Editor’s Note: On May 9th, Academy Award-winning “Milk” screenwriter Dustin Lance Black returned to his high school in North Salinas, CA, as part of Live Out Loud’s Homecoming Project. Aiming to inspire a new generation of role models, the program brings lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) leaders back to their high schools to share their personal stories with today’s students. In this exclusive submission to the MTV Movies Blog, Black tells us about his first time returning to the school since that powerful Oscar night speech, when he had spoken of his struggles as a gay teenager.

by Dustin Lance Black

My palms got a little sweaty as I turned off East Alvin Drive in Salinas, and onto Kip Drive.

For the first time in 17 years, I saw the entrance to my old high school, the same one where I was once called “gay” by my peers. And it wasn’t said as a compliment -- it was said with hate, anger, and on one occasion I was honestly afraid of getting my butt whipped. Read more...

We're a few short days away from another Oscar gala so it's as good a time as any to share our latest ambitious little short. Yes, for the second year in a row MTV's Movies Editor Josh Horowitz has found himself cast out into a special circle of Oscar hell thanks to the mysterious powers of none other than Kurt Loder. You may think it's a dream come true to journey Billy Crystal-style through the year's biggest nominees but think again. You try going toe to toe with Benjamin Button, the Dark Knight, and Richard Nixon in under five minutes.

By John Norris

Add one letter to "MLK," and what do you get? That's right — "Milk."

And rightly so. Harvey Milk is the middle-age mensch from New York who moved to San Francisco, opened a camera shop and set about changing the world. The first openly gay elected official in America became a martyr in 1978, when he, along with San Francisco Mayor George Moscone, was gunned down by a deeply disturbed colleague. Milk has earned his place alongside those other M's: Martin, Malcolm and Mandela. And if you have a problem with that — if you think that gay rights are something apart from other civil-rights struggles — I suggest you see the movie "Milk." I'll front you the 10 bucks.

This long-overdue dramatization of the life of a hero who so richly deserves it is opening now, against the backdrop of the passage of California's rights-stripping Proposition 8 — and on the 30th anniversary of Milk's death — is the sort of surreal convergence of events that only a screenwriter could dream up. (Milk's story was also told in 1984's excellent documentary, "The Times of Harvey Milk.") Read more...

They're not using "Got Milk?" as their official campaign, but the filmmakers behind the story of Harvey Milk are hoping that's a slogan the rest of us abide by.

"If every single person who bought a ticket to 'Brokeback Mountain' bought a ticket to 'Milk,' we'd be very happy producers," laughed producer Bruce Cohen when we caught up with him at the Out 100 New York gala, where the director, writer, producers, and cast of the film were being honored for filming the tale of the man who was California's first openly gay elected official (only to be later assassinated).

"Gus Van Sant goes back and forth between things like 'To Die For' and 'Good Will Hunting' to his more experimental fare, and this is a combination," Cohen said. "It's not mainstream subject matter, it's way out there on the edge, but we're hoping it appeals to a larger audience." Read more...

Reporting by Josh Horowitz

Long before Sarah Palin was talking crazy or banks were going out of business faster than “We Sell it on eBay” stores, a truly bizarre political scandal erupted in 1970’s San Francisco, changing politics forever. We’ve already written extensively about the December release “Milk," and when we recently caught up with super-producer/Focus Features Co-President James Schamus, he promised that our enthusiasm over the Sean Penn biopic was justified.

“He’s just channeling him; it’s crazy. He is Harvey Milk,” Schamus said of the Oscar-winner’s performance as America’s first openly-gay politician. “Go online and look at Harvey Milk and look at the trailer, and it’s like we hired Harvey Milk.”

Co-starring Josh Brolin, Emile Hirsch and James Franco (who reportedly shares a kissing scene with Penn), the film tells the true tale of a larger-than-life man who ran for office seeking tolerance and equality, then became a martyr for the gay movement after being shot down by a Twinkie-loving madman. Read more...

Just for a minute, forget about superheroes and sequels. Because sometimes even movie geeks need to stop eating popcorn and get some nutrition. And that's why we're looking forward to rounding out 2008 with a nice, big, informative glass of "Milk."

"I just did this film called 'Milk' with Sean Penn and Gus Van Sant about Harvey Milk," explained Emile "Speed Racer" Hirsch recently, giving us some early details on what many are already calling this year's Oscar flick to beat. "I think it's going to be a really good film."

When we caught up with Josh Brolin a few weeks back, he had a lot to say about the top-secret biopic, which will depict one of the most bizarre stories in American politics. And in this age of Eliot Spitzer, that's saying quite a bit. Read more...