Reverend’s Reviews: Sex, Dance & Rock n Roll

Diversity is an understatement when it comes to these new DVD releases!

Sexual Tension: Volatile (TLA Releasing)
Talented Argentinian director Marco Berger (Plan B, Absent) and porn writer Marcelo Monaco deliver this compilation of six stories involving straight or questioning men who find themselves in steamy situations with another man.  The scenarios include a teen fantasizing about the tattoo artist working on him, a buddy teaching his overly-endowed friend how to make love to a woman without scaring her away, and a married man on vacation with his wife who develops a naked kinship with their innkeeper.  Most of the stories end with a frustrating lack of resolution, but this is intentional on the filmmakers’ part.  However, the final short, “Workout,” is a satisfying mix of hot guys, muscle worship and flirtation set to a cheery music score.
Reverend’s Rating: B

The Wishmakers (Ariztical Entertainment)
A newly out, Jewish dancer from Ohio moves to West Hollywood in hopes of starting his new gay life.  After making a wish for true love with his two best friends, he meets a cute fellow dancer with a secret or two.  David Grotell’s enjoyable film has a slight, sometimes strained plot but benefits from its four lead actors as well as supporting turns by Oscar nominee Sally Kirkland and “Chloe” YouTube sensation Drew Droege.  Don’t miss the romantic, digitally-enhanced dance finale.
Reverend’s Rating: B-

Satan's Angel: Queen of the Fire Tassels (Breaking Glass/QC)
Angel Walker, aka Satan’s Angel, has ruled the burlesque scene in San Francisco for decades.  A long-out lesbian, she also partied with The Doors and the Rat Pack in the 1960’s and toured with Bob Hope in the USO.  Josh Dragotta’s documentary gets the performer to dish about her experiences while showcasing her commitment to the art of burlesque.  Walker’s brassy personality takes a bit of getting used to and I wish the film featured more serious discussion of Walker’s relationship with her devoted wife, Vic.  Still, it provides an insightful glimpse into a little-known life and industry.
Reverend’s Rating: C+

Strange Frame (Wolfe Video)
An undeniably stylish and ambitious animated sci-fi film.  Set in the 28th century, it plays something like a lesbian version of Blade Runner or Total Recall as a rock musician/freedom fighter falls in love with a biologically-enhanced “debt slave” forced to work on a dangerous, other world.  The character animation is colorful but stiff and video game-like, which can be irritating, while the environments and backgrounds are often stunning.  It features a commendably diverse voice cast that includes Juliet Landau (Martin’s daughter), Claudia Christian, gay actor George Takei of Star Trek fame, Barney Miller’s Ron Glass and that “Sweet Transvestite” himself, Tim Curry.
Reverend’s Rating: B

Les Misérables (Universal Home Entertainment)
There are riches and deficits to be found in Oscar-winning director Tom Hooper’s big-screen transfer of the beloved stage musical.  Among its big-name cast members, Hugh Jackman shines as reformed convict Jean Valjean, Anne Hathaway over-emotes but still makes a moving Fantine, and young newcomer Samantha Barks shines as the tragic Eponine.  (But then isn’t every character here pretty tragic?)  Russell Crowe looks great as the law-revering policeman Javert but lacks vocal strength and Amanda Seyfried is one-note dramatically and musically as Cosette, while Helena Bonham Carter and Sacha Baron Cohen are simultaneously under-utilized and excessive as the comically villainous Thenardiers.  Hooper also relies too heavily on lavish digital scenery.  Fortunately, the film’s weaknesses fail to diminish the power of Victor Hugo’s 150-year old saga of morality, grace, sacrifice and redemption, and the score’s best songs — generally well-performed in much-ballyhooed live recordings — highlight this all the more.
Reverend’s Rating: B

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

Reverend's Reviews: Dueling Divas

At first glance, last year's Tony-nominated End of the Rainbow and 1995's Tony-winning Master Class share a number of similarities.  Each has a real-life, late-career superstar as its subject, and each features a piano accompanist character who serves as supporter/confidante.  Both plays have one room as the primary setting, although they periodically break their respective set's back wall to transform it into a performance space.  And both works are by renown writers with serious diva fixations: Judy Garland in the first instance and opera's "La Divina" Maria Callas in the second.

Peter Quilter's End of the Rainbow, now having its West Coast premiere by Center Theatre Group (CTG) at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles through April 21st, takes place in 1968 London.  Garland (played by Tony nominee Tracie Bennett, more on her later) has arrived with her new manager and fiancé, Mickey Deans (the very good and grounded Erik Heger), to perform a five-week series of shows at the Talk of the Town nightclub.  Waiting for them in Judy's lavish but not-big-enough hotel room is her longtime accompanist, Anthony (Michael Cumpsty), who is apparently an amalgamation of the numerous, frequently gay accompanists with whom Garland worked.

