Month: January 2022

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Blue is the Warmest Color (2013)

2022 Entry #018 01-31-22 “Blue is the Warmest Color” is a an award winning 2013 romantic French drama film co-written, co-produced, and directed by Abdellatif Kechiche starring Léa Seydoux (“Spectre”, “No Time to Die”) and Adèle Exarchopoulos. The film follows Adèle (Exarchopoulos), a French teenager who discovers desire and freedom when an aspiring painter named Emma (Seydoux) enters her life. It charts their relationship from Adèle’s high school years to her early adult life and career as a school teacher. The premise of the film is based on the 2010 graphic novel of the same name by Jul Maroh.

I’ve been meaning to see this film for years. And though I considered skipping it today due to it’s nearly three hour run time, I accidentally started it and found that I couldn’t bring myself to stop. The film is very good, yet isn’t without some serious problems. The performances are all wonderful and the filmmaking is top notch but the movie features graphic, extensive sex scenes which are often, unfortunately, hard to take seriously. The graphic nature isn’t necessarily the problem, and that sex is featured in a film about sexual awaking and exploration of sexual identity is hardly surprising, yet the nature of the sexual acts, how they are viewed and explored is almost comical at times and uncomfortable at others. At first I thought this might only be my response to the piece but just skimming reactions online revealed that reams of clinical analysis featured much of the same feedback. Tellingly, Jul Maroh, the author of the graphic novel upon which the film was based, said, “It appears to me this was what was missing on the set: lesbians.” It is unfortunate that such a central part of the story is flawed, yet I think it is undeniably a film worth seeing and one that is also worthy of praise.

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In Beating Cells (2017)

2022 Entry #017 01-31-22 “In Beating Cells” is a 25 minute 2017 short German film which was directed by Richard Kranzin. The plot follows 4 friends as they take a trip to the country. The friends are Rico (Philipp Kronenberg), Julia (Linn Reusse), Friedrich (Lukas Sperber) & Eva (Zarina Zöller). Rico & Eva feel free in the country, Julia is cool with it but is looking forward to returning to the city and Friedrich is conflicted between his attraction to Rico (which is reciprocated without judgment by the others) and his girlfriend back home.

“We all get lost…with beating hearts…in beating cells. This small world, this pulsating membrane. Even in one leaf there are thousands. I want to feel it…before we forget it.”

I liked this one a lot. Sometimes shorts feel like fragments of something better…or like a rough draft that need not be developed to fruition, but given the poetry that flows through this piece, I felt it was perfect as is. That’s not to say that I wouldn’t welcome a feature length version, but it’s one of those shorts that accomplishes a lot in a very short amount of time.

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Boys Don’t Cry (1999)

2022 Entry #016 01-30-22 “Boys Don’t Cry” is a devastating 1999 American biographical film directed by Kimberly Peirce, and co-written by Peirce and Andy Bienen. The film is a dramatization of the real-life story of Brandon Teena, an American trans man who attempts to find himself and love in Nebraska but falls victim to a brutal hate crime perpetrated by John Lotter & Marvin “Tom” Nissen, two male acquaintances.

The film stars Hilary Swank (“Quiet Days in Hollywood”, “The Black Dahlia”) as Brandon; she won an Oscar for her performance. Chloë Sevigny (“If These Walls Could Talk 2”, “American Psycho”, “Party Monster”, “3 Needles”, “Will & Grace”, “We Are Who We Are”) plays Lana Tisdel, the young woman that Brandon fell in love with. Peter Sarsgaard (“Kinsey”, “The Dying Gaul”) plays John Lotter & Brendan Sexton III (“Welcome to the Dollhouse”) plays Nissen.

I read about the murder of Brandon Teena in the newspaper. I was out to my grandmother at the time and I read the story to her in tears. When I heard that there would be a film version, part of me was happy that others would learn of his story, part of me was concerned the film wouldn’t do him justice…and the rest of me just dreaded having to relive the emotions of my original reaction. I saw the film once when it was new and I’m pretty sure I fast-forwarded several bits because I just couldn’t handle it.

