Reel Thoughts: Guess Who’s Coming Out for Dinner

You could call the Italian dramedy Loose Cannons “Guess Who’s Coming Out for Dinner?” and your guess would probably be wrong. Tommaso Cantone (Riccardo Scamarccio) is the younger son of a pasta-making dynasty. While his conservative Catholic parents think he’s at business school in Rome, he has actually been writing a novel and living with a gorgeous man named Marco (Carmine Recano). He returns home to attend a big family dinner during which his father plans to pass the business down to him and his brother. What better time to come out to his family and pass the reins over to his brother Antonio (Alessandro Preziosi), who has been working at the factory for years. As a test run, Tommaso tells Antonio that he’s gay, and his brother seems okay with it.

Then, at dinner, it is Antonio that steals the moment and announces that he is gay. He is immediately disowned and kicked out of the house, and worse yet, Tommaso’s father suffers a heart attack and collapses. Suddenly, Tommaso is the good son, expected to take over the plant and save the family business. Antonio is relieved to be free of his obligations and goes in search of the man he loved and wronged years ago. On the other hand, Tommaso suddenly feels trapped the way Antonio did all those years, now unable to come out to his family for fear of killing off his father.

The only person who really understands what Tommaso is going through is his kind grandmother (Ilaria Occhini) who once gave up her happiness to marry a man she didn’t love, rather than his brother, who was the love of her life. Tommaso’s attempts to hide his Roman life become much more complicated when Marco, his boyfriend, and his three flamboyant friends show up to find out what happened to him. Their attempts to blend in will strike a chord with any man who has tried to “tone it down” for a family function.

Loose Cannons is a touching, funny film full of handsome Italian actors and a randy European sensibility. A tragedy late in the film provides the catalyst for all of the Cantones to reevaluate their lives and attitudes and to grow into a real family. Director Ferzan Ozpetek, who made a splash with his 1997 film Steam: The Turkish Bath, does a great job balancing the humor and drama the story provides, and he gets great performances from his actors, particularly Occhini, who creates the kind of strong, compassionate woman every LGBT person wishes they had in their family.

Loose Cannons (now available on DVDand on all VOD platforms) is an entertaining trip to Italy that won’t cost you a thousand Euros.

Review by Neil Cohen, resident film critic of Movie Dearest and Phoenix's Echo Magazine.

Reverend's Preview: Beasts, War & More in LA

Summer in Hollywood doesn’t just entail a wanna-be blockbuster opening every weekend. It also serves as the start of film festival season, with a new fest running virtually every week in the greater Los Angeles area between now and mid-November. Dances With Films recently ended, the LA Film Fest (LAFF) is now beginning, and Outfest is just around the corner.

LAFF, presented by Film Independent, opened last night with the US premiere of Woody Allen’s To Rome With Love (which fellow critics who saw it in advance are saying is no Midnight in Paris) and closes June 24th with the world premiere of the male stripper epic, Magic Mike. In between, a promising smattering of narrative features, documentaries and shorts — several of them GLBT-themed — will be screened.

Reverend was able to preview a handful of the festival’s offerings and even spoke with the acclaimed director of one of them (see further below). Of note among this year’s GLBT offerings is Four, which will have its world premiere at LAFF tonight. Adapted from Christopher Shinn’s play by talented new screenwriter-director Joshua Sanchez, it follows a quartet of ethnically-diverse and sexually-complex characters during one revelatory 4th of July night. One of them is an older African-American man (an excellent performance by Treme’s Wendell Pierce) who picks up a closeted chorus boy (Emory Cohen of Smash). Secrets and hypocrisies arise. The nicely shot (by Gregg Conde) but occasionally talky film is most potent in its characters’ silences. It is well worth seeing.

Other GLBT-interest films being shown include Call Me Kuchu, a documentary about the oppression of homosexuals in Uganda; Gayby, a feature version of the popular comedy short in which a gay man tries to impregnate his best girlfriend; and France’s Unforgivable, a bisexual, modern-day piece of film noir.

The Sundance- and Cannes-anointed indie Beasts of the Southern Wild will also screen tonight at LAFF. Set in “The Bathtub,” a small bayou community off the coast of Louisiana, the film is evocative and filled with magnificent sights and spirit. Its central character is 6-year-old Hushpuppy (an amazing debut by the charismatic Quvenzhane Wallis), who lives with her no-nonsense father (Dwight Henry, also a non-actor but similarly riveting). When disaster strikes in the dual forms of hurricane and heart disease, Hushpuppy must step up to the plate for the good of her community. Meanwhile, some giant, prehistoric monsters are also bearing down on The Bathtub. As wide-eyed and imaginative as its pint-sized heroine, Beasts of the Southern Wild shouldn’t be missed. It is scheduled to open in US theatres starting June 27th.