Mickey has cut Judy off of alcohol and drugs in advance of her financially-necessary London run.  Anyone with a cursory knowledge of Garland's troubled life and premature death in 1969 will realize its only a matter of time before she jumps off the wagon.  Indeed, by the end of Rainbow's first act, the girl is high as a kite and literally barking like a dog.

It may all be historically accurate but Quilter's play, directed here by Terry Johnson, often takes a demeaning, borderline-sensationalistic approach to Garland and her tragic addictions.  Quilter also implies, strangely, that Garland's legion of gay fans were to blame for her downfall, with Mickey telling Anthony at one point, "You people love to see her fall down and get back up again."  The playwright and director wisely avoid camp but watching Garland's decline in End of the Rainbow is at times literally, sickeningly akin to watching a train wreck.

Bennett's galvanizing performance goes a long way toward redeeming this boozy spectacle.  While arguably a bit too gimmicky and histrionic at times (even though it is a matter of public record that Garland could be histrionic), Bennett is a force of nature who makes a more than credible Judy.  This is especially evident during the show's several musical numbers, where Bennett sings such Garland classics as "Just in Time," "The Trolley Song," "Come Rain or Come Shine" and, yes, "Over the Rainbow," backed by a terrific band that magically appears whenever that back wall flies up.  Bennett's vocal strength and approximation of Garland's increasingly insecure and erratic behavior at several points convinced me I was actually watching Garland, and makes the play's denouement genuinely heartbreaking.

In terms of writing finesse, gay playwright Terrence McNally's Master Class is definitely the superior work.  It is now enjoying a worthy if imperfect revival at Long Beach's International City Theatre (ICT) that runs through April 14th.  McNally presents Callas leading a tutorial in opera performance to a trio of eager, if dangerously naïve, students.  Most winningly, the audience also comprises the student body, with the blunt Callas speaking directly to and otherwise engaging viewers throughout.

As Callas, Gigi Bermingham (a veteran of TV's Hart of Dixie and other shows, films and plays) seemed a bit restrained on opening night; Callas should be an unquestionably commanding (or, as she states in the play, "conquering") presence.  Some of Bermingham's transitions between recollections from Callas's past and the present moment were also rushed.  Whether the result of opening night jitters or faulty direction on the part of Todd Nielsen, I encourage Bermingham to make Callas bigger vocally and in terms of physical presence and to take her time during the transitions.

The supporting cast is excellent.  As Callas's "victims," Danielle Skalsky, Jennifer Shelton and the über-talented Tyler Milliron (he also dances, paints, writes music and makes short films) are full-voiced and full-blooded.  In addition, James Lent serves well as the session's adoring yet gently reassuring accompanist.

Whereas I recommend End of the Rainbow for Bennett's reincarnation of Judy Garland more than for the material, I recommend ICT's Master Class primarily for McNally's exceptional, quotable writing despite its fine performances.  Long after Bennett has moved on to other roles, McNally's will be the play that lives on.

Reverend's Ratings:
End of the Rainbow (CTG): B-
Master Class (ICT): B+

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

Reverend's Preview: Outfest Fusion at 10

This weekend's tenth-anniversary celebration in Los Angeles of the Outfest Fusion Film Festival will incorporate some of the best representations of LGBT people of color not only of last year but of the last 30+ years.  As the only multicultural platform of its kind, Outfest Fusion has grown from a mere festival into a full-fledged film development program that nurtures emerging artists and their projects.

One such artist, writer-director-producer Angela Robinson, will be honored with the 2013 Fusion Achievement Award on Saturday.  Robinson's short film D.E.B.S., about a team of schoolgirl super-spies battling lesbian villainesses, was expanded into a hit 2004 feature.  She subsequently became the first out lesbian to direct a Disney family comedy, Herbie: Fully Loaded, and has more recently helmed episodes of The L Word, True Blood and Hung.

A special retrospective of short films made in the last ten years and dealing with multicultural LGBT themes will kick off the festival tonight.  Among these are such gems as 2009's The Queen, about a gay Korean-American teenager fantasizing about his ideal prom date; Julian Breece's unforgettable The Young and Evil, in which a troubled gay black teen tries to seduce an HIV+ prevention advocate; and Marlon Riggs' classic, poetic documentary from 1990, Affirmations.

