Queer Beacon

I Love You, Man (2009) - LightShed 8

Finally another movie with Paul Rudd and good gay content. For all the gay buzz Paul Rudd gets, he has actually been in some pretty gay-bad movies (Knocked-Up and Role Models come to mind -- both of which have "faggot" slurs and other jabs at us gays).

Things went our way in I Love You, Man.  In the movie, Paul Rudd plays a recently engaged guy in a quest for a best man; Rudd is a girl's-guy and has no male friends. In his quest toward Jason Segel he meets Reno 911's Thomas Lennon, they go out to dinner. It turns out Lennon is gay and thought he was going on an actual date (as opposed to a man-date) with Paul Rudd...at the end of the date Thomas kisses Paul, he actually leads with the tongue (you can see that on the main theatrical trailer). Paul is surprised but takes it nicely. So, that's our first gay content.

A little later into the movie, we learn Paul Rudd has a gay brother (played by Andy Samberg).

The gay brother is a pretty butch personal trainer. Our gay is an actual guy's guy. The portrayal is very nice, the gay brother is Dad's best friend and even coaches Paul Rudd in the straight art of getting a wing-man.

 

You should see this one. The movie is funny even if Paul Rudd's constant attempt at creating fun catchphrases gets old early into the movie, but he drags on...

Frost/Nixon (2008) - LightShed 5

Frost/Nixon is a great movie, but I don't think it deserved an Oscar nomination for best film.

In this movie, Michael Sheen plays David Frost, an entertainer who scores a major interview with Richard Nixon (played by Frank Langella) soon after his defenestration.

My major problem with the movie, and I hope I'm not giving too much away, is that I felt there was not enough time for Frost (who had been upstaged and beaten to death by Nixon's trickydickyness for 4 out of 5 interviewing sessions), to be able to pull a Rocky and defeat Nixon in the last round with no real or meaningful chasing-the-chicken moments. That was a bummer for me. The acting is awesome, though. Langella is fantastic, and so is Sheen.

The movie has gay content, at least I thought so.

It actually was something that kinda held the movie together in a sense.  When Nixon is trying to study his opponent before the interviews, he notices Frost is wearing loafers and there's a whole back-and-forth on the subject between Nixon and his adviser...Nixon's adviser, played by Kevin Bacon, suggests the shoes are too effeminate -- the homophobic innuendo was pretty clear to me. Nixon had liked the shoes, apparently was actually challenged by the notion that shoes could come with no laces, but is easily led to see the shoes for what they are: gay.  At one point Nixon mentions the shoes to Frost as being something effeminate -- this as a way to bully Frost; put in him in his place, Nixon's bitch.  But Frost doesn't bite the bait and at the end even gives Nixon a gift:  a gay shoe, and Nixon seems to like it. I was ambivalent about the whole thing, but I thought it all was neutral to positive in the end.

Four Christmases (2008) - Shipwreck 4

This was pretty bad, I went to see it with a couple of friends from Brazil (a straight couple-- they liked it and laughed quite a bit).

In Four Christmases, Vince Vaughan and Reese Witherspoon play a couple terrified of spending Christmas with their families -- they don' want to confront their ghosts. Their attempt spend Christmas away from their families in Fiji fails when all flights are grounded due to bad weather and they end up on TV (this after having lied to their families -- they had said they were going to Burma to save children or sth like that). Seeing them on TV, their families talk them into spending time with them.

We have a bit of gay content.  While visiting Reese's mom family, we learn that the husband of Reese's sister (played by Kristen Chenoweth) "has experienced with men" -- Kristen reveals the news as a way to tell Reese how much she knows about her husband (and, to a lesser extent, how forgiving she is); Reese, meanwhile, knows nothing about her boyfriend Vince. Kristen might have talked about the gay experience in a somewhat positive light, but I think it came off as being just for laughs, at our expense.

Later in the same visit, Reese`s mom shows Vince pictures of Reese's lesbian phase (she basically had a very butch friend growing up; but soon after we learn Reese didn't actually know her friend was a lesbian). Vince shows what appears to be his support and understanding of the "lesbian phase" and I did want to see the scene in a good light, but at the end, again, I think it was all really just for laughs, at our expense ("at us, not with us" king of thing).

I must say, though, that if this is the way that homophobia is going to be portrayed, we are probably on a good track as at least there seems to have been an effort to not just go all purely derogatory on us; as I pointed out, the light can even arguably be seen as neutral to positive.

Independently of the gay content, the movie is pretty bad -- a waste of Reese's (and ours) time.

Milk (2008) - LightShed 10

What a great movie. I saw it at the Chelsea Clearview Cinemas in NY. Opening night. The audience was full of fellow homosexuals and they helped me boo at the end of a National Guard ad aimed at attracting young people. I felt like booing immediately and so did everybody else. The nerve on these people: to show an ad for an institution that condemns who we are right before the most gay-important movie of the year...

In Milk, Gus Van Sant tells us the story of Harvey Milk (played by Sean Penn), the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in the US.  

