Disaster narrowly averted!

Milk, Gus Van Sant's dramatic biopic about the late San Francisco Supervisor Harvey Milk, is now shooting on Castro Street, where Milk had his camera store. In fact, it's being filmed in the store itself. The location crew had to reverse about 30 years of changes to the retail space, which now houses a gift store, and has done a wonderful job. (I can't speak to whether it's accurate, but what's in there looks real.) A liquor store across the street, and many of the storefronts in the area, have also been taken back in time. Plus the wonderful Castro Theatre renovation. Gaycities has some good pictures. Hopefully, filming the movie literally on location will give it some authenticity and resonance. I just hope this terrible winter weather clears before they have to shoot the Castro Street Fair scene, which is supposed to take place in balmy October.

The other day, my friend watched some of the shooting and saw Sean Penn, who's playing Milk. He also saw James Franco and Emile Hirsch, and according to the producers, Diego Luna is also in the cast. An earlier report had said Gael Garcia Bernal would be in it, too. It's a good thing they dropped one of them, because here at Globality, that's what we call the Four Horsemen of the Gaypocalypse. Could the Castro have survived?