Category: LGBTQ+ Movie Reviews

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L.A. Confidential (1997)

2024 Entry #025 01-18-24 “L.A. Confidential” is a 1997 American neo-noir crime film directed, produced, and co-written by Curtis Hanson (“Wonder Boys”, “8 Mile”). The screenplay by Hanson and Brian Helgeland is based on the 1990 novel of the same name by James Ellroy (“The Black Dahlia”), the third book in his L.A. Quartet series. The film tells the story of a group of LAPD officers in 1953, and the intersection of police corruption and Hollywood celebrity. The title refers to the 1950s scandal magazine Confidential, portrayed in the film as Hush-Hush.

After watching the film adaptation of “The Black Dahlia”, I had originally planned to watch this adaptation directly after, but I hated that one so much that it put me off this one for a while. But I’m glad I finally saw this. I can see why it was so beloved at the time and the film’s cast and direction are impressive. But for my purposes, what’s interesting here is that had this film been released in my childhood, it is unlikely that there would be any queer characters in it at all – we likely would have been ignored and completely silent, but this film features queer characters woven throughout the film – none of whom are main characters, but as a kid this wouldn’t have mattered to me. What mattered to me was representation. So often our existence was either completely denied, or we were portrayed as villains and / or victims – and usually even then the roles were only coded to be interpreted as gay. Here this is still true – most of the queer characters are victims or villains – however, that’s true of nearly ALL of the characters in this film, which is about the darkness that pervades through the lives of the characters. At least one of the gay characters makes it out of the film with most of his power intact, and a few of the straight (but severely compromised) heroes also get happy endings. It is kind of the best you can hope for in this kind of story.

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Sebastiane (1976)

2024 Entry #024 01-18-24 “Sebastiane” is a 1976 Latin-language British historical film by openly gay director Derek Jarman (“The Angelic Conversation”, “Caravaggio”, “The Garden”, “Edward II”). Many members of the cast were gay and the film is famous (even notorious) for its controversially direct homoeroticism.

The film begins in Rome, AD 303, where Emperor Diocletian demotes Sebastian, his favorite captain of the palace guard to the rank of common soldier – Sebastian intervenes when the Emperor orders one of his male slaves to be strangled during a highly sexualized celebration of the sun. Sebastian is banished to a remote coastal outpost with his fellow soldiers. Sebastian is an early Christian who sublimates his desire for his male companions into worship of his deity and pacifism – which again, is also eroticized; Sebastian isn’t preaching the gospel so much as pining for his God; with his every breath he speaks of his God in sexy love poetry. Sebastian doesn’t go unnoticed though. Justin, one of his comrades in arms, is also in love with Sebastian, albeit necessarily unrequited, but he forms a friendship with the stubborn celibate pacifist. All of his comrades note his Christianity and castigate him for his faith. Indeed, his commanding officer, Severus, becomes increasingly obsessed with Sebastian, tries to assault him as he begs Sebastian to love him, and ultimately presides over his summary execution for refusing to take up arms in defense of the Roman Empire.

I had never seen this film before, though I’ve been aware of it for decades. I have seen two other Derek Jarman films, “Caravaggio” once, and “Edward II” many times over. If I have any excuse at all for skipping this film until now, it’s simply that there are now so many LGBTQ+ inclusive titles that I just haven’t had the time to get around to watching it – I mean, since 2020 and I actually devoted time to this subject matter, I’ve seen over 800 films, and I’m just now getting around to this one!

Having said that, I found this one quite entertaining – and quite daring, beyond what most creatives release today. The opening dancing ritual, which features men circled around a garishly painted man with his tongue constantly lashing, sees each of the circled men waving gigantic faux phalluses, who then pretend to penetrate the tongue lasher, and then finally splashing his face with what I assume is fake sperm. And by the time we get to the soldiers in the outpost male nudity is nearly constant. Among the men, Adrian and Anthony, two of Sebastian’s fellow soldiers, are gay and obviously in love with one another, which serves as somewhat of a balm after the orgiastic but ugly opening of the film and the equal hatred and lust thrust on the film’s hero.

