Naked As We Came (2012)

2024 Entry #62 11-08-24 “Naked as We Came” is a 2012 American drama film written and directed by Richard LeMay (“200 American”, “Whirlwind”, “Children of God”). The film stars Benjamin “Ben” Weaver (“Daddy”), as Ted, a mysterious groundskeeper who lives with and cares for a cancer-stricken woman named Lilly (S. Lue McWilliams). When Lilly’s condition worsens, Ted calls her adult children, Laura (Karmine Alers) and her decade younger brother Elliot (Ryan Vigilant), who end their extended maternal estrangement to finally return home to be there for their mother. Lilly attempts to break down the barriers that separate them and several secrets come to light.

I had seen this movie once before, years ago. I remembered very little of it. I remembered that it was the first queer film I’d seen in a long time…

And that’s all that I have written down from the day I re-watched this. I felt like I enjoyed this more the first time through and that it isn’t horrible but that it’s not great either.

It did win a few rewards upon its release, including the Audience Award” for ‘Best Feature’ at Cinema Diverse & the Audience Award for ‘Best Overall Feature’ at Long Island Gay and Lesbian Film Festival.

How to Survive a Plague (2012)

2022 Entry #004 01-07-22 “How to Survive a Plague” is a 2012 American documentary film about the early years of the AIDS epidemic, and the efforts of activist groups ACT UP and TAG. It was directed by David France (“The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson”, “Welcome to Chechnya”), a journalist who covered AIDS from its beginnings. The film is dedicated to the director’s partner Doug Gould, who died of AIDS-related pneumonia in 1992.

A breathtakingly powerful documentary which covers familiar ground I’ve seen in other documentaries and narrative films, yet this managed to provide me with valuable information that I had somehow been deprived of until my viewing experience. Several similar works have been made over the years but they usually rely mostly on present day interviews to paint their stories, while this piece was produced using more than 700 hours of archived footage which included news coverage, interviews as well as film of demonstrations, meetings and conferences taken by ACT UP members themselves! Effectively and responsibly edited, this work is a treasure trove / time capsule that would be impossible to replicate without these valuable resources. Director David France has stated that they knew what they were doing was historic, and that many of them would die. And though the subject may seem treacherous, the story, as revealed here, is actually inspiring & hopeful, rather than bleak and depressing – with many untold or rarely shared stories of perseverance, success & triumph.

Highly recommended.

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