Early in the movie we see discrimination against Milk and unnamed gays -- we see gays being beaten up and harassed by the police and we see Milk shaking hands with a businessman who wipes off his hand right after touching the hand of a gay guy.  Sick of living in a homophobic society, Milk takes matters in his own hands and starts to campaign for change; the campaigning takes place in the few street blocks around where he lived with his boyfriend in the Castro neighborhood of San Francisco, the hope was that the acceptance he'd be able to engender in those city blocks would spread throughout the country.

I was anxious to see this movie for many reasons but most of all because a good movie with a major gay theme comes by only once in a while (was Brokeback the last major gay themed movie before Milk?) -- when a gay movie like this does come by I feel like it needs to over-perform in order to get the greatest number of straight people into the theaters so that they can see we can actually be quite normal, if not heroic.Although I prefer a movie that shows us in the best light possible, I'm usually also fine with a movie that portrays us with our defects (or what can be perceived as defects).  This is what this movie does. We show up in full form. We see Milk dazzling big crowds with forceful speeches, we see him successfully arguing our case before allies and enemies alike, we see young gays who are intelligent and relentless in the pursuit of equality -- but we also see Milk picking up a handsome young thing (James Franco, who so continues to amaze me with his performances that he has become my "protégé" since after Pineapple Express) in a NY subway in the beginning of the movie (the ease with which gays pick up other gays is usually seen as bad by society, I think -- envious bitches); we also see all sorts of gays in bad shape one way or another -- they can come ashamed and in the closet, suicidal, and they can come really fucked up in the head (like Jack, one of Milk's boyfriends -- played by Diego Luna).  

I do think the movie (if seen as an ode to Milk's legacy) loses some of its force in its portrayal of Dan White (played by Josh Brolin).

 

 A Dan who is disgusting and purely homophobic would have suited the hero-biography style better -- it would make things easier (good vs. evil). But this is not it. In the movie, Dan is an ordinary loser who feels like he needs to upstage Milk, and upstaged he can't be.  Milk implies Dan is a closet case repressing his homosexual feelings and keeps constantly undermining Dan's political abilities (or lack thereof) -- I left the movie feeling like the assassination of Milk by Dan can be interpreted as more of a general mental instability by the ordinary loser, and not necessarily a mental instability that is gay focused and strictly homophobic. I'm yet to see The Times of Harvey Milk to see if that documentary sheds more light on that aspect of the story.

The movie is excellent and really grows on you -- I think I like it more now (a few days after I saw it) then right after it.  I think the "Dan not really being that homophobic" got to me a bit, but that was erased by the memory of the many outstanding scenes the movie has to offer (like the scene in which Harvey Milk picks up Scott in the subway).

One last comment: I hate the 70's look; so, I think everybody looks fugly in the movie (but they sure can act -- the acting is excellent across the board).

Burn After Reading (2008) - Shipwreck 4

Burn After Reading is better than mediocre, but not quite good. In the movie, Brad Pitt and Frances McDormand are world class losers who come across top secret info that John Malkovich lost (he plays an former CIA employee).  The two retards go on a quest to try to get money in exchange for the information they found -- they go to the CIA and the Russians trying to sell the info. Bad idea.

Brad Pitt was pretty bad in his portrayal of a stupid personal trainer and so was Frances in her protrayal of a shallow gym employee craving love and plastic surgery. Tilda was the only one doing some acting in the movie (she plays John Malkovich's wife, a cold and bitter bitch).

We have a tiny bit of bad gay content. In one scene, John Malkovich is talking to a colleague when the colleague realizes a guy is staring at John Malkovich, at which point the colleague asks John whether "he turned poof on me"...the tone was pretty derogatory.

Hancock (2008) - Shipwreck 2

So, we have a homophobic superhero.  Really, really upsetting. 

Let me first give you the good news. Hancock is a good action movie.  This is an interesting story of a homeless guy who happens to be a superhero, he recklessly rescues people and prevents crimes --  after each rescue or intervention, the city is left with millions in unnecessary and usually easily avoidable damages.  Hancock is a drunkard and is constantly grumpy.

Things start to change when he saves the live of major cutie Jason Bateman.  Jason is into public relations and offers to change the image of our super hero.

Now the bad stuff.  The first homophobic content comes right on the first scene. When Hancock is busting these three criminals, he breaks into their car and says something to the effect that he was not even judging the fact that there were three dudes in the car.  He said it in a way that conveys his disgust with the all-dude situation. Bad.  Then, later, Jason is trying to help him choose a super hero outfit by showing the cover of a few comic books.  To every single one of the outfits Will Smith reacts: "homo", "homo in red", "Scandinavian homo" and so forth.  Again, really bad.

I concede that in those two scenes, Hancock had not been "saved" and he was still the baddass idiot; nasty and in bad behavior. But we are clearly made to be on his side at all times and we never forget that this is Will Smith, whose shit is not supposed to stink even when he's playing an idiot.  Also, to be a baddass, do you need to be homophobic?

