Tag: LGBTQ+ Cinema

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Claire of the Moon (1992)

I first saw this movie on VHS in 1994 with my friend Jen Beam. She showed me 3 or 4 queer films that each left a lasting impression on me, and that may in part be why I love this movie as much as I do. It’s not great, and there are bits of it that are horrible, but it means well, and there are moments that really shine. The film score (by Michael Allen Harrison) is often stunning, just as much of the other music in the film is either bad or relatively forgettable. The performances are often more like caricatures, but for some reason I find this charming instead of annoying, and I’ve watched it 5 or 6 times, at least. I last watched this as part of my survival in NYC Covid-19 lockdown on April 21, 2020, but I barely wrote anything about it because it was one of the earlier entries before I knew that I was going to be watching and eventually reviewing over 800 LGBTQ+ inclusive movies from my collection. So, I’ll try to be better about that this time.

“Claire of the Moon” is a 1992 lesbian-themed erotic drama film directed by openly lesbian filmmaker Nicole Conn (“Elena Undone”, “A Perfect Ending”, “More Beautiful for Having Been Broken”) and starring Trisha Todd as Claire Jabrowski, a relatively famous published and seemingly heterosexual author, who decides to attend a retreat for all-female writers. While at the retreat she is forced to cohabitate with Dr. Noel Benedict (Karen Trumbo), an openly lesbian published author of a controversial book called The Naked Truth. The two live on opposite schedules but come to terms with a growing respect a rapport. The film centers on their budding relationship, but features the other women in supporting roles.

While the movie plays as a lesbian romance in an era that was nearly devoid of such films, the film also attempts to explore communication via Noel’s current work in exploring this topic through the subject of sex, theorizing that men and women speak wholly different languages, making it impossible for them to find true intimacy – while suggesting this is only possible via lesbian relationships. There are a lot of generalizations, but the film points that out as well, which makes the impassioned arguments a little hard to take seriously. But there are kernels of truth here and there which I wish had been expanded on more fully. At one point, while explaining her theory to her friends, she admits that sexual roles are complicated and possibly intrinsic, while she also struggles to define them and honestly explore them. She also discusses the vulnerability that partners must feel when exploring things that excite them as they risk rejection from those closest to them. There are no answers here and the discussions are murky enough to hide whatever the characters may actually be saying, but the discussion itself is an interesting topic that could have been explored in more depth. I also think it would have been fascinating for the other characters to have provided insight but they all seem willing to follow Noel on the matter – with the exception of Claire, but her objections seem to imply that she is wrong to disagree, which is fine, if a little simplistic. I should also say that I don’t mind everyone following Noel as I love the performance by Karen Trumbo, who sells the character’s obsession with tragic denial, even if I find the movie to be too in love with her backstory as a therapist in love with a client, which is a serious breach in ethics. But perhaps that was the point? I would have loved to have heard the filmmakers discuss this but I’m aware that I’m not the target audience and that I might take the film far more seriously than it needs to be. lol

I’ve always wanted to read the novel, but I’ve never owned a copy and it’s very difficult to find. I wonder if I might not get it through a library? Hmmm.

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Caravaggio (1986)

“Caravaggio” is a 1986 British historical drama film directed by openly gay filmmaker Derek Jarman (“Sebastiane”, “The Angelic Conversation”, “Edward II”), who died of AIDS in 1994. The film is a fictionalised retelling of the life of Baroque painter Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio.

I first saw this film around 2005, I think? I only saw it the one time; a rental from the Hollywood Video where I worked. I never owned it, but it was a film that I had always wanted to see and I had great affection for “Edward II”, which had shocked and then haunted me for years. I have always intended to revisit “Caravaggio” and now, I have. There were many things in the film which I had forgotten, like the inclusion of modern elements, similar to “Edward II”, and aside from Sean Bean and Tilda Swinton, the world famous cast, including Michael Gough and Robbie Coltrane (“Mona Lisa”, “The Fruit Machine”). Indeed, the bits I most remembered was a sort of 3 way love affair between Nigel Terry’s Caravaggio, Sean Bean’s Ranuccio & Tilda Swinton’s Lena – though these memories were both vague and powerful. I had totally forgotten the essential murders of the plot or Spencer Leigh’s heartbreaking Jerusaleme.