Also on Friday night, Fusion digs even further into the past to showcase one of the first feature films to deal with the often conjoined issues of race and sexuality, Fame.  This Oscar-winning musical, directed by Alan Parker, is set in New York's High School for the Performing Arts.  It launched the careers of Irene Cara, Debbie Allen, Barry Miller and Boyd Gaines as well as a TV series and Broadway musical (and spawned a less successful 2009 remake).  Paul McCrane is memorable as Montgomery, a gay teen struggling to come out of the closet.

The fest is carrying over several acclaimed standouts from Outfest 2012 including the teen lesbian tale Mosquita y Mari, Quentin Lee's White Frog and the engrossing doc Audre Lord - The Berlin Years.  I've more recently seen and highly recommend My Brother the Devil, which won awards at last year's Sundance Film Festival as well as at Outfest.  This excellent drama by Sally El Hosaini centers on two brothers of Arab-Muslim descent living with their parents in modern-day London.  Mo (short for Mohammed and played by Fady Elsayed) is the younger of the two as well as a good student and the "good boy."  Older brother Rashid (a strong performance by the handsome James Floyd) runs with a local gang and deals drugs.

The good son/bad son table starts to turn, though, as Rashid begins to question his sexuality while Mo also joins the gang and starts dealing.  Although he has a girlfriend, Rashid takes a job as a gay photographer's assistant (in an effort to go straight, professionally speaking) and is soon sleeping with his boss.  El Hosaini, in addition to having a great ear for contemporary street talk, handles the various volatile relationships within My Brother the Devil with intelligence and sensitivity.  David Raedeker's lensing is superb and deservedly snagged Sundance's World Cinema Cinematography Award.

I rate the film an A-.  But don't despair if you are unable to make it to the Fusion screening: My Brother the Devil will be released theatrically in L.A. and the U.S. beginning April 5th.  For more information about the fest, visit the Outfest Fusion website

There are a slew of other intriguing and/or noteworthy indie movies opening in LA this weekend, so many that I couldn't screen them all in time.  Be on the lookout though for The Happy Poet, in which a Texas bohemian works to open what may be the world's first vegan hot dog stand; Come Out and Play, a creepy remake of the 1976 Spanish film El Juego de Ninos about a couple vacationing in Mexico who run up against some killer kids (it is also currently available on VOD); Bob's New Suit, a romantic-comedy featuring a Trans character and a turn by gay actor Jack Larson (aka Jimmy Olsen on the old Adventures of Superman TV series); Dorfman in Love, starring the fabulous Sara Rue (Gypsy 83 and currently the best thing about TV's Malibu Country) as a woman cat-sitting for the guy she's crushing on; and, best of all, Hunky Dory, featuring Minnie Driver as a high-school drama teacher in 1976 who inspires her students to perform a glam-rock musical version of The Tempest!

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

Reverend's Reviews: Cellblock Tango

I doubt anything I write about K-11 can sum it up as accurately and succinctly as The Hollywood Reporter’s critic, who described the film as being “like a deranged John Waters remake of The Shawshank Redemption.”

The film’s title refers to a real-life section of the Los Angeles County Jail in which gay, bisexual and transgender inmates are held (no “real” girls are allowed).  Goran Visnjic gives an impressive performance as Raymond Saxx, a successful music producer who wakes from a drug-induced stupor to find himself K-11’s newest arrival.  He is doubly-surprised once he learns the sexual orientation of his colorful neighbors, since Raymond is heterosexual.  A young Trans woman who takes pity on him best sums up K-11 as “a sanctuary for broken toys.”  Raymond is most definitely in need of repair since, in addition to his obvious addiction issues, he has also been accused of murdering an associate.

Most aggressive among his cellmates is the transsexual Mousey (a fabulously fierce turn by Mexican superstar Kate Del Castillo).  Ruling the ward with stiletto heels and an iron fist, Mousey quickly asserts her authority over Raymond.  In time, though, the two bond over a plan to simultaneously restore Raymond’s innocence and Mousey’s drug trafficking business.  The latter has been disrupted by K-11’s chief guard, Lt. Johnson (entertainingly played with a Hitler-esque combover by D.B. Sweeney), who also has something sinister to do with Raymond’s incarceration.

Jules Stewart makes a supremely confident directorial debut with K-11, especially given the dark, frequently racy material.  Although the screenplay comes perilously close at times to sensationalizing or stereotyping the characters, Stewart wisely resists.  The uniformly excellent cast of supporting players also helps in this regard.  Finally, the film is nicely-shot by Adam Silver and well-edited by Duwayne Dunham.

I certainly wouldn’t call K-11 as depicted here a nice place to visit, but this movie’s intriguing plot and set of characters is worthy of viewers’ time.

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