Reverend’s Reviews: Fests of the West

June is busting out all over and film festival season has begun in Los Angeles.  Dances With Films (DWF), celebrating its “Sweet 16” edition, is running now through June 9 and will dovetail this weekend with the annual Los Angeles Greek Film Festival.  Next week brings the LA FilmFestival, which will run June 13-23 and will be followed in early July by Outfest, the LA Gay & Lesbian Film Festival.

While DWF is a bit deficient with GLBT-themed movies this year, it does feature the LA premiere tonight of a romantic-comedy starring one of gaydom’s favorite actors.  Cheyenne Jackson, Broadway’s hunky leading man as well as a regular on 30 Rock and other TV series, is the biggest name among the ensemble cast in Matthew Watts’ Mutual Friends.  Gay fans may be disappointed to see the openly-gay Jackson play straight here but he impresses as usual with his turn as Christophe, an engaged man celebrating his 30th birthday.  After making his entrance shirtless and in bed (thumbs up for that), the sweet but clueless Christophe is dispatched with for a while as his fiancée plans a surprise birthday party for him.

The party preparations end up serving as a catalyst for various tensions, explorations and revelations by the angst-ridden New Yorkers who are Christophe’s friends.  His fiancée even realizes, quite predictably, by the party’s start that she is in love with another man.  No less than seven screenwriters are credited for the film’s multiple storylines dealing with people “afraid of making a real connection.”  While it is perfectly acceptable for Jackson to play a heterosexual man, I did find it odd that there are neither GLBT characters nor people of color among Mutual Friends’ fairly large cast of characters.  They do live in NYC after all.

There are a number of very good, naturalistic performances rendered by the movie’s largely theatre-trained players, as well as some funny lines of dialogue in the script (example: Upon discovering Christophe’s initial, accidentally penis-shaped birthday cake, one party planner remarks “I hope it doesn’t taste like cock”).  Mutual Friends is pleasurable enough in the watching but left me wanting more, especially more of Jackson.

A few other intriguing films screening during DWF are the world premiere of Automotive, a piece of modern noir told through “the eyes” of a 1964 Mercury car; Forever’s End, also a world premiere, in which the presumed last woman on earth following an apocalyptic event suddenly meets a strange man; the 1980’s-set, John Hughes-inspired Murt Ramirez Wants to Kick My Ass; and John V. Knowles’ Chastity Bites, a horror-comedy based on the real-life vampiress, Countess Elizabeth Bathory.

Meanwhile, over at the Writers’ Guild of America this Friday night will be the US premiere of Panagiotis Evangelidis’ provocative They Glow in the Dark.  Though part of the LA Greek Film Festival due to the director’s national heritage, the documentary is a New Orleans-based examination of two gay longtime friends who have forged a threadbare life together in the wake of Hurricane Katrina’s devastation.  It recently won the prestigious FIPRESCI Award at the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival.

Jim Baysinger and Michael Glaab moved to the Big Easy together from Illinois in late 2005 expecting to take part in an anticipated post-hurricane “renaissance” that, according to them, has yet to happen.  They live in a formerly waterlogged house along with a number of stray cats and a dog they have taken in.  Both men are HIV+ and “basically are partners,” according to Jim, although they no longer sleep together or have sex.  They eke out a living selling luminescent figurines made by Jim of New Orleans’ legendary underworld guide Baron Samedi as well as bags of “ghost poop” to tourists.

They Glow in the Dark, well shot in verite style by Evangelidis himself, turns an unblinking eye on both the harsh reality of the men’s existence and the palpable devotion they share.  “I wish I could take his pain away,” Jim says at one point regarding Michael’s AIDS-related neuropathy.  Both Jim and Michael share their grief over past loves who have either died or weren’t meant to be had in the first place, but they often do so with a sense of humor.  Attractive in their youth (Jim was even a frequent centerfold in gay men’s magazines), age, HIV and poverty have taken their toll.  “I’ve got Nureyev’s butt and Golda Meir’s face,” bemoans Michael.  “It’s just not fair.”

As Jim insightfully observes, “a lot of people come (to New Orleans) to either initiate or complete their self-destruction.”  It seems clear by the film’s end, though, that he and Michael have gained a new lease on life as well as an enduring — and endearing — bond since they moved there.  They Glow in the Dark serves as a memorable testament to love, regret and hope in the city of broken levees and dreams.