The Invisible War is the latest work of institutional critique by Oscar-nominated documentarian Kirby Dick. Dick previously took on the Roman Catholic Church with his Twist of Faith (2004), the secretive dealings of the Motion Picture Association of America in 2006’s This Film is Not Yet Rated, and anti-gay, frequently-closeted politicians in his last film, Outrage. In Dick’s latest, disturbing opus, he uncovers the dark history of sexual abuse against women and men serving in the US military by their fellow soldiers. It will receive a free screening at LAFF tomorrow, prior to its June 22nd theatrical release.

Dick, who I previously had the privilege of interviewing at the Sundance Film Festival when Twist of Faith premiered, spoke with Reverend a few days ago about his new film. No stranger to difficult subjects, the director revealed of making The Invisible War: “It was tough…I think I was more personally affected by this film than any other I worked on before.”

Consisting primarily of interviews with the victims, most of whom speak of their rape and abuse for the first time, Dick’s film is hard-hitting and upsetting. “To deal with these survivors, who are all really idealistic and joined the military because they felt it was the right thing to do, and hear their stories was devastating” he said. But Dick insists his film is not anti-military. “The intent of the film is to challenge one aspect of the military so it and our society as a whole will improve.”

The statistics are staggering. The Department of Defense estimates there were 19,000 violent sex crimes in the US military (many of which go unreported by the victims for fear of reprisal) in 2010 alone. 20% of all active-duty female soldiers have been sexually assaulted, and 1% of male soldiers (nearly 20,000) were sexually assaulted in 2009. While three male victims appear in The Invisible War, Dick says “It was much, much more difficult for the men to come forward and tell their stories; there is an incredible stigma.”

Throughout Dick’s more recent work, I’ve noticed a trend of critiquing historically patriarchal institutions. I asked him whether this was intentional on his part. “I am intentionally challenging patriarchal systems in my films,” he replied. “Certainly this is true of the Church — especially with the current attack by the bishops against American nuns — and the military and the film industry too, especially in light of the recent LA Times article about the predominantly-male membership of the Academy (of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences).” He admitted his tendency “to take on these institutions that are at the center of these injustices.”

I naturally asked Dick who his next target might be. “We are looking at a couple of institutions right now,” he shared without revealing any specifics. “We don’t want to give any ‘spoilers’ to the institutions we are thinking of investigating (laughs).” Here that, you representatives of abusive, patriarchal systems out there? You had better reform or your sins may soon be exposed on the big screen.

For more information about the 2012 LA Film Fest or to purchase tickets, visit their website.

Reverend's Ratings:
Four: B
Beasts of the Southern Wild: A-
The Invisible War: B+

Review by Rev. Chris Carpenter, resident film critic of Movie Dearest and Rage Monthly Magazine.

Reverend's Interview: A Night with Mrs. Honey B.

I employed a life coach a few years back to help me gain a greater sense of direction during a transitional point in my life.  Helpful though she was, she probably couldn’t hold a candle to Honey Buczkowski, a.k.a. Mrs. Honey B.  She is now available for very public consultations at the Laguna Playhouse through June 24th as star of the world premiere production Ask Mrs. Honey B., Certified Life Coach.

This interactive comedy’s title character is created and played by Maripat Donovan, who is best known as the indomitable, all-knowing Sister in Late Nite Catechism.  As one of the writers of Late Nite Catechism as well as one of its original and continuing actresses, Donovan shared with me that she is looking forward to her new role.

“I’m a full person and so is Sister, but there are some things Sister can’t relate to: marriage, kids and family,” Donovan said.  “I was thinking of maybe doing a cooking show or home economics where I could wear a wig and a dress and pearls, everything Sister can’t wear.”

Eventually, Donovan and co-writer/director Marc Silvia created Mrs. Honey B., a retired home economics teacher from Ronald Reagan High School in Illinois who has become a life coach. “I attended an online course to become a certified life coach and actually have served as a life coach to Marc,” according to Donovan.  “A life coach isn’t supposed to give advice, just ask questions to get people to find their own answers.  Mrs. Honey B. can’t resist, however, giving her clients a little extra push.”

As excited as she is about her new show and character, Donovan certainly doesn’t regret the time she has been associated with Late Nite Catechism.  “I never expected the popularity of (Late Nite Catechism) in a million, billion, trillion years; it’s my life and I’ve been very fortunate,” she says in all humility.  “My friend at a tiny theatre in Chicago put it in a late-night slot because there was so much theatre going on in Chicago at the time.  Since then, I’ve written five sequels and it’s been going over 20 years.”  Shortly before we spoke, Donovan’s agent had called her with an idea for a sixth show featuring Sister.

Donovan has historically been the only person on stage during her lengthy run in Late Nite Catechism.  “It gets lonely when you do one-person plays,” Donovan said, so she sounds thrilled to be sharing the spotlight with Denise Fennell and Scott Bielecky in Ask Mrs. Honey B.  The popular alumni of the long-running Tony ‘n Tina’s Wedding co-star as Angie and Frank Travertino, a troubled married couple who come to Mrs. Honey B. for coaching.