Although it is far from an original thought, I was reminded that Christians were once the persecuted, but they are so often now the persecutors. Perhaps anyone in power is destined to persecute others? It’s really quite sad and upsetting. And I was also moved by homosexuality being portrayed so graphically in the 1970s, and that were it not for the AIDS crisis that followed, which, for example, ravaged several of the cast members and the film’s director, that this exploration might have continued and queer cinema might be something quite different today.

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In from the Side (2022)

2024 Entry #022 01-17-24 “In from the Side” is a 2022 British romantic drama film from Matt Carter (“Jayson Bend: Queen and Country”, “Falling”) who directed it and also co-wrote it with Adam Silver. The film tells the story of Mark Newton (played by “not straight” Alexander Lincoln) and Warren Hunt (Alexander King), two players from a cash-strapped, divided gay rugby club, who embark on a romantic affair they struggle to hide from their partners and teammates.

I actually saw this film last March when I thought I’d be doing queer film reactions in 2023 as well, but I changed my mind about that and decided to take the year off. Now that I’m back I wanted to revisit what I had seen last year and this was the first entry I got back to. Honestly, the first time I saw this movie, I didn’t really enjoy it all that much. I kind of went in expecting one thing and got something very, very different – and there were a lot of things there that I wasn’t sure how I felt about. I enjoyed it a lot more the second time. It’s not a perfect film; it drags a bit at times, but it has a lot to say about honesty, dishonesty, infidelity, respect, self respect, decency, joy, life, relationships, heartbreak, friendship, team spirit and fellowship. It’s worth a look.

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Fireworks (1947)

This is the 800th title I’ve watched as part of this project I started in 2020; I’d have watched more but I took 2023 off. Still, I wanted to note the progress with something special and this is what I chose and why.

2024 Entry #021 01-16-24 “Fireworks” is a 20 minute 1947 homoerotic experimental short by gay filmmaker Kenneth Anger, who also stars, in what is reportedly the first known gay narrative film in the United States. While quite tame by today’s standards, it was quite daring for the time, featuring themes of homosexuality and sadomasochism. The film was perceived by some as obscene and a screening of the film led to a case that made it all the way to the California Supreme Court, which ruled that homosexuality was a valid subject of artistic expression and that overt reference to it could not be considered obscenity. This ruling became a landmark decision for freedom of speech in the United States.

So, a very important little film which expresses a lot while saying very little. Indeed, most of the film is silent. The film contains no nudity but when the film was attacked, the prosecution persistently referred to “the penis scene”, which famously features a sailor unbuttoning the crotch of his pants to reveal a Roman candle, which shoots sparks into the air. I’d heard much about this title over the years as it is mentioned in several documentaries that I’ve enjoyed, but before today I’d never had access to it. It is fascinating that this seemingly harmless footage was once cause for such alarm. I honestly didn’t think much of it on its own, but its historical significance can’t be underestimated and thus, I’m extremely grateful the film was made.

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Atomic Blonde (2017)

2024 Entry #021 01-16-24 “Atomic Blonde” is a 2017 American action thriller film directed by David Leitch (in his feature directorial debut – he later directed “Deadpool 2” and performed in “V for Vendetta”) from a screenplay by Kurt Johnstad (“300”), based on the 2012 graphic novel The Coldest City by Antony Johnston and Sam Hart. The film was co-produced by the film’s star Charlize Theron (“Sweet November”, “Monster”, “Head in the Clouds”, “The Old Guard”, “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness”), and also features James McAvoy (“Bright Young Things”, “Wimbledon”, “Deadpool 2”, “It Chapter Two”), John Goodman (“Revenge of the Nerds”, “Roseanne”, “ParaNorman”, “Love the Coopers”, “The Conners”), Til Schweiger (“Intimate Affairs”), Eddie Marsan (“EastEnders”, “V for Vendetta”, “Deadpool 2”), Sofia Boutella (“Star Trek Beyond”, “Modern Love”, “Rebel Moon”), and Toby Jones (“Orlando”, “Mrs. Henderson Presents”, “Infamous”, “Doctor Who”, “Christopher and His Kind”, & the Harry Potter films as Dobby). The story revolves around an undercover MI6 agent who is sent to Berlin during the Cold War to investigate the murder of a fellow agent and recover a missing list of double agents.

