A new episode of Homorazzi has been airing this week on OUTtv, but in case you’ve missed it or you don’t live in Canada, we’ve got it here for you to check out, witch cast members (from left to right) Tommy, Nic, Patrick, and Adam. We’ve also included our New Year’s Special, which aired on New Year’s Eve as well.

As you may recall, Nic was away in Hawaii for our last episode as well as for the New Year’s Eve special. In our newest episode, he may have been wishing he was still there because Adam seemed to be on his case the whole episode, catching Nic off guard by calling him out on some things that had recently happened (allegedly) in his personal life. Nic was not happy and ironically, this all went down while discussing the new Les Miserables film.

The panel talks about what they think about Ke$ha‘s new album, The Hobbit, This Is 40, the Gossip Girl finale and more. They also talk about how much they love the hilarious new web series, Willam’s Beatdown.

Episodes after the jump…

I can now officially answer when people ask me what kind of music I like: folk music. Now, before you click away thinking I’m wandering strawberry fields with crowns of daisies sewn into my hair, you have to know that folk music is not just your hippie father’s bands anymore. With chart topping releases from bands like Of Monsters and Men and local Canadian phenomes like Dan Mangan, this once pseudo-sub-culture of music has made a resurgence in the past decade and much to the happiness of my ears! What I love about folk music is the lack of reliance on synthetic voices, overly elaborate instrumentals and desperate production value; instead, the music is often just a few pieces from a band (if not simply a guitar) and the soulful voice of the singer. And, my band pick today: The Lumineers, are no different. They’re nominated for Best New Artist at the upcoming Grammys.

An American folk band from “the heart” of the US in Denver, the band consists of Wesley Schultz, Jeremiah Fraites and Neyla Pekarek and their few specially chosen instruments: oh, and they sound freaking amazing. They came out Spring 2012 and have just this month been certified gold for their self-titled album in Canada, the US and Ireland. What I love the most about this band is the simplicity of the lyrics (a far cry from the complex metaphors of Of Monsters and Men), the perfection of Schultz’s voice and the constant nostalgic theme of their songs. It’s honestly the perfect band to relax and remember the ol’ days to even if you’re barely a decade out of high school like myself. The band is up for a Grammy as “Best New Artist” so you know they’re not messing around. Below are my top three picks of theirs including the smash hit “Ho Hey” that was featured to huge accolades on “The Heart of Dixie” (a show which I am NOT endorsing but I know fellow writer Tommy just looooves).

Click below to see my Top Three “The Lumineers” Songs!

If you’re an avid reader of the site, you might’ve noticed there was a shortage of articles Sunday. Reason being was, we were all busy having our Christmas staff party. Given everyone’s busy schedules this time of year, it’s almost next to impossible to find a date that works for everyone. Surprisingly, all but three of us were able to make it yesterday. That’s a pretty amazing feat considering our busy lives and Alex, Kevin and Topher not currently living in the same city as the most of us. Check out the pic above. The only people missing from the pic are Nic (his BF’s sis was in town), Stephen (was there earlier but had to leave for another engagement) and Alex (LA) and Kevin (Toronto).

It was great to have so many of us together to laugh, catch up and reminisce about the early days of the site. Not to sound super cheesy, but there’s this amazing energy among all of us when we’re all in the same room. With our recent accomplishments, it was nice to sit back and relax for one night and pat each other on the back.

In between all the laughs and drinks, we decided to have a gingerbread contest. We split up into two different teams determined by names out of the hat. Team 1 (my team) won the right to pick either the house or the train. We opted for the train. Each team was given only 30 minutes to build, decorate, and come up with a theme for their creation. Now, we need your help to decide which team pulled it off better. Cast your votes so we can declare a winner and give one team bragging rights over the other.

THANKS again to all of you for making Homorazzi.com such a success in a short period of time. We have the best readers on the internet for sure.

view our gingerbread creations after the jump

God I love that term: rapture. It’s so laden with religious and deep sexual undertones that you have to appreciate the use of it to describe a hot, underground gay club experience. What are YOUR plans this NYE? If you tell me it’s watching the ball drop then first off, you know you’re on a gay website, right grandpa? I think your AOL account misdialed there. Second, if you say house party then send me a message about WTF it is cause finding a fun and successful gay party is rough as no one wants to risk that new tiling they got earlier this winter. Third, if it’s deciding which party to go to then look to further: Rapture GENESIS with DJ Chez and DJ Adam Dreaddy is the place to get it wet and dirty.

Before you tell me you’re all booked for the night- this one is an afterhours and goes well into Jan 1st. Starting at the crack of midnight, you should be downing your last glass of bubbly and putting on the winter coat (and not much else underneath) and make your way to the tip of Granville to the ever-iconic World night club. The party stays open a full 8 hours ish, so start saving up energy now because one of Vancouver’s most infamous (and not just for his large… vocabulary) DJ’s DJ Adam Dreaddy will be opening this night with his unique brand of original mixes (I better here some vocals I can belt out to Dreads!) and headlining is the up-and-coming Canadian talent DJ Chez. I have to say WOOF. Tommy, I’m requesting a meet and greet with this beef cake pronto. Check out his fb profile and tell me that 200 lbs of stud isn’t reason enough to attend this dark, sexy party. Knowing The World, knowing TFD productions and knowing Dreaddy, this party will be packed and something to talk about well into 2013. A must attend for Vancouverites in the know and a damn great recommend to visitors looking to experience gay Van once the lights go out.