Not film fest-related but new on home videois this year’s hit comedy Identity Thief, starring Jason Bateman and Melissa McCarthy.  I avoided the movie when it played in theaters due to the involvement of director Seth Gordon, whose last film was 2011’s inexplicably successful, truly horrible Horrible Bosses.  Sent an advance copy of the Blu-ray, however, I did my critical duty and watched it… and was pleasantly surprised.  Identity Thief is no classic but McCarthy’s vivid performance may well become one.  Playing the title character, a gleefully morality-free Florida woman who nearly bankrupts Bateman’s family man, McCarthy is hilarious but brings a welcome, surprising poignancy to her role.  Although it threatens to do so at one point, Craig Mazin’s script wisely avoids explaining how McCarthy’s Diana became the destructive force she is.  Bateman serves as a great foil, even if his financial-minded character comes across as way too naïve initially.  Identity Thief and, especially, McCarthy may well steal your heart.

Reverend’s Ratings:

Mutual Friends: B-

They Glow in the Dark: B+

Identity Thief: B

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

Reverend’s Review: Let’s Hear It for the Boys

 

Three years after its brief but acclaimed Broadway run, The Scottsboro Boys is finally having its Los Angeles premiere at the Ahmanson Theatre now through June 30.  The last musical jointly penned by gay duo John Kander and Fred Ebb of Cabaret and Chicago fame (Ebb passed away in 2004), it takes on a true, 20th  century saga of racism and injustice via a decidedly controversial approach: a vaudevillian minstrel show.  The predominantly African-American cast members play white as well as black characters, with the Caucasians more often than not presented as broad caricatures.  Hal Linden — yes, old Barney Miller himself — is the one exception as The Interlocutor, an Old South narrator figure who also plays an array of white supporting characters.

In 1931, nine young black men riding a freight train through Alabama were detained in the town of Scottsboro after being falsely accused of rape by two white, female passengers.  They were found guilty at the end of the first of several trials held over as many years and were initially sentenced to death in the electric chair.  A New York attorney, Samuel Leibowitz, intervened and demanded a second trial for the men.  They were again found guilty, even though one of their accusers told the court that she and her friend had lied about the rape.  Other appeals followed, with the men repeatedly found guilty.  Finally, charges were dropped against four of them in 1937 due to their youth at the time of the alleged rape.  Four others were paroled between 1946 and 1950 but Haywood Patterson, who steadfastly maintained his innocence, died in prison in 1952.  Shockingly, the so-called Scottsboro Boys were only officially pardoned by the state of Alabama last month, more than 80 years later.

Given this tortured history, the bold approach taken for the musical by Kander, Ebb, book author David Thompson and director-choreographer Susan Stroman that essentially points a raised middle finger toward the racist South certainly seems justified.  Some viewers, however, may well find it challenging or possibly in bad taste; a middle-aged white couple sitting next to me fled the theater after about 30 minutes.  For black actors to portray whites as buffoons in the show’s inverted-minstrel style is unquestionably confrontational.  It’s also pretty damn brilliant.  Linden’s character certainly doesn’t provide any comfort for white theatregoers, intent as The Interlocutor is on keeping the ol’ Southern cake walk alive and having “the boys” perform for the crowd’s perceived amusement.

I found the book disjointed in spots, with the finale in particular announced without much immediate momentum.  The show’s finale does play two great wild cards, one involving the men’s attire and the other a reveal of the sole female performer’s character.  As always, though, Kander & Ebb’s songs ring with their trademarked brand of political commentary, incisive humor and emotional truth.  Standouts include the catchy opener “Hey, Hey, Hey, Hey!”; the longing “Go Back Home”; “Financial Advice,” in which Alabama’s Attorney General excoriates the Jewish Leibowitz; and the church-appropriate “Shout!”  Haywood, played by the dramatically- and physically-stunning Joshua Henry (reprising his Tony-nominated turn from the original Broadway production), has two affecting solos: “Nothin” and the climactic “You Can’t Do Me.”  While the entire cast is uniformly excellent, Trent Armand Kendall and JC Montgomery are also particular standouts as respectively Mr. Bones and Mr. Tambo, the show’s chief minstrel players.

