2024 Entry #50 07-06-24 “Break Me” (aka “Knus meg”) is a 15 minute 2018 dramatic short Norwegian film which was directed by Irasj Asanti (“Inkognitiv”, “Eyewitness” / “Øyevitne”) who co-wrote the film with Nina Anderson. The story concerns young kurdish immigrant and closeted homosexual cage fighter Mansour (Ravdeep Singh Bajwa) who must choose between his head and his heart (Fredrik Skogsrud as Andreas) after his father discovers the truth.
Short and to the point, at turns sexy and heartbreaking, this is one of those shorts that walks a fine line.
2024 Entry #48 06-09-24 “Thelma & Louise” is a 1991 American crime drama film directed by Ridley Scott and written by Callie Khouri. The film stars Susan Sarandon (“The Rocky Horror Picture Show”, “The Hunger”, “Cradle Will Rock”, “Cloud Atlas”) and Geena Davis (“Tootsie”, “Will & Grace”, “She-Ra and the Princesses of Power”) as Louise and Thelma, two friends who embark on a road trip that ends up in unforeseen circumstances. The supporting cast includes Harvey Keitel (“Pulp Fiction”), Michael Madsen (“Sin City”), Christopher McDonald (“The Boys Next Door”), and Brad Pitt (“Less Than Zero”, “Interview with the Vampire”, “The Mexican”, “The Normal Heart”). Filming took place in California and Utah from June to August 1990.
I wanted to revisit this film more than 30 years after first seeing it because I remembered several of my lesbian friends having stickers and magnets that said “Thelma & Louise LIVE” on them, and also having seen “The Celluloid Closet” many times over in which Susan Sarandon discusses putting the big kiss in at the end of the film. It surprised me to see that there are no LGBTQ characters in this movie. Even the much lauded kiss is between two women that the film goes out of its way to present as heterosexual and are kissing in a show of solidarity before they drive off a cliff together and presumably die. I think this, sadly, just goes to show how in the early 90s, queer audiences were starved for images of ourselves and would glom onto anything that remotely suggested homosexuality. It’s still a good film, but it just serves to remind me of exactly how far we’ve come.
Still, that connection between LGBTQ+ audience members and this film has made it something of an icon.
2024 Entry #47 06-07-24 “Chris & Don: A Love Story” is a 2007 documentary film that chronicles the lifelong relationship between author Christopher Isherwood (“A Single Man”, “Christopher and His Kind”, “Cabaret”) and his much younger lover, artist Don Bachardy. Chris & Don combines present-day interviews, archival footage shot by the couple from the 1950s, excerpts from Isherwood’s diaries, and playful animations to recount their romance. It was directed by Guido Santi and Tina Mascara, and was the centerpiece film at NewFest, the New York LGBTQ Film Festival, in 2008.
Watching this documentary, which focuses on one of the first openly gay couples in Hollywood, I was at first shocked at the 20 year age difference between the two men and worried that it might have been predatory, but the more I saw and then read, it felt much more like there were so few options for love between men at that time, that the age difference didn’t matter. Indeed, Isherwood’s experiences and how they brought him to Bachardy were quite compelling. Both participants were aware and accepting of the other, with much of the story being told by Don Bachardy, the surviving half of the couple as he clearly continues to mourn the loss of his partner. The shades of love that are expressed in the stories he chooses to share are often surprising, sexy, graphic and innocent. With other contributors including the likes of Liza Minelli and John Boorman. Sweet.
2024 Entry #46 06-06-24 “Mona Lisa Smile” is a 2003 American drama film produced by Revolution Studios and Columbia Pictures in association with Red Om Films Productions, directed by Mike Newell (“The Good Father”, “Four Weddings and a Funeral”, “An Awfully Big Adventure”), written by Lawrence Konner and Mark Rosenthal, and starring Julia Roberts (“Sleeping with the Enemy”, “My Best Friend’s Wedding”, “The Mexican”, “The Normal Heart”), Kirsten Dunst (“Interview with the Vampire”, “Bring It On”, “Wimbledon”, “The Power of the Dog”), Julia Stiles (“The Lake”), and Maggie Gyllenhaal (“Happy Endings”). The film follows Julia Roberts as Katherine Ann Watson, a 30-year-old woman who takes an Art History teaching position at Wellesley College in 1953. We see her life affecting and affected (am I using the right words?) by her students, her lovers and her coworkers, one of whom is a widowed lesbian, played by Juliet Stevenson (“Food of Love”, “Bend It Like Beckham”, “Infamous”, “Departure”).
I remember renting this movie and feeling like it never quite arrived by the time it was finished. But I’ve re-watched it twice since then and I’ve enjoyed it more each time. Still, I hadn’t seen it in about 15 years when I remembered Juliet Stevenson’s character and decided to revisit it again for this project. I’m glad I did. This was fun.