This time there was no fast-forwarding and while I was able to enjoy much of the film, there were more tears, but a lot of respect for those telling this story. It’s a well made film, which frustratingly struggled with the ratings board, not because of the violence against Brandon, but because of its perceived lesbianism – a story which is explored in the excellent documentary “This Film is Not Yet Rated” – which I highly recommend viewing.

So, why have I re-watched it? Since March of 2020 I’ve been making an effort to see more LGBTQ+ movies while revisiting ones that I’d already seen. It’s become something I really enjoy and something very healing. But I recently noticed that in the last 2 years, out of the 603 movies I watched in that period of time, only a small fracture were lesbian or trans inclusive titles and I’ve decided to correct that if I can in 2022. Part of the reason I was hesitant to view trans inclusive titles is that even well told stories controversially rely on cis gender actors and I didn’t want to be attacked for supporting such films. And frankly, a big chunk of trans stories involve their deaths. I find that quite emotional, but violence against trans women, and especially trans women of color, is a sad fact of life…which film can telegraph to the public – just as long as these are not the only stories that are told. I mean, I remember when for years most gay themed stories were about us dying of AIDS or hate crimes and while those aspects of our subculture are valid, when that’s all that anybody sees it sends all kinds of messages to people, like why are we only allowed to be in film if we’re victims? That kind of a thing. Thankfully gay representation has really flourished in the last 20 years and now those old images of us seem less offensive now because they are balanced. I’m hoping to find some balance for trans stories as well.

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Gay Sex in the 70s (2005)

2022 Entry #015 01-30-22 “Gay Sex in the 70s” is a 2005 American documentary film about gay sexual culture in New York City in the 1970s; which specifically focuses on the years between Stonewall and AIDS (roughly 1969 – 1981). The film was directed by Joseph Lovett, who produced the documentaries “In a New Light: A Call to Action in the War Against AIDS” & “Rock Bottom: Gay Men & Meth”. The film uses archival footage and interviews to illuminate the world of gay anonymous and casual sex in various settings, such as dance clubs, bathhouses, bars, Fire Island, etc. Interviewees include Larry Kramer, Tom Bianchi, Barton Lidice Beneš, Rodger McFarlane, and many others.

I purchased this when it was a new DVD release and though I only watched it once back then, I remembered that I enjoyed it. I specifically remembered that the documentary did a good job with framing this time of sexual liberation and explaining why such personal freedom was revelatory and only made sense. Watching it again now, like other films in this project, I have a greater insight into much of the New York setting. I’ve lived in New York for almost 10 years. I’ve been to Fire Island multiple times. I’ve seen what’s left of the piers depicted in the film and I’ve marched in the Pride Parade 4 times.

This is a very good documentary.

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The Badge (2002)

2022 Entry #014 01-30-22 “The Badge” is a 2002 mystery-thriller film which was written and directed by Robby Henson. The film stars Billy Bob Thornton (“Tombstone”, “Sling Blade”, & Ellen’s historic “The Puppy Episode”) & Patricia Arquette, with Jenna Malone (“Life as a House”, “American Girl”, “Saved!”) & Thomas Haden Church (“Easy A”).

The story follows Thornton’s homophobic Louisiana sheriff Darl Hardwick, as he hesitantly investigates the murder of a pre-op trans woman named Mona, at the behest of the victim’s wife Scarlett (Arquette). As Hardwick struggles to find justice for Mona, he is forced to face much of his own prejudice and make amends with his gay brother David (Church).

I bought this movie when it was relatively new, but I put off watching it. I knew that the film dealt with the death of a trans woman, and while I’ve always been interested in seeing LGBTQ lives depicted, I wasn’t sure this would be worth it. This changed over the years as Alexis Arquette, Patricia’s sister, came out as a trans woman, and I figured she wouldn’t appear in anything that would be too offensive. And while there were times that I strongly disliked the characters in the film and I can’t say that it’s a great movie, it wasn’t the horrible nightmare of transphobic bullshit that I had originally feared. I can’t give it a solid recommendation, but I also don’t regret watching it.