But is it any good? Yes, I think it is. Probably more so if one was alive when it was released and knows what it must have taken to make this film, which seems like a brilliant and noble act of bravery to me. But that’s the thing: I admire the filmmaker so much that I find it difficult to judge his work. Watch it for yourself and you tell me.

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Life as a House (2001)

2024 Entry #59 09-05-24 “Life as a House” is a 2001 American drama film produced and directed by Irwin Winkler (“De-Lovely”, “The Wolf of Wall Street”) based on a screenplay by Mark Andrus (“As Good as it Gets”, “Otherhood”). The story focuses on a man who is anxious to repair his relationship with his ex-wife and teenage son after he is diagnosed with terminal cancer.

I’ve always enjoyed this movie, though its attitudes towards body jewelry annoys me as I have a labret piercing and I love it. lol The film is great though, emotionally, and it takes several unexpected turns. It’s not perfect, but it’s very good.

As for the queer content, early in the film, Hayden Christensen’s character is led into the world of sex workers by his frenemy and would-be-pimp, a seemingly straight guy played by Ian Somerhalder (“Rules of Attraction”, “Law and Order: SVU”) – who initiates an encounter between Christensen’s character and a john (played by Sam Robards from “American Beauty”, “Bounce”) – which is interrupted by the police – which becomes a key plot element later in the film. It’s pretty tenuous but it is there.

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The Adjuster (1991)

2024 Entry #58 08-20-24 “The Adjuster” is a 1991 Canadian drama film directed by Atom Egoyan (“Speaking Parts”, “Exotica”, “Ararat”, “Where the Truth Lies”, “Chloe”); this was his fourth feature film and the first to achieve international acclaim. The film stars Elias Koteas (“Chain of Desire”, “Exotica”, “Crash”, “Apt Pupil”, “Ararat”) as Noah Render, the insurance adjuster of the title who sleeps with his clients, men and women alike.

A very odd film. I’d been meaning to watch this one for ages and it felt like I’d found another David Lynch film. Elias Koteas is as hot as ever but how much you’re able to enjoy this will likely be based on your expectations.

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Hellraiser: Deader (2005)

2024 Entry #57 08-13-24 “Hellraiser: Deader” is a low budget 2005 American supernatural horror film; it was the seventh installment released in the Hellraiser series. Directed by Rick Bota, the original script was written by Neal Marshall Stevens. As with “Hellraiser: Hellseeker” (Hellraiser VI) it began as an unrelated spec script, which was subsequently rewritten (by Tim Day) as a Hellraiser film. Like “Hellraiser: Inferno” (Hellraiser V), series gay creator Clive Barker did not have any involvement in the production.

This movie barely rates a mention, but the point of me reviewing LGBTQ+ inclusive material stems from a childhood in which there was almost no representation – so childhood me (who collected horror movies, many of them low budget shlock like this one, and who was a fan of gay author Clive Barker, without knowing he was gay) would have enjoyed this movie. It’s not a happy movie and it’s not necessarily a good movie, but considering some of the Hellraiser sequels that have been spit out over the years, this one isn’t that bad. It also has several interesting concepts within it, which never quite gel, but raise some interesting questions, just the same. The film features a graphic topless girl on girl makeout scene in a bizarre, sex positive side plot – which may or may not be everyone’s cup of tea. And then there’s the human villain Winter, as played by Paul Rhys (“Food of Love”, “Saltburn”), who is revealed to be a descendant of Phillip LeMarchand, a French toymaker who was revealed to have been commissioned to make the Lament Configuration, the puzzle box which summons the Cenobites. His character is somehow able to bring people back to life with a kiss, which he demonstrates with both a woman and then a man. Some equal opportunity homoeroticism. Also, there’s some blink and you’ll miss it full frontal male nudity. So again, I’m pretty sure that little boy me would have loved this movie. But as an adult, it’s well below average. But horror fans might want to give it a go.