I really like Charlize Theron and she’s incredible here as Lorraine Broughton, the film’s central character. I wasn’t sure I was into this movie when it started but I got much more into it as it continued – until something happened that spoiled that for me. Spoilers follow. The film features a lesbian subplot that was not in the original book. This reportedly came from writer Kurt Johnstad, who suggested it after Theron was “thinking about how do you make this different from other spy movies”. Leitch has insisted that the scenes are not there to be “provocative”, but “more about if you are a spy you will do whatever it takes to get information” and how the main character “find[s] her intimacies and her friendships in small doses”. All of that is fine – it’s welcome, until the film’s villain murders the undercover French agent lesbian love interest, played by Sofia Boutella. The kill happens relatively late in the film and I kept hoping the character wasn’t dead, and while the dangers of their jobs make the death a likely outcome and we have Theron’s character avenging her lover, the ick of another lesbian character dead hurt my enjoyment of the movie and took a film that I initially thought I’d be recommending to friends and turned it into something I will likely never view again.

On the flip side, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the film’s excellent soundtrack which features: David Bowie, Siouxsie and the Banshees, A Flock of Seagulls, ‘Til Tuesday, The Clash, Peter Schilling, HEALTHY, Tyler Bates, Nena, Ryal, Robert Ponger & Falco, Re-Flex, Kaleida & Marilyn Manson.

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Lonesome (2022)

2024 Entry #020 01-16-23 “Lonesome” is a 2022 Australian drama film which was written and directed by Craig Boreham (“Blow”, “Seaman”, “Booth”, “Pink Sheep”, “Transient”, “Love Bite”, “Drowning”, “William Yang: The Art of Seduction”, “Ostia: The Last Night”, “Gay4Pay”, “Teenage Kicks”). The film stars Josh Lavery (“Tasty”, “Bender”, “Lured”, “Perfect Boy Next Door”) & Zarif / Daniel Gabriel (“Right Here”, “Cut”) as Casey & Tib, two young men who make a connection neither of them expects or knows how to navigate.

I wasn’t sure what to expect when I watched this. I’d never seen a trailer but it had featured on my list of recent releases that I wanted to check out. I’d seen a single short film made by Craig Boreham (“Drowning”), which he later turned into a feature film (“Teenage Kicks”) which I never got around to seeing. But I thought this film was well made, with some memorable imagery and some impressive lead performances. The supporting cast felt hit or miss to me, but they tend to not be around long so they don’t distract too much from the story. And while most of the story beats have been told before, the story of queer youth struggling to survive without the support of their families is sadly still relevant.

For a minute I thought this was going to be a very sad movie with a very sad ending, but the film surprised me several times which several sequences of joy and we got what is probably the closest thing to a happy ending that this story would allow for, which feels more refreshing than unrealistic – indeed, for those who want a darker ending, one can easily imagine that the ending is a dream of some kind. YMMV.

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Passages (2023)

2024 Entry #019 01-14-24 “Passages” is a 2023 French romantic drama film by openly gay director Ira Sachs (“The Delta”, “Keep the Lights On”, “Love Is Strange”, “Little Men”, “Frankie”) and starring Franz Rogowski (“Great Freedom”), openly gay actor Ben Whishaw (“Enduring Love”, “Perfume: The Story of a Murderer”, “Brideshead Revisited”, “Skyfall”, “Cloud Atlas”, “The Danish Girl”, “Spectre”, “No Time to Die”), and Adèle Exarchopoulos (“Blue Is the Warmest Colour”). The story follows a gay couple, Tomas (Franz Rogowski) & Martin (Ben Whishaw), whose marriage encounters a crisis when the emotionally manipulative Tomas begins a passionate affair with a young female school teacher named Agathe (Adèle Exarchopoulos).

This was quite good. All of the performances here were either good or great; not a weak link in the chain. I disliked Franz Rogowski’s character Tomas immediately, but he felt true to life; indeed, I’ve dated men like him. And in some ways, I’ve even been like him. The one time I cheated on a partner (many, many years ago), it was with a woman. And similarly to Tomas, I told my lover about it right after it happened, but for me I had so much guilt that I couldn’t enjoy it – which is why it has never happened again in any of my other relationships. But this may be part of why I hated him so much. But the film seems to hate him as well, or at least it shows the consequences for his repeated carelessness with the lives of those he claims to love. It’s just a game for him; he wants everything, so it is nice to see him end up with nothing. There were times when I was angry at Martin and Agathe as well, but their imperfect responses are measured and wholly believable. There’s a motif in the film, a side story about a book that an attractive author named Amad (Erwan Kepoa Falé) has written – he has connections to each of the main characters, and I believe his purpose here is in some ways thematic. Each of the main characters are a passage in the story of the lives of their fellow leads. Some of those books may have a happy ending – but this film just gives us these chapters to ponder. Nicely done.