2024 Entry #45 04-16-24 “Beautiful Beings” (aka “Berdreymi”) is a 2022 Icelandic coming-of-age drama film written and directed by Guðmundur Arnar Guðmundsson. Set in the suburbs of Reykjavík during the 2000s, the film focuses on a group of teenage boys and the violence that surrounds them.
As part of my pursuit of LGBTQ+ inclusive films to enjoy, I often rely on TLA Video and its various catalogs, which specialize in this arena. This year I actually decided to work my way through their most recent catalog and this film was included there. However, I’m not sure there are actually any gay characters in the film, which surprised me. By way of the plot, there is a gay rape that takes place (which is thankfully cut short by the intervention of a friend), but that’s the only representation we have here. I suppose there’s a bit of affection between a few guys, but it just seems friendly to me. I haven’t up to this point included instances that only consisted of male on male sexual violence and I don’t want to make a habit of it, but I did watch this movie and I did enjoy it overall. It had some odd messaging, but it was well done.
On September 30, 2022, the film was announced as Iceland’s submission for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film at the 95th Academy Awards. See less
2024 Entry #44 04-15-24 “Second Skin” (aka “Segunda piel”) is a 1999 Spanish romantic drama film directed by Gerardo Vera, starring Jordi Mollà, Ariadna Gil, Cecilia Roth & Javier Bardem (“Not Love, Just Frenzy”, “Before Night Falls”, “Vicky Cristina Barcelona”, “Skyfall”). The story mainly follows the married relationship between Alberto (Jordi Mollà) & Eva (Cecilia Roth), along with their young son. What isn’t apparent at first is that Alberto is having an affair with a doctor named Diego (played by Javier Bardem), who is also unaware that Alberto is married.
I’ve owned this movie for 22 years but this was the first time I’d seen it. It plays like an old soap opera, a little too dramatic but still good. All the leads are great, especially Gil, and while Mollà’s Alberto at first just seems like a jerk, there’s something profound bubbling beneath the surface, which boils over into tragedy, yet I it was telegraphed so long in advance that I barely took note of the actual event. Still, I enjoyed this. And it was nice to see Bardem play a bottom with relish.
2024 Entry #43 04-15-24 “The Prom” is a 2020 American musical comedy film directed by out creative Ryan Murphy from a screenplay by out writer Chad Beguelin and Bob Martin, based on the 2018 Broadway musical of the same name by Martin, Beguelin, and Matthew Sklar. The film stars Meryl Streep (“Silkwood”, “Angels in America”, “The Hours”, “Evening”, “Mamma Mia!” / “Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again”), James Corden (“The History Boys”, “Lesbian Vampire Killers”, “Doctor Who”), Nicole Kidman (“The Hours”, “The Stepford Wives”, “Boy Erased”), Keegan-Michael Key (“Modern Family”, Schmigadoon!”), out actor Andrew Rannells (“Sex and the City 2”, “The New Normal”, “Will & Grace”, “Big Mouth”, RuPaul’s Drag Race”, “The Boys in the Band”, “Our Son”), openly queer Ariana DeBose (“West Side Story”, “Schmigadoon!”), Tracey Ullman (“Ally McBeal”, “Will & Grace”), openly gay Kevin Chamberlin (“In & Out”, “Trick”, “Queer Duck: The Movie”, “Taking Woodstock”, “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit”, “Nip/Tuck”, “Modern Family”), Mary Kay Place (“All in the Family”, “MAS*H”, “Thirtysomething”, “Tales of the City”, “My So-Called Life”, “Further Tales of the City”, “Being John Malkovich”, “Latter Days”, “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit”, “Jack & Bobby”, “Pushing Daisies”, “Looking”, “Grace & Frankie”, “Shameless”), and Kerry Washington (“She Hate Me”, “Scandal”, “How to Get Away with Murder”), openly queer Nico Greetham (“Glee”, “American Horror Story: Double Feature”, “Love, Victor”), and introduces openly queer Jo Ellen Pellman in her film debut as Emma Nolan.
I saw the musical on Broadway and didn’t think much of it. It was cute but felt like it didn’t quite hit the mark. One of my friends left during the intermission because they didn’t enjoy it. I listened to the soundtrack for maybe a week? When the movie was released I thought it was too soon for me to dive in, which was my reaction again when it popped up in my queue, only then I realized it’s been out for 4 years and I gave it a watch. Through the first half I felt like I’d given it a bad wrap, but I could also see how it was working better as a film than a stage show in countless ways! However, the latter half of the movie did seem to drag quite a bit. And like the Broadway production, there were times when it didn’t quite hit as well as I felt it should, but in the end, it’s pretty entertaining. It will never be a favorite of mine but it doesn’t have to be. It’s just a bit of fluff. Gay fluff. And sometimes that’s what you need.
