Watch: President Obama's 'It Gets Better' Message

President Obama tells bullied gay youth that "it gets better." 

President Obama, as long as the actions of your administration continue to tell LGBT people that they are less than equal citizens, that they do not deserve to marry the person that they love, that they do not deserve to serve openly in the U.S. military, that they can still be fired from jobs because of who they are, how can you promise these kids that "it gets better?"

Thank you for recording this message. Please follow up your words with actions. Set the example you say is so important.

Watch, AFTER THE JUMP...

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Movies: Hold Matt Damon's Hands, Speak to Your Departed Loved Ones

 Haley Joel Osment finally gets some company.

NATHANIEL ROGERS

...watches trailers through fingers (too many spoilers) and waits impatiently for the feature. He blogs daily at the Film Experience. Follow him on Twitter @nathanielr.

YOUR FEATURE PRESENTATION
Clint Eastwood, now in his 8th decade of life, has never been more regular. Somewhere between the months of October and December each year, comes a new Eastwood picture for your consideration... or "For Your Consideration" if you're a voting member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. In some years, like 2006 (Flags of Our Fathers and Letters From Iwo Jima) or 2008 (Changeling and Gran Torino), we get two movies. This year we get three; they're all called HEREAFTER. 

The first movie begins in 2004 with Thailand's awful tsunami which killed thousands of people. It's a gripping horrific sequence that's well filmed though it risks easy ridicule with an extended shot of a teddy bear floating in the water. The terrifying waves sweep up Marie (Cecile de France), who happens to be a famous French journalist on the last day of her vacation. She dies momentarily but other quick thinking tourists revive her. Soon Marie is adrift in her own life, unable to focus on anything but her near-death experience. Her new "what happens when we die?" obsession begins to eat away at her professional reputation, her fame and her love life. If you're the type of moviegoer that objects to tragic global events repurposed to dramatize the problems of Pretty Rich White People, you're going to be wishing the film a quick death before we get to movie #2.

Meanwhile in America, we meet George (Matt Damon) who wants nothing to do with the afterlife. He used to be a medium, a very gifted one, but he's had quite enough of speaking with the dead. If you so much brush his hands with yours, he's got your dearly departed treating him like fleshy voice mail.

MORE AFTER THE JUMP...

George prefers to be left alone.

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New Guidance on DADT: Discharges to Require Higher Approval

New guidance has been issued regarding "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" following the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals' approval yesterday of an emergency stay against Judge Virginia Phillips' injunction barring enforcement of the measure.

MetroWeekly reports:

Until further notice, pursuant to a memorandum from Defense Secretary Robert Gates and a follow-up memorandum from Undersecretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness Clifford Stanley, no service member can be discharged under DADT without the ''personal approval of the secretary of the military department concerned, and only in coordination with me and the General Counsel of the Department of Defense.''

A senior defense department lawyer briefed reporters on Thursday afternoon about the memos, saying, ''These two memos are primarily in reaction to ... the temporary stay last night. We are clearly in a legally uncertain territory.''

When asked if the ''coordination'' required would allow Johnson or Stanley to effectively ''veto'' the decision of a service secretary, the lawyer said that that is not the case. He said that the purpose of the change was ''to ensure greater uniformity and care in the enforcement of the law.''

 

Ninth Circuit to Hear Oral Arguments in Prop 8 Case on Dec 6

Perry v. Schwarzenegger, the federal challenge to Proposition 8, picks up again the first week of December:

"A federal appeals court has set Dec. 6 as the day it will hear arguments to determine the constitutionality of California's gay marriage ban. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals made the announcement Thursday. The San Francisco-based court will reveal the identity of the three-judge panel assigned to the case the week before arguments."

Elton John and Lady Gaga to Release Duet

EW reports on a new Elton John/Lady Gaga collaboration:

EW can report exclusively that the track, called “Hello, Hello,” will appear in the upcoming Disney animated film Gnomeo & Juliet, which is being produced by Sir Elton and his partner, David Furnish.

The charming pop track plays during the moment where the two lead characters, lawn ornaments named Gnomeo (voiced by James McAvoy) and Juliet (Emily Blunt), meet for the first time. The film hits theaters on Feb. 11, 2011.

Elton John discussed the duet on The View today, but it's not part of the following clip, in which he praises Lady Gaga but bemoans the lack of talent and originality in today's pop music.

Watch, AFTER THE JUMP...

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Towleroad Guide to the Tube #759

DECISION POINTS: George W. Bush's book trailer.

CARLY FIORINA: HRC tells her to reject the National Organization for Marriage's extremism.

CIRRATE OCTOPUS: A rare deep sea species is captured on film.

NEWSWEEK: You too can be the editor.

For recent Guides to the Tube, click HERE.