Pride Month Video Recs 3.02
Yeah. I totally failed last week with the recs. In an effort to rec some recent titles, I procured/watched two films...and didn't care for either one. Oh well...such is life.
Major coolness going on in California. The good news is that their Supreme Court upheld the law and the state Constitution, allowing ANYONE to enjoy the right of marrying the person they love. And even Awwnold™ has stated that he won't challenge or support anyone challenging the decision. The bad news is that the homophobic ultra-right nutjobs will do their worst to overturn the whole thing. Don't like the law? Change it. Ain't US democracy grand? O_o
I'd also like to rec THIS WAY OUT!, the nation's (and the world's, for that matter) only weekly radio newsmagazine for the LGBT community. The THIS WAY OUT! website is here. There are links to the weekly half-hour shows on the site, and the program airs on EdgeRadio Wednesdays & Sundays @ 6PM Eastern. Be sure to check the show out!
This is the third year running that lena3 and I have offered up our fave queerfilms for your perusal. Here are links to all of our recs from 2006 and 2007
Here are Lena's posts from June 1, June 8 and June 15.
I've managed to come up with two recs this week, which I hope will be of interest:
I recently watched this totally indie film again and was blown away by it. Proof positive that when handled properly, even the most standard of plot lines can be instantly revived into something new and fascinating.
Sam is a brooding, sullen high school senior, not at all enjoying himself in Memphis. His overbearing father is an ass of epic proportions, his sister is nothing more than a droning annoyance, and his mom goes with the flow. Only Sam's gran provides any real human communication and understanding. Sam spends nearly all of his time alone smoking and writing in his journal, which he lets NO ONE see.
Sam's best friend Julien is much less intense, benefiting from a happier home life with his single working mother.
Sam and Julien begin spending more and more time together, enjoying long talks at a favourite coffee shop, exploring vacant buildings, or simply just hanging out alone. All of this doesn't sit well with Sam's girlfriend Ariel, and before long, the truth about Sam and Julien finally comes out.
This film is a marvel at how it slowly but surely draws one into Sam and Julien's world. Locally produced, the film is most definitely non-traditional: unsteady camera shots, inappropriate close-ups, odd points of view, sudden fades and bursts of light and darkness. Scenes end suddenly, or begin to move in slow motion. Snippets of poetry appear, underscoring the character's emotional states or emphasizing words unsaid. The film is at times non-linear, with a few scenes that branch off into some parallel reality that could but didn't happen. And it's all not art simply for art's sake. We're drawn into this version of Memphis, all bleak and gray and cold, a blur of chattering jerks rife with confusion, and the smatterings of brightness and clarity few and far between.
The soundtrack provided by local musicians works beautifully, and the actors are really teens, not twenty-somethings playing teens. BLUE CITRUS HEARTS isn't your run-of-the-mill Hollywood offering...and that's just one reason why it's so great.
Here's the hard-to-find official trailer:
WOLFIE RATING: 4.75 out of 5
SKIN FACTOR: 1 out of 5
MOM-A-BILITY: 4 out of 5
Writer/Director/Star Pete Jones is best known for his participation in HBO's "Project Greenlight" in 2002 (Would-be Directors presented their movie ideas to project heads Ben Affleck & Matt Damon; Jones was the 'lucky' winner). OUTING RILEY is his first effort since, and it's the kind of film where the main character, Bobby Riley (Jones) often turns to address the camera. At one point, Bobby even asks the boom operator for advice. This device can work (a la BILLY'S HOLLYWOOD SCREEN KISS) if handled properly, and Jones is so disarming, what with his curly red hair and chunky boy-next-door demeanor, that it does.
Bobby Riley is your average white bread, sports-lovin' Chicago Catholic boy with three older brothers and one sister. He's queer, natch, but no one but sis knows. Or suspects, really, as Bobby is one of those 'undetectables', and even has a pact with a lesbian friend to pose as each other's "beards" for social functions. Somehow, Bobby's very buff laywer boyfriend, Andy puts up with all the nonsense. (Why must the vast majority of queers in film be laywers or accountants or architects? Just a personal beef. Back to the review...)
There's always a catalyst, and in OUTING RILEY it's the death of Bobby's widower father. Nothing like funerals and weddings to mash families together, right? Bobby's sister Maggie pushes/threatens him to come out, and an annual weekend fishing trip with his brothers seems like the ideal opportunity. Of course Bobby balks, and once one gets to know his brothers, it's easy to see why. Bobby's oldest brother is a Priest (!!!), another is a day trader that watches internet porn in his basement, and the third brother is a pothead prankster that loves to spy on young girls late at night. And that pothead is played with wicked glee by Nathan Fillion FIREFLY, SERENITY), who manages once again to prominently display his naked backside for one and all. Not that I'm complaining...at all.
The expected angst ensues, but not without some very humourous moments, one of which involves two of Bobby's brothers setting up a clandestine meeting with Andy and a well-known Chicago hot dog stand.
Jones does the best he can with his material, but Fillion nearly steals the show. Funny, light, and entertaining, it's definitely worth the download/rental. If nothing else, it's a pleasant change to have a queer film set in someplace other than L.A. or NYC...
Here's the trailer:
WOLFIE RATING: 3.04 out of 5
SKIN FACTOR: 4.9 out of 5**
MOM-A-BILITY: 3.5 out of 5
**Artificially inflated numbers due only to the welcomely gratuitous flaunting of Nathan Fillion's bare arse...
And, sadly, no further dreams involving Jermaine and kites, but Dean has made another appearance in my nocturnal theatre of the sub-conscious. Rawr.