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Daddy’s Boy (2016)

2024 Entry #018 01-13-14 “Daddy’s Boy” is a 2016 black and white drama film which was written and directed by Daniel Armando (“Boys Like You”, “What It Was”, “Love Me Anyway”, “Self-Tape”, “A Boy Like That”, “Collar Confessions”, “Go Go”). The story follows the lives of several men, all sons, some of them fathers, whose stories are interconnected via interwoven sexual encounters and complex family dynamics.

This was a surprise. I’m not certain that I completely understand what I just watched, but I was fully engaged with the material. The story seems to be non-linear in nature, saying much with very little. The film, set in New York City, is beautifully photographed, giving it a timeless quality. The soundtrack was repetitive at times, yet effectively melancholy. And while I don’t quite grasp everything here (which may or may not be a problem with the film), I appreciated that the answers were not spoon fed to me.

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Friends and Family (2001)

2024 Entry #017 01-13-14 “Friends and Family” is a 2001 gay-themed comedy film written by Joseph Triebwasser and directed by Kristen Coury. The film follows Stephen Torcelli (Greg Lauren) & his partner, Danny Russo (Christopher Gartin), as they struggle to keep Stephen’s parents from discovering that they’re enforcers for the Patrizzi crime family.

The film plays on stereotypes, but being a silly comedy, there are a lot of stereotypes here – and most of it isn’t all that funny; I can see why the writer and director (apparently) never worked on another film ever again. You have the butch gay couple (who never kiss or show much affection for one another). You have the supportive mafia characters, who pretend to be gay in support of the couple. You have the Don’s straight sons, one of which wants to be a fashion designer and the other a cook. And you have another character’s parents who are members of an anti-government militia. There’s also an annoying and rather abrupt ending. Most of this didn’t land for me, but it wasn’t quite as bad as I thought it was going to be after the first half of the film left me wishing I could just shut it off. It’s not great, or even particularly good, but it could have been far worse, which is all the praise that I’ll give it.

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Steam: The Turkish Bath / Hamam (1997)

2024 Entry #016 01-12-24 “Steam: The Turkish Bath” (aka “Hamam”) is a 1997 Italian-Turkish-Spanish film by openly gay writer and director Ferzan Özpetek (“The Ignorant Fairies”, “Facing Windows”, “Saturn in Opposition”, “Loose Cannons”, “Magnificent Presence”, “Fasten Your Seatbelts”, “Red Istanbul”, “The Goddess of Fortune”, ““Nuovo Olimpo”). Özpetek’s debut film, the story concerns how certain places can cause powerful transformations for the people that find themselves there.

The film is centered on Francesco (Alessandro Gassman) and Marta (Francesca d’Aloja), who run a husband-and-wife design company in Rome. Both are struggling in their marriage as Francesco is bi-curious and possibly gay, while Marta is having a serious affair. When Francesco’s aunt dies in Istanbul he travels there to sort out the hamam Turkish steam bath that she left him. But Francesco and later Marta both find a love and warmth in his relatives’ Istanbul home that has been missing from their lives in Italy.

I had seen this once before in the mid aughts. I remembered very little of it except that I had enjoyed it. The film has an interesting structure and an ending that I wouldn’t have guessed, but I think this is in part because I’m not sure the film truly supports the finale and it feels a bit rushed. It could have been an exceptional ending had it taken a bit more time to get there, but as it is, it feels slightly flawed. When I originally watched the film it was part of a massive viewing of various LGBTQ+ themed films, just as I’m doing now, but then I feel I was slightly more impressed to see elements here that I’ve grown accustomed to and that I’m a little less impressed by now. The film still has a lot going for it, including an impressive cast, beautiful scenery and like other Özpetek films I’ve seen, a memorable soundtrack.

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