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Wild Things (1998)

2022 Entry #013 01-30-22 “Wild Things” is a delightfully trashy 1998 American neo-noir erotic crime thriller film directed by John McNaughton and starring Matt Dillon (“In & Out”), Neve Campbell (“54”, “Three to Tango”, “Intimate Affairs”), Kevin Bacon (“Queens Logic”, “Beauty Shop”), Denise Richards (“Nowhere”), Bill Murray (“Tootsie”, “Groundhog Day”), Theresa Russell (“Black Widow”) & Daphne Rubin-Vega (“Flawless”, “Sex and the City”, “Smash”, “Rent: Live”, “Tales of the City” “tick, tick…BOOM!”). The story is set in south Florida, where a high school counselor (Dillion) is accused of rape by two female students (Campbell & Richards), but the police officers investigating (Bacon & Rubin-Vega) suspect something more is going on.

I’m sure this movie makes a lot of people’s guilty pleasure lists. Most of the characters (like “Basic Instinct”) are horrible people, but they’re so much fun! But why is the movie on this list? Spoilers follow, which frankly, are more fun to discover on your own if you’ve not seen it. But if you don’t care, then feel free to continue.

The film reveals (or at least implies) that Neve Campbell’s character, Suzie Toller, was lovers with Denice Richards’s character, Kelly Van Ryan, before the start of the film…and that she is also (secretly) Kelly’s aunt. The question of if that backstory is true or not is because this a twisty puzzle of a movie and it’s possible that some of that backstory is forged…and yet even if it’s all a lie…there’s more. During the film, Suzie and Kelly have sex, both with Dillon’s Sam Lombardo along as an instigator, and on their own. In addition to that, there’s a subtle homoeroticism between Lombardo and Kevin Bacon’s Sergeant Ray Duquette. In the film, Lombardo calls Duquette a cocksucker and the reaction from the Sergeant is priceless; and maybe it’s just me, but it left me feeling like Duquette has sucked off Lombardo at some point. If that seems too tenuous, there’s a famous scene later in the film where Lombardo returns to his cabin to find Duquette in his shower, with Kevin Bacon going fully frontal, and the two seem totally comfortable with this scenario. Mix this with Bill Murray’s sleazy lawyer character questioning if the student accusing Lombardo is male or female, Lombardo’s deck hands and him later putting Duquette in that role and there’s a lot of suggestion going on.

I read somewhere years ago that the creative team had toyed with making the men lovers but that they felt like that might cross a line, and as much as I would have loved to see it, they were probably right. The LGBTQ audience had started boycotting films that portrayed all the queer characters in movies as murderous, duplicitous monsters…and they may well have skipped this movie if that were the case here. And straight male audiences, tend to not go for gay male movie storylines; the inclusion and upset over minor gay characters in recent animated and comic book based films is unfortunately testament to that. And of course straight men and women generally find bi or lesbian women either titillating or completely non-threatening. Still, this movie felt like something a bit more than the usual girl on girl tease.

Oh. And stick around through the end credits.

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Different for Girls (1996)

2022 Entry #012 01-29-22 “Different for Girls” is a 1996 British / French dramedy film which was written by Tony Marchant and directed by Richard Spence. The film stars Steven Mackintosh (“Prick Up Your Ears”, “Rocketman”) as Kim Foyle, a post-op trans woman who has an unexpected run-in with an old school chum named Paul Prentice, played by Rupert Graves (“Maurice”, “Bent”, “Room to Rent”, “V for Vendetta”, “Swimming with Men”) – a longtime crush of mine.

At first, Kim wishes to avoid Prentice, who knew Kim before her change and defended her in school (when he believed she was a gay man). Although he’s confused by her choices and is at first ignorant of transgender issues, to his credit he sees no reason why they can’t continue their friendship and chooses to educate himself. There are complications due to family, other relationships, police brutality and other unexpected turns, but the film gives us the happy ending that these characters deserve.

I should note that there is a school of thought (which I agree with) that trans roles should be played by trans actors, because having cis actors play these roles contributes to violence against trans people. For more information on this topic, I highly recommend the fantastic Netflix documentary “Disclosure”. But having said that, this film was made before such information was widely known, the story is sensitively told and it has a lot of important information in an entertaining film. For instance, the film goes out of its way to inform the audience that Kim is a woman and that her attraction to men is heterosexual…which seems brilliant for a film from 1996. Nicely done.