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The Craft: Legacy (2020)

2024 Entry #55 07-21-24 “The Craft: Legacy” is a 2020 American supernatural horror film, written and directed by Zoe Lister-Jones, who is openly queer. A legacy sequel to 1996’s “The Craft”, the film stars Cailee Spaeny, Gideon Adlon (“When We Rise”), Lovie Simone (“Orange is the New Black”), and openly trans Zoey Luna as four teenage girls who practice witchcraft as a coven. Additional cast members include Nicholas Galitzine (“Handsome Devil”, “Bottoms”, “Red, White & Royal Blue”, “Mary & George”), Michelle Monaghan (“Kiss Kiss Bang Bang”), and David Duchovny (“Twin Peaks”, “Sex and the City”, “Queer Duck: The Movie”), with Fairuza Balk (from the original film) making a cameo appearance as her character, Nancy.

This was a disappointment. The first film is a guilty pleasure of mine; a cute teenybopper horror flick with enough style to get by and enough fun performances to remain entertaining long after the fact. But this sequel lacks most of what made the original worthwhile. The performances are all over the place and most of the characters are either annoying or extremely underdeveloped, often both. The movie gets points for featuring a transgender witch and a male bisexual character but the former is one of those underdeveloped characters and the latter is murdered, so was it really worth it in the end? Lead actor Cailee Spaeny comes off the best and Nicholas Galitzine is fun while he’s around, but nearly everyone else is either totally wasted or feel like they might be in an entirely different film. Fairuza Balk has more charisma in her single scene than many of the main characters.

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Deadpool 2 (2018)

2024 Entry #54 07-21-24 “Deadpool 2” is a 2018 American superhero film based on the openly pansexual Marvel Comics character Deadpool. Distributed by 20th Century Fox, it is the sequel to “Deadpool” (2016) and, to my way of thinking, the thirteenth installment in the X-Men film series. The film was directed by David Leitch (“Atomic Blonde”) and written by Rhett Reese, Paul Wernick, and Ryan Reynolds, who all worked on the original “Deadpool” and the upcoming sequel “Deadpool & Wolverine”. Ryan Reynolds (“Buying the Cow”, “The Nines”, “Deadpool”, “Deadpool & Wolverine”) also stars in the title role alongside openly queer Brianna Hildebrand (as lesbian character Negasonic Teenage Warhead), Josh Brolin (“Milk”, “Women in Trouble”, “Avengers: Endgame”), Morena Baccarin (“Firefly”, “The Good Wife”, “Deadpool”, “Deadpool & Wolverine”), Zazie Beetz (“Black Mirror”) & T. J. Miller (“Deadpool”). In the film, Deadpool forms the X-Force to protect a young mutant from the time-traveling soldier Cable.

The Queer Factor: Wade Wilson / Deadpool is more openly pansexual in this sequel, hitting on men and women constantly. Additionally, Negasonic Teenage Warhead has a girlfriend in this film, Yukio (Shioli Kutsuna); all three of these queer characters will return in the upcoming sequel. Also, the film goes out of its way to paint the anti-mutant villains as a kind of gay conversion camp, and then the hero takes great joy in killing them.

The Sequel Factor: For what it is worth, I enjoyed the first film more than this one, but I do still enjoy this movie. They’re both entertaining and fun, hyper violent and sexual, but this film is a bit unfocused and not all of the jokes land. I have high hopes for the sequel though, which we’re planning on seeing in theaters this week.

Be sure to stick around through the credits for some essential information.

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Michael Lost and Found (2017)

2024 Entry #53 07-09-24 “Michael Lost and Found” is a 19 minute 2017 short documentary focusing on Mike Glatze, his wife Rebekah Glatze & Mike’s former lover, Benjie Nycum. The story of these 3 played out in the news and later in a 2015 film “I Am Michael”, which I’ve avoided because I thought I knew the whole story. Mike and Benjie were two of the main creative forces behind “XY Magazine”, which was aimed at gay youth in the 90’s, when I’d never seen anything like that before. I was just out of the target audience, being in my early 20s, but I collected the magazine because it made me feel like positive change was possible in what felt like a deeply conservative and anti-LGBTQ time in my country. However, Michael Glatze later announced he was no longer gay and that he was part of an anti-gay religion, which felt like a huge betrayal to many who found his work inspiring.

