Kennedy explains "drool" during speech

Daily Intel: FBI director opposes release of "fake Nunes memo

PinkNews: Irish television program airs first same-sex date carried out in sign language

The WoW Report: Candis Cayne to star in groundbreaking trans storyline on "Grey's Anatomy"

The Film Experience: (Dead) Laurie Strode is coming home!

Gay Star News: Three men will reveal how being gay has affected their mental health

Hunk du Jour: Maybe he'll model his colorful underwear collection for you

Back2Stonewall: U.K. pride terror suspect Ethan Stables comes out a "bisexual" in court

The Daily Beast: The "Veep" star literally painting the town red

HuffPost: These "No Promo Homo" laws are hurting LGBTQ students across U.S.

I’m still trying to understand what’s going on here😂😂😂

A post shared by Thomas Austin (@thomasaustinofficial) on Jan 31, 2018 at 5:04am PST

Hot Cat of the Day: I'm not exactly sure what's going on here, but I know I like it!

Not Perfect, But 'Perfect' for Me

As the masses lined up to see "The Avengers" over the weekend, Michael and I -- along with about eight other people -- jumped the line and went straight into "The Perfect Family," Anne Renton's dramedy about a devout Catholic mom coming to terms with the fact that even her own husband and kids -- not to mention herself -- struggle to live up to the church's expectations . Things reach a breaking point when Eileen (Kathleen Turner) is nominated for her parish's Catholic Woman of the Year award, which requires letters of recommendation and home visits and interviews with her clan and everyone's secrets slowly begin to be revealed. Claire V. Riley and Paula Goldberg's screenplay reeks of a made-for-TV movie, with wrapped-in-a-bow explanations for why everyone behaves the way he/she does and performances to match. Yet somehow I couldn't resist liking this film. Emily Deschanel, as the (gasp) lesbian daughter, Jason Ritter, as the (gasp) getting-a-divorce son, as well as hunky Michael McGrady as Eileen's reformed-alcoholic hubby, are all good. But it's Kathleen Turner who holds the whole thing together, as it's nearly impossible not to see one's own mother, grandmother, aunt or sister in her struggle.

To be honest, Turner was initially the problem with the film. As she appeared onscreen, Michael whispered to me, "She looks CRAZY," and for the first 15 minutes or so, I found it hard to even focus on the dialogue. Not sure if I'm being too hard on her because she's a former sex symbol ("Body Heat" is one of my all-time faves, and "Peggy Sue Got Married" is right up there, too), or if she's just had bad plastic surgery, or if she's the odd Hollywood combination of bad plastic surgery without also being in incredible shape, or if it's the drugs she takes for her rheumatoid arthritis, but she did not look "normal," even by the "lady down the street" definition of it. But once I got past that -- and the dated houses and automobiles (was this a period piece and I missed something?) -- I found myself rooting for this woman who had sacrificed everything for her husband and kids, and laughing sympathetically over her reactions to each new indignity, the source of which was her family merely being their true selves. "The Perfect Family" is a small film with a big heart, big enough for me to forgive it of its many schmaltzy sins. My grade: B.