This is another film that I’ve owned for decades and had seen once before. I remembered that I enjoyed it and I’m happy to say that I probably enjoyed it even more the second time through.

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Golden Boys (2016)

2022 Entry #011 01-29-22 “Golden Boys” is a 9 minute 2016 short which was written by Andrew Musselman & directed by Jill Riley. The plot concerns three men breaking into their old school to memorialize the death of a boy they bullied (often suggesting that he was gay) despite (or because of) the fact that they might be gay themselves.

I wish I enjoyed this more. The actors are fine and there are some nice images but I found the fragmented story confusing and it felt like I was missing a big piece of the story. The IMDB summary features several critical details that I don’t think were featured in the actual film, or at the very least, they weren’t made clear enough for this audience member.

I rented this from Amazon Prime; it’s part of the collection “The Male Gaze: Three’s Company”, which I’ll likely continue with soon.

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Testosterone (2003)

2022 Entry #010 01-28-22 “Testosterone” is a 2003 romantic dramedy film. An adaptation of the posthumous gay-themed transgressional novel by James Robert Baker, the film was directed by David Moreton, whose “Edge of Seventeen” remains firmly in my top 5 LGBTQ+ films of all time. Moreton also co-wrote the screenplay with Dennis Hensley (“Reunion”, “Rubdown”, “If We Took a Holiday”).

The story follows David Sutcliffe (“Under the Tuscan Sun”, “Happy Endings”) as Dean Seagrave, a successful but creatively struggling thirty-something graphic novelist living in Los Angeles. As revealed in an inventively illustrated opening, Dean believes he’s found true love with his hunky boyfriend Pablo, played by conservative nutjob Antonio Sabàto Jr. (“Deadly Skies”), only for Pablo to disappear one night when he goes out for cigarettes. A good beginning for a darkly humorous story where nothing is as it seems.

I mostly enjoyed this movie the first time that I saw it around 2005, but revisiting it now, I’m very close to loving it. The cast is camptastic with fun turns by gay icons Jennifer Coolidge (“The Broken Hearts Club: A Romantic Comedy”, the “Legally Blonde” films, “Single All the Way”) & Sônia Braga (“Kiss of the Spider Woman”, “Sex and the City”), with Dario Dukah (“10 Pesos”) as hot hotel employee Guillermo & electric performances by Celina Font as Sofia and Leonardo Brzezicki (“Smokers Only”, “Unmade Beds”; director of “Night”, “The Mad Half Hour” & “Wandering Heart”) as Marcos, a sister / brother double act who both compliment and contradict what we think we know. What is real and what is imagined is left to the audience to decide (which is always the braver choice in my opinion)…but no matter how the film is interpreted, there’s plenty to dig into here which I failed to notice the first time around. The line about snakes never dying unless you cut off their heads really resonated in a way that it didn’t before. And the suicide of one character that shocked and upset me the first time, still managed to do both the second time through, only now I’ve come away with a completely different interpretation of the character’s motivations, which changed the reasons I was upset and with who. And I honestly don’t know what to make of Sofia, but I found her mesmerizing every moment she was on screen.

Also, while I would normally avoid Sabàto Jr. like a biblical plague he’d likely wish upon me, I take comfort here as he likely regrets going fully frontal in the role of a gay man whore. ❤

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Test (2013)

2022 Entry #008 01-28-22 “Test” is a 2013 American drama film written and directed by Chris Mason Johnson (“The New Twenty”). Set in 1985 San Francisco, after the launch of the first HIV blood test, the film depicts the effects of the HIV / AIDS crisis on a professional dance company based in the city, as Frankie (Scott Marlowe), the central gay understudy, hopes for his chance to go on-stage.

This is another film that I only learned about in 2020, when I started collecting LGBTQ+ inclusive movies again. I added it to a list and I’ve finally gotten around to seeing it.

The acting was great. The locations were beautiful. The subject matter illuminated the past while remaining immediate and relatable. The music often brought on waves of nostalgia. And the choreography was breathtaking. This was a treat! And I loved the ending. ❤

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