Woot!
Major coolness going on in California. The good news is that their Supreme Court upheld the law and the state Constitution, allowing ANYONE to enjoy the right of marrying the person they love. And even Awwnold™ has stated that he won't challenge or support anyone challenging the decision. The bad news is that the homophobic ultra-right nutjobs will do their worst to overturn the whole thing. Don't like the law? Change it. Ain't US democracy grand? O_o
I'd also like to rec THIS WAY OUT!, the nation's (and the world's, for that matter) only weekly radio newsmagazine for the LGBT community. The THIS WAY OUT! website is here. There are links to the weekly half-hour shows on the site, and the program airs on EdgeRadio Wednesdays & Sundays @ 6PM Eastern. Be sure to check the show out!
This is the third year running that lena3 and I have offered up our fave queerfilms for your perusal. Here are links to all of our recs from 2006 and 2007
Here are Lena's posts from June 1, June 8 and June 15.
I've managed to come up with two recs this week, which I hope will be of interest:
I recently watched this totally indie film again and was blown away by it. Proof positive that when handled properly, even the most standard of plot lines can be instantly revived into something new and fascinating.
Sam is a brooding, sullen high school senior, not at all enjoying himself in Memphis. His overbearing father is an ass of epic proportions, his sister is nothing more than a droning annoyance, and his mom goes with the flow. Only Sam's gran provides any real human communication and understanding. Sam spends nearly all of his time alone smoking and writing in his journal, which he lets NO ONE see.
Sam's best friend Julien is much less intense, benefiting from a happier home life with his single working mother.
Sam and Julien begin spending more and more time together, enjoying long talks at a favourite coffee shop, exploring vacant buildings, or simply just hanging out alone. All of this doesn't sit well with Sam's girlfriend Ariel, and before long, the truth about Sam and Julien finally comes out.
This film is a marvel at how it slowly but surely draws one into Sam and Julien's world. Locally produced, the film is most definitely non-traditional: unsteady camera shots, inappropriate close-ups, odd points of view, sudden fades and bursts of light and darkness. Scenes end suddenly, or begin to move in slow motion. Snippets of poetry appear, underscoring the character's emotional states or emphasizing words unsaid. The film is at times non-linear, with a few scenes that branch off into some parallel reality that could but didn't happen. And it's all not art simply for art's sake. We're drawn into this version of Memphis, all bleak and gray and cold, a blur of chattering jerks rife with confusion, and the smatterings of brightness and clarity few and far between.
The soundtrack provided by local musicians works beautifully, and the actors are really teens, not twenty-somethings playing teens. BLUE CITRUS HEARTS isn't your run-of-the-mill Hollywood offering...and that's just one reason why it's so great.
Here's the hard-to-find official trailer:
Click to viewWOLFIE RATING: 4.75 out of 5
SKIN FACTOR: 1 out of 5
MOM-A-BILITY: 4 out of 5
Writer/Director/Star Pete Jones is best known for his participation in HBO's "Project Greenlight" in 2002 (Would-be Directors presented their movie ideas to project heads Ben Affleck & Matt Damon; Jones was the 'lucky' winner). OUTING RILEY is his first effort since, and it's the kind of film where the main character, Bobby Riley (Jones) often turns to address the camera. At one point, Bobby even asks the boom operator for advice. This device can work (a la BILLY'S HOLLYWOOD SCREEN KISS) if handled properly, and Jones is so disarming, what with his curly red hair and chunky boy-next-door demeanor, that it does.
Bobby Riley is your average white bread, sports-lovin' Chicago Catholic boy with three older brothers and one sister. He's queer, natch, but no one but sis knows. Or suspects, really, as Bobby is one of those 'undetectables', and even has a pact with a lesbian friend to pose as each other's "beards" for social functions. Somehow, Bobby's very buff laywer boyfriend, Andy puts up with all the nonsense. (Why must the vast majority of queers in film be laywers or accountants or architects? Just a personal beef. Back to the review...)
There's always a catalyst, and in OUTING RILEY it's the death of Bobby's widower father. Nothing like funerals and weddings to mash families together, right? Bobby's sister Maggie pushes/threatens him to come out, and an annual weekend fishing trip with his brothers seems like the ideal opportunity. Of course Bobby balks, and once one gets to know his brothers, it's easy to see why. Bobby's oldest brother is a Priest (!!!), another is a day trader that watches internet porn in his basement, and the third brother is a pothead prankster that loves to spy on young girls late at night. And that pothead is played with wicked glee by Nathan Fillion FIREFLY, SERENITY), who manages once again to prominently display his naked backside for one and all. Not that I'm complaining...at all.
The expected angst ensues, but not without some very humourous moments, one of which involves two of Bobby's brothers setting up a clandestine meeting with Andy and a well-known Chicago hot dog stand.
Jones does the best he can with his material, but Fillion nearly steals the show. Funny, light, and entertaining, it's definitely worth the download/rental. If nothing else, it's a pleasant change to have a queer film set in someplace other than L.A. or NYC...
Here's the trailer:
WOLFIE RATING: 3.04 out of 5
SKIN FACTOR: 4.9 out of 5**
MOM-A-BILITY: 3.5 out of 5
**Artificially inflated numbers due only to the welcomely gratuitous flaunting of Nathan Fillion's bare arse...
And, sadly, no further dreams involving Jermaine and kites, but Dean has made another appearance in my nocturnal theatre of the sub-conscious. Rawr.
Woot!