“They are such geniuses,” Donovan gloats.  “I spent many hours prior to this watching them in Tony ‘n Tina, then asked Denise to play one of our nuns in Late Nite Catechism.”  Donovan reports that while there isn’t any specific GLBT content in Mrs. Honey B., “the show is so improvisational and interactive that if there is a same-sex couple in the audience, we will include them and who knows what will come out… so to speak.”

Donovan is herself lesbian and has been partnered with a fellow actor for 15 years.  They live with their family of Chihuahuas and one cat in Hollywood.  “I was born and raised in Chicago and thought I’d always live there, until I moved to Hollywood,” Donovan confessed.  “I love it here.”

Laguna Playhouse’s production of Ask Mrs. Honey B., Certified Life Coach will be, Donovan delicately says, “the first time the world is going to sniff us.”  She then enthused, “It will be a lot of fun and we’ll all have a lot of laughs together.”

For more information or to purchase tickets, visit Laguna Playhouse's website or call (949) 497-ARTS.

Interview by Rev. Chris Carpenter, resident film critic of Movie Dearest and Rage Monthly Magazine.

Reverend's Reviews: Divine Punishment

Theology has long been considered a dangerous pursuit by religious insiders and observers.  Ridley Scott's Prometheus proves it.  Definitely a prequel to the sci-fi/horror Alien series (despite the director’s and studio’s occasionally vehement denials over the last two years), it starts out intriguingly as an exploration of faith and humankind’s origins.  To my disappointment, though, it largely abandons this once the familiar face-huggers and chest-bursters start to appear.

Noomi Rapace (Lisbeth Salander in the superior Swedish version of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and its sequels) leads a cast that includes newly-christened “ice queen” Charlize Theron, Guy Pearce buried in old age makeup, and most valuable player Michael Fassbender as one of those traditional Alien androids with mysterious, potentially sinister motives.  Their characters are united in the wake of a monumental discovery by the deeply religious Dr. Elizabeth Shaw (Rapace), who uncovers matching pictographs from diverse ancient cultures indicating Earth was once visited by giant beings from another world that may have formed us after themselves, albeit on a less monumental scale.  Shaw and her boyfriend secure the trillion-dollar spaceship of the film’s title from Pearce and Theron’s corporation and they all embark together on a galactic voyage to meet their maker... in every meaning of the phrase.

Following a beautifully-filmed if ultimately confusing prologue and this fine expository set-up, things degenerate in terms of both storyline and quality once the explorers reach their destination.  Scott and the screenplay by Lost’s Damon Lindelof kick things into overdrive and move events along a little too quickly.  Within minutes of landing, Shaw & Co. rush into a massive structure they discover, the first of many unwise decisions.  The more dim-witted crew members begin to split up, touch things they shouldn’t and, before you can say “acid blood,” encounter early but still nasty variations of the evolving alien species.  Shaw, who is initially infertile for reasons never explained, soon discovers herself pregnant and initiates the movie’s most squirm-inducing sequence.  Being a Ridley Scott production, it's all beautifully designed and shot but with few, brief exceptions, the plot developments are thoroughly predictable.

I left the theater feeling Prometheus has definitely been over-hyped by the fanboy press, early reviews, and the director himself.  Sorry, Ridley and his admirers: as much of a genre classic as Scott’s then-startling, 1979 Alien is, James Cameron made the standout entry in the series, 1986’s Aliens.  I even consider the oft-maligned Alien 3 and Alien Resurrection to be better, more adventurous films than Prometheus.  Scott has said the main impetus for re-visiting the franchise after 30+ years was his persistent wondering about the backstory of the dead, oversized pilot (dubbed the “Space Jockey”) discovered in the original movie.  Was that really enough to sustain a feature-length prequel?  Clearly no, especially since the Space Jockey’s final resting place as seen in Alien is altered during Prometheus’ finale.

There is, however, something admirable about the seriousness with which the film depicts Shaw’s faith journey.  The well-intentioned scientist is asking time-honored questions about the origins of life, the existence of God or other creative force in the universe, and the exact nature of humanity’s relationship with the Creator, theological questions that could — and did — get one burned at the stake just a few centuries ago.  Shaw is tempted to abandon her longtime faith as it is increasingly challenged by a hostile alien world, but she re-claims her faith in the end despite the terrible suffering she and her crew mates endure.  She also embarks on the next stage of her exploration, virtually assuring a sequel.

Like several other eminent directors of his generation (including Terrence Malick, Woody Allen and Clint Eastwood), Scott is clearly using his late-career work to address issues related to faith, spirituality and the afterlife.  Whereas Robert Zemeckis was able to blend science fiction and religion effectively in 1997’s Contact, Scott’s similar effort in Prometheus falls short.  Still, Scott gets a gold star not only for asking the questions but surviving the quest.

Reverend’s Rating: C

Review by Rev. Chris Carpenter, resident film critic of Movie Dearest and Rage Monthly Magazine.