Shelter (2008) - Lightshed 10

Shelter is excellent.  The acting is solid across the board. Jonah Markowitz's experience with larger projects shows throughout -- bitch really kept everybody together. You should absolutely believe the hype. If the movie is playing at a theater near you (check out the venues at here!), you must see it.

In Shelter, Trevor Wright is an artist who flips burgers at a local joint -- he is clearly unhappy; he wants to go to art school but has decided to settle for the I-think-I-should-be-happy-but-I'm-not state of mind brought by the fulfillment of family responsibilities, in his case, that means taking care of his cute little nephew, a kid neglected by his mother (played by Tina Holmes, she delivers a nice performance). 

You can tell through Trevor's sad look that something big is missing (I must say that a few of his more pensive moments, like this one at a cliff by the ocean, were a little tacky -- you can almost hear the "hello...is it me you're looking for?" kinda deal).  Trevor's best friend, played by Ross Thomas, has an out gay brother.  This is the gay brother:

That's Brad Rowe. I've had my eye on Brad Rowe since Billy's Hollywood Screen Kiss. I always thought he had the potential to become a true Hollywood lead and never understood why he didn't.  He is drop-dead-gorgeous and can act.  Not surprisingly, Trevor's character falls for him.  Or is he just confused?

While sorting out his issues, Trevor's character shows us how nice being gay can be after all.  Shelter is all about the normal guys, some of whom are gay.  The soundtrack is great too.  I can't wait for Markowitz and here!films' next release. Watch the trailer (but read my caveat first) after the jump.

Juno (2007) - LightShed 6

Juno is excellent. In the movie, Ellen Page (remember her from Hard Candy?) is 16 and she is carrying Michael Cera's baby.  Too young to deal with it all and unwilling to do an abortion, Page decides to give her baby away to Jennifer Garner and Jason Bateman, who play one of those perfect suburban couples.

The movie is a joyride despite the seriousness of the subject (teenage pregnancy). The soundtrack is full of first-rate alternative rock songs and the acting is really solid. Page certainly deserves the attention she is getting for her performance in Juno, but she is not alone. Olivia Thirlby, who plays Page's best friend (an unlikely friendship between a cheerleader and Juno, the screw-up goof-ball);  Allison Janney, who plays Juno's step-mom; J.K. Simmons, who plays the father, and Cera and Garner are all excellent.

We also have gay content, not all good though. In our first gay tidbit, Juno says that, ideally, she would give her baby away to be adopted by a nice lesbian couple. That is super nice. But then, later in the movie, when Garner is wondering about baby names, she suggests a name that Juno thinks is gay (I think the name was Marianne or sth like that).  Juno  said "gay" as though it was not necessarily a bad thing, there's no hate in her voice, but still we'd be better off if people didn't use " gay" to mean sth uncool (remember this post about whether it's okay to say "gay"?). Then, finally, Juno is just walking around in this mall with her best friend Thirlby when they bump into Garner, who was also shopping in the mall with her " girlfriends."  When Thirlby hears that, she asks whether Garner is gay. Of course, Thirlby just got it wrong, as Garner was referring to girls who are her friends, not actual girlfriends. That was pretty neutral.

You should definitely see this one on the big screen.

Eastern Promises (2007) - Shipwreck 2

Cronenberg's superb A History of Violence left me with high expectations for his next movie, and that is, in a way, unfair to Eastern Promises.  EP is a great movie, but it is not even in the same category with A History of Violence.  The building blocks of EP's plot are quite interesting, but the execution, the details (especially the ancillary dialogs) are lame; distracting at best (like the cheesy-ass attempts at comedy from Naomi's racist uncle).

In Eastern Promises, Naomi Watts is a nurse who helps out a teenage mother.  The teenage girls dies during labor and Naomi feels like she needs to find out the whereabouts of the girl's family so that the baby can be sent them.  In her quest for information, she becomes entangled with the Russian mafia.  We have Armin Mueller-Stahl as the big boss, Vincent Cassel as his son, and Viggo Mortensen as the family's, uh, driver.  That's all you need to know.

In Eastern Promises you get the gory violence Cronenberg is famous for right in the first few minutes.  There are other gory scenes, one of which is quite original.  Viggo fights two guys -- totally naked.  The two guys are not naked but Viggo is, which, I think, adds a very interesting layer of risk to the fight.  We see Viggo's parts swinging left and right, dodging the blades and small knifes.  Superb.

Eastern Promises packs quite a bit of gay content, but my discussion of the homo scenes will ruin the part of the plot.

Breakfast with Scot - LightShed 10

What a cute movie. 

In Breakfast with Scot, Canadian hottie Tom Cavanaugh is a former Toronto Maple Leaf hockey player who is gay, he is married to the team's lawyer (Ben Shenkman) and they become the parents of an 11-year-old boy. The boy is super-fem and that challenges Tom's perception of what it means to be gay, a man, masculine, a father etc.  It's all good.

Breakfast feels like a holiday family movie -- that's probably intentional and could explain why our gays are asexual (all we get is one grandma-type kiss between Tom and Ben).  Still, great light for the gays; we are shown to be parent material; normal.