The Scottsboro Boys is polarizing, to be sure, but it is nonetheless a tuneful and educational must-see in LA and wherever it plays in the future.

Reverend’s Rating: B+

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

Monthly Wallpaper - June 2013: The Celluloid Closet

In celebration of Gay Pride month, Movie Dearest once again offers up a special calendar wallpaper for June paying tribute to some of the best in queer cinema... with a twist this year.

We're taking a peek inside The Celluloid Closet, the seminal book (by Vito Russo) and documentary (by Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman) that shone a light on all the not-so-hidden gay subtext and homoeroticism in classic films from the early silent era through the Hollywood Production Code years to the modern day. From Cary Grant in a nightie to Marlene Dietrich in a tuxedo to Jack Lemmon in a dress to Jane Russell in a roomful of half-naked men, we have collected some of our favorite images from these classics, now out of the closet for us to enjoy even more.

Just click on the picture above to enlarge it to its 1024 x 768 size, then right click your mouse and select "Set as Background", and you're all set.

Reverend’s Reviews: What’s the Word?

One-word titles dominate this month’s notable new GLBT-interest home video releases.

Vito
Jeffrey Schwarz’s superb look at film critic and gay rights activist Vito Russo was inexplicably ignored when this year’s Oscar nominations for Best Documentary were announced.  Russo’s life-long fascination with the portrayal of GLBT characters in mainstream Hollywood movies led him to write the acclaimed book The Celluloid Closet, which itself became a movie in 1995.  Sadly, he passed away due to AIDS complications in 1990 and didn’t live to see his own mainstream impact today.  Many celebs appear in Vito, including Lily Tomlin, Bruce Vilanch, Larry Kramer and Armistead Maupin, and even more appear (notably Judy Garland, whom Russo adored) via archival footage.
Reverend’s Rating: A

Bill Moyers: Beyond Hate
It’s unfortunate that this exposé of hate-motivated violence, originally broadcast on PBS in 1991, is just as timely today as it makes its DVD debut.  The eminent journalist traveled across the US and around the world to violence-prone hotspots such as South Central LA, Brooklyn, Jerusalem and South Africa in an effort to understand the root causes of homophobia, anti-Semitism, racism, sectarianism and a lot of other nasty “isms.”  What Moyers learns from such revered experts as Elie Wiesel, Nelson Mandela, Yaclav Havel, former president Jimmy Carter and others interviewed here remains must-see TV.  The DVD contains a discussion guide for use in classrooms or other settings.
Reverend’s Rating: A-

Yossi
This long-overdue sequel to 2002’s gay favorite Yossi & Jagger finds Yossi (once again played by Ohad Knoller), now a successful surgeon, still grieving the tragic death of his lover while they served together in the Israeli army.  Forced to take a sabbatical, Yossi goes to a beach resort where he meets a gay soldier on leave/new prospective boyfriend (the stunning Oz Zehavi).  The movie’s standout scene, at least emotionally, occurs when Yossi goes to introduce himself as Jagger’s former lover to Jagger’s in-the-dark parents.  A reflective, lovely film by Eytan Fox, who similarly wrote and directed the original.
Reverend’s Rating: B+

Sagat
Gay porn superstar François Sagat is immediately identifiable thanks to his tattooed scalp, among his other noteworthy (ahem) physical attributes.  This eye-opening, explicit documentary reveals that Sagat’s “desire to embody hyper-masculinity” was borne from his surprising experience as an effeminate, bullied teen growing up in a small town in Brittany.  Due to the film’s brief 40-minute running time, it raises more questions than it answers but is still illuminating.  The DVD also features 80 minutes of extras including interviews that help fill in the blanks.
Reverend’s Rating: B-

Rolling
Talented young director Damon Jamal makes an impressive transition from documentaries to narrative features with this Breakfast Club for the digital age.  A budding filmmaker snags the master key to his high school and invites five other students from different academic and social classes as well as ethnic backgrounds to star in his magnum opus.  Locked in the school overnight, the students’ secrets (including a basketball star’s sexual orientation) are revealed both on- and off-camera.  The movie goes on a little too long, but the amateur cast’s performances are good and you have to love a screenplay that references not only John Hughes’ 1980’s classics but also 70’s uber-producer Robert Evans and Dr. Seuss!
Reverend’s Rating: B-

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