2024 Entry #42 04-14-24 “Please Baby Please” is a 2022 American musical drama film directed by Amanda Kramer, who co-wrote the screenplay with Noel David Taylor. It stars Andrea Riseborough (“Black Mirror”), Harry Melling (“The Old Guard”), Karl Glusman (“Stonewall”, “Nocturnal Animals”), openly non-binary Ryan Simpkins (“A Single Man”, the “Fear Street” trilogy), openly sexually fluid Jake Choi (“Front Cover”, “EastSiders”), openly non-binary Cole Escola (“Nurse Jackie”, “What We Do in the Shadows”, “Big Mouth”), Jaz Sinclair (“The Boys” / “Gen V”) and Demi Moore (“The Butcher’s Wife”, “Ellen”, “Will & Grace”).
Wow. That was interesting. My reaction during the film was that it felt like an odd crossing between David Lynch, John Waters and Bruce LaBruce. The film plays with gender, perception, sexuality and wraps it all up in greaser chic. Amanda Kramer and Noel David Taylor wrote the screenplay in 2018; Kramer has said that she was able to convince producers to finance the film by calling it “the gay West Side Story,” which Kramer described as “a lie” and “a Halloween trick”. I paused the film to get something to eat and my partner asked me what I was watching; I expressed interest in a certain event happening by the end of the movie – and without spoiling it – I got what I wanted. I’m not sure if it was great or not, but I was entertained. The only part I disliked featured the death of a character, which felt out of place, even if it was meant to highlight something or lead to something else later in the film; I had issues with it, but not enough for it to completely ruin my experience.
“Please Baby Please” won the 2022 Outfest Grand Jury Award for North American Narrative Feature and was named one of the “10 Best Unsung LGBTQ Films of 2022” by GALECA. The film also received a 2023 Queerty nomination for best Indie Movie.
2024 Entry #41 04-13-24 “The Monkey’s Mask” is an international co-production 2000 thriller film directed by Samantha Lang based on the 1994 verse novel of the same name by celebrated Australian lesbian poet Dorothy Porter. It stars Susie Porter and out lesbian actress Kelly McGillis. Porter plays a lesbian private detective who becomes entangled with a possible suspect (McGillis) in the disappearance of a young woman.
I’d seen this once before but I barely remembered anything about it, save that it featured Kelly McGillis, a lesbian storyline, and that the film was set in Australia. I also remembered that I didn’t like it as much as I’d hoped to. This second time I felt like I might have been too harsh in my earlier reactions as I enjoyed most of the movie. However, it stumbles horribly at the end, in which the “killers” are revealed but are then painted (via voiceover) as accidental killers, when the actual revelation is played as far more malicious and randomly, graphically, sexual. I think this might be the only movie I’ve ever seen in which the shaft of a lead actor’s cock (or maybe a stunt cock) is suddenly displayed, with none of the other bits, just as a crime is confessed. Even if the killers didn’t murder the victim on purpose, they hid the body and they played out some pretty twisted shenanigans after the fact – including threatening a detective. And that ending would be fine – if there was some resolution beyond it, but there’s nothing.
The film, which only just preceded the release of The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, features two actors from those films: Marton Csokas, who played Lord Celeborn in all 3 films and John Noble, who portrays Denethor in the latter two films. Csokas also played Xena’s lover Borias in “Xena: Warrior Princess”.
2024 Entry #40 04-12-24 “The Swimmer” is a 2021 Israeli sports drama written and directed by Adam Kalderon, who is openly gay. Omer Perelman Striks stars as Erez, a gay competitive swimmer, torn between desire, success and self fulfillment in the shadow of the discrimination that he faces in the world of sports.
Interesting. Another film in which I’m not sure the ending lands exactly as I’d have chosen, yet far more successful than “Punch”. Also, this film features several creative flourishes which really made me pay attention. First there was a scene in which the lead masturbates under a blanket (as is often the case, understandably, on screen) but as the camera moves down the actor’s legs, the blanket moves with him and his erection is fully realized in the shadow cast on the wall. Perhaps it was fake, but it was still surprising to see. Soon after this there is a shot of the swimmers, their faces in the water, with the camera upside down – it looked incredible. These little moments were few and far between but entertaining as I began to watch for them. And then the ending went so far over the top that I wasn’t sure what to make of it at first. During the final race, the competition transforms into an imagined dance off in an empty pool, which reflects what is actually happening in the race. It nearly killed the movie for me, before I realized that I kind of liked it. I found some of the imagery confusing and I’m not sure I completely understand the mental transformation that takes place in the film’s final moments. This project feels like a few different things forced to exist in the same film and I guess I wish that they’d embraced these highly stylized elements more and allowed these different aspects to coalesce into something more cohesive. There are some brave choices on display here and they deserve to be seen, but their fleeting use makes the otherwise well made bit of the film seem bland by comparison.