Click through to get the details of the event and see TFD’s YouTube page of past parties

Well, I’m starting to have to get really inventive in titling these articles as I attempt to not just simply become the “horror movie recommendation guy” from H-Razzi. I’ve said it a dozen times that I much prefer a smart and simple production to anything CGI and explosive where bombs make up for lack of dialogue, and yet finding a clever barely funded film is harder than it seems. Too often are “low budget” designations awarded to student films that border on directorial masturbation as they attempt to out-reference and ply layer upon layer of indecipherable meaning to their pieces. So, when smart men and women combine to create a pretty decent and damn scary production like Dread I will stop to give credit where credit is due.

Based on the short story by horror-expert Clive Barker (author of the stories that inspired Candyman and Hellraiser), “Dread” follows the story of a group of university students (a go-to for low-$ productions) seeking to understand their fears. But, as the film elaborates, it’s not just simply fear they’re looking to examine: it’s pure and all-consuming dread. A type of fright that takes over your entire mind and body. While some of the fears border on the typical (clowns wielding axes) there’s more simple phobias like eating meat that are included to round off the kids’ worries. That said- as you’ve probably guessed- all the dreads are confronted in such a forceful and unavoidable matter that the viewer is witness to some horrific and terrified responses that have you leaving the movie scared to death of the same threats.

Click through to read the rest of my review and see the trailer

Hot guy, hot girl, crazy chick, incest murderous dad and Australian: how could this movie go wrong? The Loved Ones is a killer (forgive the pun) thriller about a prom night gone terribly, terribly wrong. It’s the story of two sweet and sexy teen lovers who seem perfect for one another in a Florence Nightingale and tragic broken man kind of way who are waywarded by a lunatic classmate who won’t take no for an answer. Staring the sexy (and my age might I add) Xavier Samuel and his six pack and tortured haunting looks, The Loved Ones goes deeper than the average horror/gore and offers a twisted past for its protagonist to overcome as he attempts to survive the love of his crazy-eyed crush Robin McLeavy. I have to say that there’s something so bleak about Australian cinematography that gets me every time as the they drop the need for flashy cars, blasting guns and impossible make up and outfits and instead focus on the story. Any movie that shows the main characters as having a blemish or undone hair is aces in my book. This is definitely one of those films.

Not just your typical prom slasher, The Loved Ones follows the oddly faintly intertwined story of a half-orphaned teen boy and a bad girl suffering from the loss and disappearance of her brother. The concurrent stories of their respective nights of extreme torture and extreme sex, drugs and rock and roll has you wondering just why the director bothers with the tale of the slutty goth girl who seems to add nothing but humour to a story otherwise littered with nailed feet and drilled skull. But, I won’t ruin a thing for you except to say that they do unite in a meaningful way that saddens more than it does satisfies but damn there’s something so filling about a perfectly tragic revelation isn’t there? Maybe it’s just me.

Click through to read the rest of my review and see the trailer

What’s that Apple? Google has you beat your ass AGAIN? I’d tell you to mail your complaint directly to their main office in Mountain View, California but you’d likely use your iOS 6 Map App to locate them and ship the threatening letter to Siberia by accident instead. You gotta love when Goliath takes a hit… even if it is from Goliath Jr.

Just hours previous to my writing and posting this article, the worker bees at Google, released their app to the tech-savvy world. And, I couldn’t be happier. As most if not all iPhone users know- and non-users who enjoy laughing at us as we clamour to purchase $$$ phones that sell with sub-par technology- the recent “mega” release of the iPhone 5 and iOS 6 was extremely disappointing to many with unmanageable and bugged out major applications like YouTube and particularly the Maps App, a quintessential component to our “smart” phones. Suffering annoying issues like erroneous locations, poor graphics, and showing places that do not exist anymore, the dictators people at Apple, as they purposefully slice and dice all things Google from their phone, have shown themselves to be short-sighted and stubborn, cutting off their noses to spite their face. But, who suffers? Hardly the CEO Tim Cook, instead it’s users like you and me who accept that this is the best we can get if we want to continue to use a product we’ve become use to depend on. BUT, Google continues to wage war and take advantage of the free market-esque app availability on this platform and have released a brand new and vital Google Maps App to relieve our suffering.

Click through to read my review and get the exclusive link to the app

This week, a new episode of Homorazzi aired on OUTtv (Episode 9 to be exact) and in case you missed it, we’ve got the full episode for you to check out below. Since Nic (one of our usual panelists) was away vacationing in Hawaii (stay tuned for coverage on that), Blue from OUTtv join in as a special guest!

As usual, the panel started off by tackling some of the latest Gossip and the most heated discussion took place on the topic of Rihanna & Chris Brown seemingly back in a relationship. The conversation then transitioned to Britney Spears & will.i.am‘s new “Scream & Shout” music video as well as comments on how she’s been doing on The X-Factor as a judge. Also discussed was Tegan & Sara‘s new “Closer” music video and we’d like to clarify that the Canadian indie rock duo are indeed both lesbians and twin sisters (despite some of the confusion discussed in the episode below – LOL).

For film & TV, the panel discuss two highly anticipated movies that include Lincoln & The Hobbit are discussed, while for TV they tackle The Walking Dead, Once Upon A Time, Gossip Girl, and Dexter.

In closing, they talk about the recent viral YouTube videos that started with “Gay Men Will Marry Your Girlfriends,” and a new gay British series worth checking out. Check out the episode below!

Episode 9 after the jump…