Having said all that, I saw that this documentary was available in my collection and gave it a shot and I found the piece quite healing. The conversations that are had are open, seemingly honest, and reveal the rest of Michael’s journey and Benjie’s honest connection with him. I will likely see the film adaptation of this story at some point. I very nearly watched it the next day, but so far it hasn’t happened.

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Birder (2023)

2024 Entry #52 07-09-24 “Birder” is a 2023 dramatic thriller which was written by Amnon Lourie and directed by Nate Dushku, both of whom served as producers on 2019’s “Maplethorpe”. The film stars Michael Emery (“The One”, “Petunia”, “Shameless”) as Kristian Brooks, a birdwatching serial killer who invades a nude queer campground in New Hampshire, ensnaring locals with his dark fetish, highlighting the dangers of consent.

The film sells itself as being in the same family as the superior 2013 French erotic thriller “Stranger by the Lake” and I loved that film so I gave this movie a chance. Unfortunately, the acting and directing in this are far lesser in this effort which means that it’s difficult to take any of this seriously and what could have been a very serious, very disturbing chiller becomes a comical demonstration in how not to make this type of film. There are glimmers here and there of what this movie could have been, however the poor acting and directing make the various kills wholly unbelievable (divesting them of any sense of danger or depth) and while there is nudity aplenty with several erections on display, the sex also fails to convince, which was just another reason why “Stranger by the Lake” blew this film out of the water.

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They / Them (2022)

2024 Entry #51 07-07-24 “They/Them” (or “They Slash Them”) is a 2022 American slasher film written and directed by the openly gay John Logan, in his feature directorial debut; he had previously been known as a critically acclaimed writer for film (“Gladiator”, “The Aviator”, “Skyfall”, “Spectre”, “Alien: Covenant”) & TV (“Penny Dreadful”, “Penny Dreadful: City of Angels”). The horror film follows a group of LGBTQ teens and a masked killer at a conversion camp and stars a host of LGBTQ talent, including non-binary actor Theo Germaine (“Work in Progress”, “The Politician”, “Adam”, “Holy Trinity”, “Equal”), openly gay Austin Crute (“Booksmart”, “Daybreak”), openly gay Cooper Koch (“Daddy”, “A New York Christmas Wedding”, “Swallowed”, “Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story”), openly trans actress Quei Tann, openly non-binary Darwin Del Fabro. The film also stars Kevin Bacon (“Queen’s Logic”, “Wild Things”, “Beauty Shop”, “Will & Grace”, “The Closer”, “Where the Truth Lies”, “The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special”, “RuPaul’s Drag Race”) & also features Carrie Preston (“My Best Friend’s Wedding”), Anna Chlumsky, Anna Lore, Monique Kim, Hayley Griffith, Boone Platt & Mark Ashworth.

The film is a fun & extremely queer take on films like “Friday the 13th”, which Kevin Bacon famously appeared in, only this time the film is very inclusive and the homophobic assholes are the villains – and while the film plays up the queer kids as victims, SPOILER, the only people that die have it coming – except for a poor dog who is shot in a bloodless offscreen death that is once again used to demonstrate who the villains are.

I had a good time watching this, but it’s not what I was expecting. The film is relatively tame as far as gore goes, which feels odd for this genre. And while the film plays up the evils of gay conversion, and the idea that the campers are safe in a Friday the 13th rip-off may seem refreshing but that twist is kind of lame too because at times it feels like nothing is happening. One of the other things I didn’t like was that there are several campers in the group who never speak or they aren’t developed enough to qualify as characters, even in scenes that would suggest that they would have to talk. I found myself wondering who those characters were and so anytime they showed up and continued to not talk it annoyed me. But this a pretty harmless movie all things considered with a lot of positive messaging and a few minor scares.

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